Talking with fellow author, V. Steele

Good morning everyone… I do hope you’re having a great day so far. Today I’m talking with fellow author, V. Steele. We actually met well over a year ago through my blog. It’s crazy the way we just clicked. She writes racier books than I do, but we have the same concept of writing. So, without further ado, here’s the interview that we did over the weekend.

S: Good morning V.

V: Morning Steph, how’s it going with you?

S: It’s great. Let’s get down the nitty gritty. When’s the 3rd book coming out in the My Prodigy Trilogy coming out? I love this Trilogy, so I do have a personal reason as well as professional to ask this.

V: (Softly laughs) Well, it’s coming out early summer. I’ve been working on another manuscript that is part of the Chasing Cowboys series. But I do plan on working on the 3rd book soon. The cover is in the works now.

S: I can’t wait to see it. Hope to get a sneak preview when it’s done. Tell us a little about your work in progress. I do love cowboys.

V: Cowboys are fun to write about. The newest book in the series is called “My Obsessed Cowboy”. This has been such a fun book to write. It’s the story of a young woman and her cowboy. She loves him but he takes it too far. She can’t take the obsessive behavior so she leaves town. But as with any obsession, it doesn’t stop there. It’s going to have an interesting conclusion that hopefully leaves you excited and ready to find a obsessed cowboy.

S: That sounds pretty interesting. When should we expect to see this book published. I can’t wait to see the cover design.

V: I hope to have it out this Spring. This cover is also in the works. I’ve played with a couple of different ideas, but ultimately it’s the designer who works the magic with my ideas.

S: Since I’ve had the chance to read some of this manuscript, can you give us just a little sliver of the story without giving away too much?

V: Oh yes, that’s a great idea. Here goes:

That night when he took her home she decided to tell him they had to cool it. When he pulled up to the walkway in front of the house she grabbed his hand as he went to get out. “Kyle, let’s talk a minute.”

“Alright babe, what’s up?” He caressed her hand and she had to close her eyes to keep her body from overtaking her brain yet again.

“Kyle, we need to take a break from one another.”

His head snapped up. “What do you mean, a break? Who is it? Who’s trying to sneak into my territory?” He moved closer and the look in his eyes was murderous.

“There’s nobody else, we just need to take a breather.”

“Why? I thought you enjoyed our time together.” Suddenly she saw something different in his eyes. She couldn’t figure it out, but she knew it was dangerous.

“I have enjoyed the time we’ve spent together, but truthfully I can’t handle your possessiveness.” She had to be truthful.

“I’m not possessive. Is it wrong to love so much that you want to keep that person close. That’s how much I love you Tess.” He kissed her hand and squeezed it.

“Kyle you don’t realize that you’re acting possessive when you say I can’t talk to another man. We have several cowboys that work on this ranch and they are my friends.”

“I don’t like you talking to other men because I don’t like to share.”

“You’re not sharing anything, they are just friends.”

“I see the way they look at you. I’m not blind Tess.”

She pulled her hand out of his and opened the truck door. “Just think about what I’ve said.”

He opened his door and ran around to where she stood. “Baby, don’t walk away like this.”

“Like what Kyle. I’m just going home.” She threw up her hands in frustration.

Well, that’s a small snippet of a pivotal point in the first of the book.

S: Since I’ve read past this point, I can tell you this does pull you into the story. I want to thank you for this interview and the snippet from your newest work.

V: Thanks for this chance to talk about my work. Also thanks for the help with all of my publishing questions that I’ve bombarded you with over the last year.

S: It’s been fun. I can’t wait for the new releases.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed a small look into what’s up with V. Steele. She has several books out and many more to come. Check her out at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and many other retailers.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

What’s behind the spike in Romance Novels?

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What’s behind the spike in Romance Novels? Could it be the world we live in? Could it be that we need some type of hope? I don’t know about you, but I love to sit down with a great romance and just get lost in it, if only for a couple of hours. It makes you think about possibilities, takes you to another world and makes you laugh, cry and smile.

Romance novels have always been a draw, but it seems as though lately there’s more of a need for them. Several years ago if you said you were a romance author, people would just laugh and say ‘you can’t find anything substantial to do with your life.’ But it’s not that way now. When you say you’re a romance author people sit up and congratulate you. The romance genre has exploded in so many directions. You can find a romance that fits your every need, really every need…

Here’s to hoping the romance genre stays popular. By the way, don’t forget to wear green today, Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You

It’s Finally Friday!

If you haven’t looked at your calendar, yes it’s Friday. This has been the longest week in many ways and then again it’s been really short. I was blessed this week to have my assistant home from UGA for a couple of days to help me in the office and with some covers. We finally finished the paperback cover for Finding the Right Time. It’s awesome and I’m so excited for it’s release March 31st.

Along with good, usually a little bad comes. One of my clients and good friends found out she had cancer this week. It was such a blow when she called. It made me think about a lot of things. This was such a shock to her and her daughter. But she’s handling it with such strength and positive thinking. I would hope I could do the same thing in such a situation. My prayers are lifted up to her today.

As for my writing, I received some wonderful advice this week about writing. It helped me to think about some of my previous releases. Did you know that even the most famous writers go back to their first releases and revise them? It’s funny when we first start out writing it’s a learning process. The more we publish the more we learn. I’ve learned so many things over the last couple of years through writer friends and lots of research. So, when I get a little time between manuscripts, I might revise some of my earlier works. We’ll see how that goes, especially the time between manuscripts 😉

It’s Friday and I hope you are planning a fun weekend. It’s supposed to be a rainy last half of the weekend here in Georgia. I’ll be working on tax returns, but I do have some time scheduled in to work on the book that’s currently taking over my brain. I’ll give you a snippet later on, but for now, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

As always, good writing and May God Bless YOU…

Where are you headed? Not Sure?

That’s a hard question sometimes. Most people have no idea where they’re headed in life. They just take like as it comes and usually don’t make plans for the future. Do you have a plan? Have you got your future in mind or just living in the past?

Life is full of turns, curves, stop signs, yields and just plan out warning signals that go unattended. How do you plan to see it through? Do you live life by the seat of your pants, never knowing which way to go when you get to the fork in the road? Most of us stand that this fork and stare straight ahead, confused and not sure what happens next.

This happens so many times with writers. You write your manuscript, but now what? Do you publish it? Do you take a chance with a traditional publisher, but then again do you take a chance self publishing it? This is a hard question to ask yourself, but if you want to become a writer, it’s a question that needs an answer. What’s your goal?

Here’s a couple of road blocks that can come along:

1: Turns: This happens after you type The End. Are you self disciplined enough to self publish? Are you patient enough to wait on a traditional publisher?

2: Curves: Well you’ve made the decision as to how you want to publish your work. What now? If you decide to self publish the road can have many curves and you have to be disciplined enough to take those curves and move forward carefully. If you decide to send it to a traditional publisher, then the curves can be a long time coming and then when they do can you handle the possibility of a 90 degree curve when they either accept it or reject it?

3: Stop Signs: This is when you come to a complete halt. Either your manuscript is completely rejected by a traditional publisher or you decide to self publish and you have no idea where to go from here. That happens, how do you pull away from that stop sign?

4: Yield: With self publishing you have to know when to slow down and take the next step carefully. You need to be patient and slow down before going forward. This is also a good way to handle turning over your manuscript to a traditional publisher. Have you had your manuscript edited by someone other than yourself? One of the easiest way to be rejected by either way you publish is to send in your manuscript before it’s ready. Don’t run straight through the yield without slowing and taking a second look.

5: Warning signs: Also follow the warning signs. Don’t jump into the frying pan without being ready for the burn. If you don’t handle the business as it needs to be handled you will end up getting burned, rejected and ignored in the market. Remember writing is a business and the second you decide to publish, you’re a writer and that’s a business. Run it with that in mind.

So, where are you headed? Do you know your plan? Before you take that huge step into publishing, figure it out. Know what you want to achieve and make a plan. Don’t go into it without knowing the risks.

If you want to self publish and don’t know where to go from the words The End, check out the publishing service that I’m a partner in, Horseshoe Publishing. We strive to help authors move forward and put out the best product they can. The link to what we do is at the top of my page. We are offering a Spring Into Action 25% off special, so check us out.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Silence! I’m Writing Here!

Where do you write? Do you need a quiet place or can life go on around you leaving you unhindered? It’s a perplexing question in many ways. I’ve talked to several writers on this subject and the answers vary.

Some writers tell me that they need silence while writing. They don’t want any music or sound. It hinders their creative thoughts. Then others say they have to have music going to keep the creative juices flowing. Others can write with the television going and life streaming around them. It’s so different with every writer.

As for me I guess it’s the mood I’m in. Most of my writing happens at night while the television is blaring. I sit on one end of the couch and my son on the other and my hubby is in his recliner. When I’m in writing mode, usually the outside world disappears. What’s funny is I can keep up with a movie and writing at the same time. I learned how to multi-task when my son was a infant. Since I own a accounting business, he was raised up in my office. I had to answer phones while giving him a bottle, prepare a profit and loss statement while rocking him to sleep and deal with the colic while meeting a tax deadline. Yeah, I can multi-task with the best of them.

Of course I love my morning time writing. When my son is off to school and hubby has left for work, I sit in my pj’s and sip my coffee. This is my time to blog, check my sites and do a little intense writing. I try to steal a couple of minutes here and there during the day, but when you run a busy accounting office, that’s few and far away.

I do love to write with music playing softly in the background. When I have the house to myself, usually I have Pandora running. My listening pleasures vary drastically. My son laughs when he walks into my office. I have Pandora running all day in the office. The stations I listen to vary from Adam Levine Radio, Evanescence Radio, Luke Bryan Radio, Drunk On Country Radio to 80’s Love Songs Radio. I told you they vary. Some days I add in Classical Radio too. It’s all according to my mood. But my Pandora stations are always on shuffle. So you never know what will come up. Then of course I have my CD’s for when I want a more chiseled effect. That varies broadly. The one that gets my hubby and son is the Celtic Sounds CD that I play sometimes. They’ll roll their eyes and walk back out. I usually laugh.

So, how do you like to write? Do you need silence or music? If you use music as your muse, what’s you favorite writing sounds?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Dusting off an old manuscript…

As most of you know I’ve been writing stories most of my life. Several of my books come from manuscripts that I wrote many years ago. I was cleaning out a drawer the other day and ran up on a spiral notebook. I didn’t think anything about it and set it on the table with some other papers to go through.

When I finished cleaning out the drawer and the one below it, I decided to see if the notebook was just a old one from my son. He’s bad about saving them from prior school years. As I opened it I was surprised to find one of my stories. Of course I dropped everything and sat down to read the story. The funny thing is I didn’t remember writing the story. As I read it I smiled thinking that it would make a great book, or at least a good book 😉

So, I put it in with my other manuscripts in the works and went about my day. But as any writer will tell you, the story started to fill my head. I kept going back to the words in the book. Soon the story came back to me and I couldn’t help but to sit down and write a few notes before I forgot them again. Yeah, it’s not fun to get older and lose your memory easily…

For now it’s still in long hand form. I plan to one day put it in my laptop, but it’s just a whim. It will be an interesting change from my normal writing. I will let you in on the story line soon, but for now, let’s just say I’m holding this gem close for a little longer.

Do you have manuscripts that are unfinished, but still in your mind? Have you put them away for another time? Tell me about it and share something from it.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Love, the long road ahead…

Romance. It’s the time honored wish for most women. We read about it in magazines, novels and watch it in the movies. The search takes on a feverish turn as we get older, but do we find that elusive time held romance? Would you say you found that one man that curls your toes and leaves you in awe? Have you found your romance novel love?

Romance is not a myth, it’s real. But unfortunately we’re all so busy living life that we don’t stop to give it a chance. Romance is inside of all of us, but we don’t let it out. Some men are afraid that if they show their romantic side, then it means they’re weak. What they don’t realize is that romantic side is a indication that they’re in full control of their masculinity and know how to make their women happy. To me there’s nothing more masculine than a man that surprises his wife with a rose or just a simple, spine tingling kiss in public.

Romance can be found in so many ways. It just has to be explored, tested. If your relationship is lacking romance, then maybe you’re not trying hard enough. If your marriage has lost some of that honeymoon phase, then try a little romance. Light a candle at dinner, even with the kids at the table. Give him a look that says imagine we’re alone, he will get the message. Even a little note that simple says I Love You slipped in his lunch or wallet can spread a little romance his way.

I know I talk about romance a lot, but what can I say, I love romance. I guess that’s why I write romance. It’s a way I can spread romance to everyone who reads my work. Romance is a wonderfully, loving experience that everyone needs to have. So, as I always say, go out and spread a little romance.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

P.S.: Finding The Right Time made it to Barnes & Noble for preorder. Here’s the link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/finding-the-right-time-stephanie-hurt/1118861344?ean=2940045730792

Are you using your voice?

Ok, I know that’s a strange question, but hear me out. I’m talking about your author’s voice. That voice that speaks to you and drives you to write. You know that voice, it’s the one that wakes you in the middle of the night, the one that keeps your mind off everything around you, and it’s the one that nudges you to write that next chapter before bedtime. Yeah, you know it. All writers hear it, some ignore it, but you hear it.

But the question is, are you using your voice? Have you listened to others and changed to suit them, but not you? Yes, we need to listen to our critics, but if we totally change our voice aren’t we denying our inner talent. When you write from your heart it shows. When you listen to that voice in your head you use your writer’s voice.

If you change that and don’t listen to your own voice, then where does the story come from. Well, it would have to come from somewhere outside of your head, which means you’re not using your voice. It’s your writer’s voice that makes you the writer. It’s that voice that gives you the stories you write, the emotions, the complexity of characters. So, if you don’t use your own voice, then what next?

Did you know that your voice determines the genre you write in? If your voice leans toward romance, then you write romance, if it leans toward science fiction, then you’ll write science fiction. You get the picture, right? Well, I’ve talked to writer’s that listened to critics and other people and they changed their voice. But it wasn’t a good change, it was a tragic change. Their writing went downhill. Yes, we all need to edit our voice, I mean we’re not perfect in no means, but we don’t need to edit our voice.

I had a reviewer tell me one time that I needed to add some tequila shots to one of my books. She went on to explain that she thought it needed to have more heated love scenes. Well, I’m sorry, but that’s not my voice. She liked the book, but wanted more steamy sex scenes. My writing voice leans more toward the calmer romance voice. I have no problem with steamier books, but it’s just not my voice. That’s why we have authors that write in that voice. I lean more toward the heart warming romance. But that’s just the way I write. I have many great author friends that write steamy romance and I love their books. They in turn read mine and appreciate it also. We understand that all of us has a different voice.

So, are you following your voice? Are you listening to that inner part of you that makes your writing exclusively yours? Remember to follow your heart and not follow what’s popular now. You never know, you could start a new voice or popular culture.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Character lists, organizing them…

As a writer you learn many tricks of the trade. For me I outline almost every book from start to finish. Of course as the story develops so does the outline. One of the most important factors in the writing process is the character list. It helps keep you from renaming a character mid book. Yeah, I did this. *Grinning* Also helps you remember the different aspects of the characters that don’t take forefront in the story.

Of course I didn’t learn this nifty little practice until about 5 books in. It really stinks when you’re in the midst of writing and suddenly you can’t remember what one of the side characters does for a living. I always keep my character outline at the bottom of my screen. It sits there ready for action when I need it. I just pull it up and get the info and bam, I’m back to writing.

The book that I used this the most was ‘Victoria’. She had 5 brothers and they had wives and children too. All of the characters played a part in the story so I had to remember what wife went with what brother. Also, in this one I had a timeline beside me too. I’ll get into that in another blog. But if I didn’t have that list, it would have been a nightmare.

This outline started out on paper, handwritten, but after I lost it once I put it in my computer so that it was available at a moment’s notice. This also helps with series. That way you can pull from this all the way throughout. You can add new characters and new additions to old characters. It’s a wonderful tool and so easy to set up.

So, if you’re writing a book and don’t have a character list, then I suggest setting one up. It helps immensely to have a mini bio on your characters. List their likes, dislikes. If your character has blonde hair, put it down. If they are vegetarian’s thats important to make a note of. Also if they have a scar or disability, definitely worth a mention in the bio. This also helps if you decide to do a question answer session with your characters. These are really fun!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Don’t forget that “Finding the Right Time” is available for Pre Order on Smashwords.com. It should be up this week on Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Apple iTunes. It’s only .99 while on Pre Order, but will go to $3.99 on March 31st when the official release date hits.

Finding The Right Time is on Pre Order…

The Pre Order is now officially up on Smashwords.com. It should be available on Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Apple iTunes in a couple of days. Here’s the link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/413534. Remember, it’s only .99 for preorder, but after the release on March 31st it will go up to $3.99.

Here’s a excerpt for you to sink your teeth into:

As they neared the tree line she could make out a well-traveled pathway. It opened up as they entered it. The trees were gently swaying with the light breeze. She watched sunlight making its way between the branches. She noticed several large oak trees with moss hanging almost to the ground. She could smell the musty scent of the moss and old trees.

It was weird how comfortable she felt with Anthony. Any other time she would have been a little leery of walking in the woods alone with a stranger, but he didn’t feel like a stranger.

Then she started to see a clearing ahead. He turned to her and smiled. “It’s just ahead in the clearing. I think you will be surprised.” The excitement showed on his face.

As they neared the clearing she noticed a tall wrought iron entranceway. It was amazingly ornate and beautiful. The cemetery was large. It was graced with a huge old live oak in the center of the graves.

“My great-great grandfather planted that oak the day he buried his wife. It’s funny the similarities between you and her. Her name was Lilliana and he called her Lily. I didn’t mention it the other day because I didn’t think you’d be interested, but I can see you would.” He couldn’t help but stare at her. The resemblance was amazing.

She was in awe of the beauty of the place. It was so peaceful. The only sound was the wind whispering through the trees and the slight tinkling sound of a wind chime, but where was it coming from.

“I hear a wind chime. Where is it coming from?” She looked around the trees expecting to see it hanging somewhere among the sprawling limbs.

“It’s on a stand beside the head stone of my great-great grandmother. It’s been there for as long as I can remember. Uncle Thomas has rethreaded it several times. Of course with age it has dry-rotted several times, but it was the dying wish of her husband to keep the wind chimes blowing.” He watched her expression as she looked stunned.

“What’s on your mind? I can tell you are deep in thought.” He wondered what he’d said to affect her so.

“Your uncle said you believe in previous lives. Can I tell you something?” She was still looking at the old oak tree.

“I have some crazy thoughts I know, but I just always feel different from everyone around me. I guess that’s why I’m considered a recluse.” He laughed to himself. “What did you want to tell me?”

“I’ve always felt like I was an old soul. It’s weird but I feel like I’ve seen the house and yard before. You even look familiar to me, but I know I’ve never met you before the other day. Does that sound weird?” She finally chanced a glance at him. The sun was shining down on his dark hair and it glistened. She was struck again by the similarities in him and the man in her dreams.

Well, that’s just a little snippet. I’ll be posting little hints all of March. Also, keep watching for some giveaways. I’m also offering 5 ARC copies to the first 5 people that direct message me. This book has been a long work in progress and I’m really excited about it. The cover is the brain child of my cover designer and myself. I’ve had in my mind what I wanted since I typed the first word. It turned out to be an awesome cover that expressed the way I feel about this book and the characters.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…