Saturday…Second Cup!

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Good Saturday morning! I hope all of you are doing something fun and exciting today. I’m starting my morning off by writing. It’s one of my favorite ways to start Saturday morning.

As I’ve been telling you this week, my work in process is a Highlander romance, actually the first book in a trilogy. It’s been coming along pretty well so far, but I’m at a pivotal point where I need to do a little more thinking. I want to make it more, how do I say this, more intriguing. So, I’m going to do some plotting today. It needs to go in the right direction so that when the 2nd book starts, it goes well.

I’ll start by doing a story board on Scrivener, putting points in, then flesh them out. Sometimes plotting can be fun, but other times it’s no so much. For me, if I’m not working on the work in process, then I feel empty, but this time, I’m excited about plotting. Those little plot bunnies are filling my head.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Throwback Thursday…

A Love Never Lost front cover

It’s Thursday, so almost the weekend. We’ve got this people! Only today and tomorrow, then the weekend… I think I can… I think I can…

I’m throwing it back to 2012 with this book that took us on a journey of romance, suspense and that good feeling of HEA. This book was very draining on me as it took such a toll on my senses. This story starts out just as any romance novel, girl knows boy, boy realizes he cares, yada…yada…yada, but then… well, you have to read it to find out what changes the situation.

https://www.amazon.com/Love-Never-Lost-Stephanie-Hurt-ebook/dp/B009IQ0LQ0

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

The 10 things I love about Fall…

With Fall just around the corner, along with the cooler mornings and evenings, it makes me smile. I love fall, why, well let me give you some things that make fall special for me…

Crisp, clear mornings
The beautiful colors that explode all around you. (Thank you God for that)
Watching the leaves fall
Building the first fire in the fireplace
Halloween/October Festivals
Pumpkin Spice everything…
It means Christmas is almost here…
Bonfires
Raking leaves, then falling into the huge pile…Did I say I’m a kid at heart 😉
Pumpkin Spice everything, yeah I know I’ve already listed it, but it deserves two spots!

So, what do you love about Fall?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You… small_5163387356

Tuesday Morning History…

Good Tuesday morning all! Officially it feels like Monday since yesterday was a holiday, but the air is clear and just a little cooler than before, so life is good. I can feel Fall coming on like a lion and I can’t wait.

As I sit on my patio, writing before I walk to the office, I’m thinking about the Scottish series that I started last week. I’ve been thinking about writing one for a long while, but hesitated as I had so many other manuscripts in line, but when the muse comes up and knocks you up beside the head, well, you do what it says. That muse is ferocious and means business. So, I put aside the other works and in a little less than a week I’m over 12,000 words into the new series.

To help my guilt about putting the other works to the side, one of the Carina editors is looking for Highland Romances and I messaged her about it. Especially since the post stating that she wanted to see some was in April, I wanted to make sure that she still was interested. She enthusiastically answered, YES! So, I’ll be sending the first book and a synopsis of books 2 & 3 fairly soon.

Since I’m a history lover, the research has been a lot of fun. Not to mention that I finally decided to bite the bullet and start watching Outlander, which I have to say, was a wonderful decision. Also, since the time periods mesh, I’m learning a lot. I’m also reading a couple of Highland romances to polish up on the history. I just love being a writer.

I do hope all of you are doing wonderful on this Tuesday morning. What are you working on?

As always, good writing and may God Bless You…

Attack of the clothes dryer!!!

It’s Labor Day, so what am I doing, I’m cleaning house… Now I’m writing. But what happened during the cleaning will stay with me for a while.

Well, I decided to do the laundry this morning, simple task, right… wrong. Let’s start with the comment, I live with two men, my hubby, and son, never a dull moment for sure. All was going good, two loads down, three to go. Did I say I was a little behind? Anyhow, I was pulling one of my son’s loads out of the clothes dryer when what I thought was a large black spider jumped out and clung to my hand. Needless to say, I did a very creative dance around the washroom trying to dislodge the ferocious wad of black string from my hand. Yep, it was a black string, not a man-eating spider, thank heavens.

And it’s not the first time this has happened, so you’d think I was used to it. Every time they go fishing, plastic worms jump out of the dryer at me. Those little suckers sure can fly when you open a still running dryer. Yeah, that usually gets a scream and dance…

Hope all of you are having a wonderful, but safe Labor Day! Oh, and watch out for string spiders, they’ll make you do moves you didn’t know you had.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

One last thing, if you haven’t signed up for my newsletter, then go over to www.stephaniehurtauthor.com to get all the latest news from my little writing corner…

Covers…Edits…Excitement

It’s Friday! Plain and simple, I’m ready for the weekend. It’s been a busy week in the accounting office, along with the fact that I’ve had a summer cold which has made put me in slow motion, so my writing has suffered, but hopefully this weekend I’ll make it up.

As for my book Tuscany, which is in the hands of Solstice Publishing, is moving forward. I turned in the last of the heavy edits this week. I’ve learned a lot during these edits. My editor from Solstice has been wonderful. She actually made it a learning process. Her comments were inspiring and some were even comical, which made it a fun time, which is unusual for editing.

Yes, I’ve seen the cover that has been designed for Tuscany, but I can’t share it yet. As soon as I’m given the go ahead, I’ll be sharing it. Let’s just say, I’m excited. The book is beyond the first editing process and now will go on to the run through to make sure that everything was addressed before it goes to publication. So, hope to have some publishing news soon!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Back to Normal…

Well, today my vacation is actually over! It was a very restful and productive vacation. My Solstice editor sent me chapters 4-13 for Tuscany and I’m almost halfway done with those edits. Also, ‘Sowing the Right Seed’ is almost complete, which makes me happy too.

Of course, when you get back to work from a week off, you need to take another vacation to get over the after vacation paperwork pile up. My emails have piled up, the mail has piled up and the appointments are filling the calendar, but that’s fine, I’m rested and ready to go.

As for my writing, things are getting exciting around here. I’m a little closer to Tuscany’s big release with Solstice Publishing. Also, I’m working on an article for Southern Writer’s Magazine that was requested for an upcoming edition. I have several projects in the works and it’s going to be a busy end of summer, start of fall for this writer.

So, how have all of you been? I’ve missed you over the last couple of weeks. Hope all is well! Here’s a peak at the view I had for vacation last week. Yes, it was hard to leave this, but as most of you know, I’m a homebody.

Beach As always, great writing and May God Bless You…

3 Cup Friday!!!

It’s Friday, I’m three cups of coffee in and I think I’m going for the whole pot. Why is it that I can’t get awake this morning? I’ve completed my 2-mile morning walk, ate breakfast, had a shower, but still, I’m foggy. So much for the 2 thousand word goal for the morning…

This has been one of those weeks. As an accountant, the end of a quarter and the end of the month means extra work, but on top of that, I’m a writer, so… To say I’m a little overwhelmed, well, that would be the understatement of the year. Oh, did I say I’m going on vacation tomorrow and haven’t packed a thing, not a thing! Usually, I’m the one that packs three days before vacation, but not this time. Ugh!!!

But other than that I’m totally pumped that the first three chapters of Tuscany edits have been sent to me and I’ve completed them and sent back to my Solstice Publishing editor. I was really glad it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. So, we’re one step closer to the publishing of Tuscany!

So, have another cup of coffee and enjoy your day, but remember, it’s Friday!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Friday…almost the weekend!

It’s Friday! Yes, I’m ready for the weekend. It’s been a busy week and I need a little down time to process. Also, I need to do some word count catch-up.

If you’re a writer, have you focused on your work as you should? Hard question? Well, yes it is. Especially if you’re not a full-time writer. If you have another job, it’s hard to stay on your word count, but you push forward. Yes, it’s hard to do, but if you focus on the goal, you’ll achieve the word count.

My suggestion to help with this focus. Start a calendar and figure out how fast you can achieve 1000 words. Maybe you do it in an hour, maybe less, maybe more. Then set aside that time every day or at least a couple of times a week. If you need to complete a 50,000-word manuscript, then you need 50 days of writing. Makeup the days you miss. This is what i do on the weekend, I make up the days I miss and try to get where I should be.

Set goals too. If you do this, you’ll come closer to achieving your word count. Try it and let me know how it works.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Throwback Thursday! Tender Flames…

Tender Flames revised cover

It’s hard to believe this book came out in May 2012. Wow, times flies when you’re having fun. Since this release so much has happened in my writing career. I’ve been featured in Southern Writers Magazine multiple times, I’ve published over 20 books, I made it to the top 55 in the 2015 Harlequin So You Think You Can Write contest, and this year I signed a publishing contract with Solstice Publishing. It’s been such an amazing ride.

Tender Flames is the 2nd book I published and the first one to make me ugly cry while I was writing it. I actually had to stop and compose myself so that I could finish one part. This book will take you on a roller coaster of emotions, from laughter, grief, excitement, anger and so on. I revised it last year and reinvented the cover, which by the way I love. I’ve had a lot of response from this book, which makes me smile.

Get your copy of Tender Flames and start the journey of the love triangle that will leave you smiling… https://www.amazon.com/Tender-Flames-Revised-Love-Book-ebook/dp/B0084USOE2

Book Trailer: