Tag: Writing

Wrap up a Pirate for someone…

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Good morning all! It’s Tuesday and it’s cold here in Georgia. As I snuggle under my throw with my coffee at my side and the fire crackling I have to smile. It’s cozy and warm with Christmas cheer in my den. I love this time of year. The Christmas tree is twinkling beside me as though it’s saying Merry Christmas Stephanie!

As for presents, are you finished with your shopping? Me, well, almost, but I still have a couple of things to pick up. If you need a stocking filler or a gift for a reader, why not check out Safe in the Pirate’s Arms. It’s an adventurous love story with suspense, romance and pirates. Several readers have commented that they felt like they were on board the ship as I described every detail. I want my readers to experience the book, not just read them.

Here’s a little tidbit and then some links to buy:

Lightning streaked across the clouds just ahead of them. Caleb widened his stance and prepared for the battle with the storm. He’d been through worse.

The first drops of rain caused the men to move faster. All of the cargo had to be tied down. Serena helped by handing out coiled rope to the men. She never thought about the rain causing her clothing to cling to her body.

Caleb looked down to check the progress of the men when he noticed the boys clothing was wet. Then he did a double take. That wasn’t a boy at all, but a woman. A chill ran down his spine as he realized they had a major problem. Tom saw Caleb’s expression and followed his gaze. He swore when he saw what Caleb did. Caleb motioned for him to take the wheel.

He quickly made his way to where the woman stood handing out rope. Luckily the men were so busy that they didn’t notice. He spun her around and their eyes collided. “You need to get to your quarters.” When she just stood there he looked down at her soaked clothing. “Now!” He barked.

She looked down and saw the problem. It only took her moments to cover herself and run to her cabin. Caleb was on her heels. The look in his eyes was murderous and she knew it wasn’t going to be good.

As she opened the door and turned to shut it, he stopped it with his hand and followed her in. Then he slammed the door, leaving them alone in the small cabin. He made the cabin seem even smaller.

“What in the world were thinking? A woman on a ship with a bunch of men is dangerous and foolish.” He ran his fingers through his wet hair in exasperation.

“I was desperate.” She said in a small feminine voice.

His head snapped up in recognition. Reaching out he snatched the hat off her head causing her dark hair to tumble down around her shoulders. He grunted with frustration.  “Serena!”

She looked up at him and blushed. He turned around and grabbed the blanket off the bed. “Cover yourself.” He was a good man, but even he had his limits. “Why’d you stow away on my ship?”

Suddenly she burst into tears and sat down on the little cot. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go.” She started to openly sob.

He’d never been really good with women’s emotions. He sat down on the cot beside her and lifted her chin to look up at him. “What happened?”

“After you left last night, my mother died.” She sniffed and tried to get her composure. “Then I overheard my stepfather telling a man that he was going to end your trip and get you back for taking his shipments. He said he’d watch The Lady go to the bottom of the sea.”

He sat there for a moment. It was evident when he’d been at Edwards home that something was wrong. The man seemed crooked. It angered him that the man was part of the pirate’s that he fought against.

“My mother’s last words were that I needed to leave before my stepfather came upstairs. She said I was in danger. So I packed a bag and made my way down to the docks and then onto your ship.” She looked up at him pleadingly. “Please let me stay on the ship. I’ll work for my room and food. I won’t let anyone know I’m not Toby.”

Standing up quickly he looked down at her. He could only imagine why her mother was worried. That man was pure evil and he was glad she’d gotten away, but a woman on a pirate ship, even though his men were all good men, they were men.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Monday Thoughts and Writing…

Good Monday morning to you all… I hope you had a wonderful weekend. As for me it was a busy one. Saturday I spent the day at the Church decorating for Christmas with friends and then Sunday was the Children’s Ministry Christmas party. Let’s just say it was busy but satisfying. I’m pleasantly tired this morning…

As for my writing, I’ve grabbed a few minutes here and there this weekend to work on Ridge, but not as much as I would’ve liked. Ridge has been prodding my brain all weekend wanting his story told. For those of you that have messaged me about the upcoming release, let’s just say I’m working on a specific date, but as of now no release date yet. I’m thrilled that others are as excited as I am to have Ridge’s story published. It’s turning out to be quite a story and I can’t wait for you to read it.

Make sure you go to my website and enter the Rafflecopter to win a audiobook copy of Faith Through The Tears. Enter everyday if you want to. The response to this story has been really wonderful. On Audible.com I’ve had so many beautifully sweet reviews and some made me cry. This story tore at my heart one moment and made me giggle the next. One woman wrote to me and said that I should give away a box of tissues with every copy.

What are you doing on this fine Monday morning?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Writing in layers, like our lives…

As I sit and ponder writing, life and the many things we do, I see the layers of it all. Layers are all around us. We have the family layer, life layer, work layer, faith layer and so many more layers it’s crazy. As writers we have even more layers than most.

Some days my layers overlap and I have to push them apart so that I don’t get overloaded. Some layers are heavier than others but in the end they’re what makes us who we are. My writer layers come in multiples, sometimes when my writer layers overlap I get knocked to the wayside. That’s when my mind can’t stay on one story and the characters start running over one another.

Do my layers of life and writing run into one another? Yes they do. I’ve seen many days when I struggled with the writing layers, but that’s what makes a writer work harder. As the characters run around trying to get heard, I wrangle them into the stories that flow out of my fingers. The layers of a story unfold and then a new layer starts. Oh the life of a writer’s mind.

How many layers do you have? If you peel them back carefully can you find your true self. As for me, when I peeled back my writer layer I found myself. I hadn’t realized that I needed that layer peeled back. For many years I left that layer piled under so many life layers and once I revealed it I started a fresh start. My writer layer has brought me into a new world of wonder and other worlds.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Wednesday Inspirations…

As I sit here sipping my coffee and looking at the twinkling Christmas tree I’m inspired to write. This is the time of day that I sit and write. The hubby is off to work and my son off to school. I have a little time to contemplate my newest WIP and work on edits, not to mention blog posts and social media catch-up.

This morning I’m working on Ridge. I’m already madly in love with him and his ornery ways. He’s pulled at my heart strings for weeks because he’s such a deep person with real problems. I can’t wait for all of you to fall in love with him. It won’t be hard and then of course he has three brothers and a sister that will pull you into their lives. Since I love cowboy romance it’s nice to be back to writing what I really love.

Unfortunately my brain is already wanting to write another Christmas romance, but no I refuse to jump into the frying pan. I just hope I can keep it all at bay for a little while. I do have something in the works for release before Christmas, but we’ll see how that goes.

What are you working on today?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Finding your writing niche…

Good Tuesday morning! Hope all is well in your corner of the big world. Have you ever thought about changing up your writing style or even the genre you write in? Many authors do this with a lot of success, some not so much. Let’s talk about the in’s and out’s of changing things up.

To get things started let’s say you’re a romance writer. Well, the romance genre is a widespread market going from the sweet innocent romance to the hardcore erotic style. Some writers just have the knack to write certain types of romance and when they try to go up the pole or even down they don’t seem to excel. But maybe you’re not doing well in the category you write in, what next? Try something new? Maybe…

I’ve talked to several authors that have tried many writing niches. Many authors go from romance to mystery without missing a beat, but others struggle with the change. One author changed her romance writing niche. She normally writes paranormal romance which is racy and at times dark, but then she tried a romantic comedy. It was a hit. But of course she’s known for her paranormal romances, what does she do? Well, she dabbles with both now. I’ve read both by her and have to say they’re great. It was a great transition.

Another author friend tried to step out of writing mysteries to try writing romance. Let’s just say she struggled. She told me that writing mysteries just coming easily, but trying to write a romance novel gave her a headache. I suggested just writing a mystery which is what she does best and sprinkle in some romance. Well, she’s doing that and it seems to work.

As for me, I’ve been writing romance for a long time. I’ve tried Christian Romance, Time Travel Romance, Cowboy Romance, and several others, but they’re all in the romance genre. But, I just published my first children’s Christmas book and I have to say it was fun. Now I’m working on a children’s series and it’s challenging. By no means am I leaving romance writing, I’m just venturing out a little.

So, what’s your writing niche and could you change if you tried?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Where does it stop!

Guess what I did yesterday? No not that, well maybe but it’s not what you think. I created a children’s book. It’s been in my brain for over two years and I decided to try out KDP’s new Kid’s Book Creator. My cover designer and I sat down with powerpoint and created each page.OF course she looked at me a little strangely when I said, I have an new idea. It always scares her when I say that. She usually asks when I’ll stop trying new things and I figure that will be when I’m gone. I made it easy because I’d already written the wording so it was just the point of creating the pages to go with the wording and I have to say it’s harder than you would think.

I have another children’s book in the work, but this one is for a little older age group. It’s a little more book form than picture book form. As a children’s minister I hear so much out of children. Some weeks I just sit and laugh at what comes out of their little minds and mouths. Parent’s beware, your children spill the beans often, but innocently. I know more about the parents lives and mishaps than anyone. It’s so funny and so much fun. But I do keep it all bottled up in my overactive brain. Maybe I’ll bring it out when I need extra help one day, never know.

As for the children’s book area of my brain, yep I went there. A couple of people have wondered when I’d venture to that area, especially since I work with children. Since I’m a big kid at heart it’s not too hard to slip into their mindset. Some days I feel like I’m just a bigger version of them. Some days my friends and family say I act like them too. Not sure if that’s good or bad. LOL!

So, if you get a chance go over and check out my first attempt at a children’s book. Now I have to warn you, this is our first attempt at Horseshoe Publishing so don’t be too critical.I can say it was extremely fun!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Monday morning rain!

Monday mornings are tough, but when you wake up to the sound of rain on the roof, well, it just sets the mood for the day. Of course here in Georgia it’s cold and rainy. The temps are hitting a high at lunchtime and then going down from there. So it’s turning out to be a dreary, cold, sweater wearing day.

Right now I’m curled up on the couch, sipping coffee, watching the Today Show and catching up on my posts. This is what I call my special time of the day. My son is at school, hubby is at work and I have about two hours before I need to get ready to walk across to my office. This is also my writing time.

This morning I’m working on Ridge. I know, I’ve been talking about this book for several weeks, but I’m excited about this book, well actually the whole series. Of course you know I love a cowboy romance and this will turn into five. Each main character is special and has so many facets of their personalities.

Someone asked the other day if I have anything else in the works, along with the Five Oaks Ranch. I have to say that a book came into my mind about two weeks ago. I’m playing with an outline, but mostly working on Ridge. As you know me, I do have several books on the back burner. Funny how you get into a story and then something happens and your attention spans steers off in another direction.

What are you doing this morning? Is the weather good in your area?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Saturday morning writing…

Good morning all! It’s really cold here in Georgia. I’m sitting by the fire with my second cup of coffee and checking my posts. I love this time when I’ve got a little time to write posts, post on sites and work on my writing.

Today I’m working on Ridge, which is the first installment of the 5 Oaks Ranch series. I can’t help but smile as I write each part. As you know me well, I’ve got the outline completed and know basically where the story is headed. Some days I’m so excited that I go ahead of myself. No actually I do. If a certain part is calling out to me, I’ll create a separate word document and get it down. When I actually get to that part, just copy and paste. It helps keep the overcrowding of my brain from completely taking over.

Ridge is a special character to me. He’s got this rough edge that just makes him pure cowboy. The time he spent in Iraq during his two tours of duty have given him a edge that will cut the most unwilling intruder into his world. His only soft spot is his little sister Maggie. The smile she gives him makes some of the stone around his heart chisel away. But the fun part starts the minute he meets Mallory, the new ranch vet. Their sparring will keep you wondering where it’s headed. The fun part is how Ridge avoids things that are unavoidable. Can she break the ice that’s totally Ridge?

For the next couple of weeks I’ll be working on his story. If everything goes well you’ll be able to meet Ridge before New Year’s but let’s just see how it goes.

Ridge Advertisement

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Halfway to the weekend!

It’s already halfway to the weekend and I feel like I’ve accomplished nothing. Time flies when you’re having fun I guess. I’m getting excited about my upcoming release of “Her Wish For Christmas” which is scheduled on Amazon for Thursday night at midnight. Since I’m donating 1/2 of the preorder and 1st week of sales royalties to a domestic violence charity I hope you’ve gone over to Amazon and preorder or maybe you plan on getting it Friday. It’s for a great cause.

As for my week, well it’s been busy as usual. I’m working on Ridge which will be set up for release later in the year. This is the first book in the new Five Oaks Ranch series. It’s based on a ranch and the five siblings are funny, complicated and exciting. I hope you’ll check them out as they come into being. Ridge has been an interesting character to write. He’s a hard man with a heart of stone, but he wasn’t always this hard. Two tours of duty in Iraq have changed him. But the new vet might just change that.

I hope all of you are enjoying your hump day! Don’t forget, the weekend is right around the corner.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Romance is in the air, can you feel it?

I haven’t written a post on romance in a little bit. But as most of you know, it’s important to me. Fall is a romantic time to me and especially as it slips into winter. There’s nothing more romantic to me than sitting by a crackling fire, sipping hot chocolate and just being together. As the nip in the air gets nippier, I get excited.

The feel in the air also spurs on my writing. I enjoy sitting with my hot tea and laptop, writing in the chill of the air. As the leaves float gently from the trees and the smell of Fall fills the air, let’s just say my fingers fly over the keys as my mind goes crazy with writing ideas.

Do you have romance in your life? If not, then I suggest a candlelit snack by the fire. You may say, but I have kids in the house, that’s fine, just wait until they go to bed. Maybe you don’t have a fireplace, well just light some candles, spread a blanket on the floor and kill the lights. Everyone needs a little romance and even the simplest things can be romantic.

So, get that romance back or gain a new romance.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…