“Choosing my characters and making them real is an
exciting time for me. Every character has flaws—nobody’s
perfect.”
How does she bring these characters to life? “The most
important thing I do with each character is write a biography
detailing flaws, the way they look, their backstory, pretty
much everything that led them to who they are in the book.
By the time I finish a book, my characters are like old friends
and it’s sad to see them go.”
You said, “Writing romance novels is my dream come true.
From the time I read my first romance novel, in my early teens,
I’ve been writing them in my mind. I love creating a world
where my readers can escape for a while. Every romance I write
has a HEA (happily ever after) and my motto is “Everyone
Needs a Little Romance”. The first time I held one of my
published books in my hands was the best feeling for this girl.”
With so many stories running through your head, how
do you choose which story to create? Your books range from
historical, western, time travel and Christian. “It is hard to
push one to the back burner while I finish another. With the
help of my assistant, we go through the stories one by one
and prioritize the list. At any given time, I’m working on
three or more books, with most of the focus put toward the
next book in line. This is especially important with my series
books and seasonal books.
One wonders if she ever runs out of ideas. “The story
ideas flow freely (and constantly) in my mind. I hope it never
stops. Don’t get me wrong, writer’s block is a real thing. With
as many stories that are in my head, I still have moments of
uncertainty with each story, but that’s part of writing. In fact,
I’ve had ideas for books and put in several hours on them
but pushed them back because the idea just didn’t pan out.
Sometimes I do eventually go back to them, but it could be
several months or even years before I do.”
Her advice for new writers who want to write romance?
“Do it! That is my advice to any new writer that wants
to write romance. Do it. Don’t hold back. I just wish I
would’ve started publishing my books earlier in life. Also,
I would tell them to write from their heart. Never follow
trends (I know that’s not protocol). If you feel it, write it
and don’t look back.”
Stephanie suggests a helpful hint. “Outline! Some writers
are “pantsers” and others are outliners. You must figure out
what works best for you. I tend to go both ways according to
the story. If my story comes in full blown, I write an outline.
If halfway through the story the plot line changes, I write
another outline. Writers must find what works for them.
There is no wrong way if the words flow. That’s your story no
matter how you get there.”
Everyone wants to know what the hardest part is for writers
when writing. Stephanie said, “Pacing myself. I can see the
whole thing most of time and I want to get to the juicy parts.
The second hardest part is putting together a blurb for the
back of the book. How are you supposed to condense a full
novel into one or two paragraphs? Another is to know when
to stop and publish. Even after I finish a story, I continue to
return to parts of it thinking it needs something else.”
There are easy parts also for writers. It differs with each
writer. “For me the easy part is the story. There’s never been a
problem figuring out more storylines. I’ve always had a story
in my head. Now, that doesn’t always mean I have all the
words to put into that story, but I have the story.”
As busy as she is we wondered if she had any hobbies.
“My biggest hobby is writing. Just the thought of having
an extra moment to work on my books makes me happy.
However, reading comes in at a close second (I call this
honing my skills). I like creating book covers for my
upcoming books (This could be called terrorizing my
assistant because I have impossible expectations sometimes).
I’m noticing a trend here, just look in the dictionary under
introvert and you’ll find me with laptop in hand.”
Now you know how this author wrote and published
39 books. For more information on Stephanie Payne Hurt
visit her website, http://www.stephaniehurtauthor.com/.
Stephanie Payne Hurt was recently inducted into the
Romance Writers of America PAN Group. n
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