Tag: author life

Sharing Short Stories

In the past several months, perhaps even a year, I have penned several short stories. The first short story is titled Love in the Stacks and can be read in the To LA With Love Romance Charity Anthology, while at least two others are not published.

Do you like reading short stories? I would love to know!

One thing I enjoy about writing short stories is the settings are typically one or two places. This means I can focus more on the interaction between characters on the page, while not stressing about if I remembered to include details on each fresh change of scenery. So far, I have penned two blind date type stories and one concerning a ghost. The ghost story is around three thousand words, and it was written specifically for a paranormal fall themed anthology. I have not learned whether it is going to be accepted yet.

Anyhow, I think I will be sharing some of my short stories here, mainly because I wanted them to be read. But also I don’t typically see short stories on Amazon, which is where I sell all of my books.

Would you purchase short stories via Amazon in paperback? Or would you rather read them in Kindle Unlimited?

I have been dealing with some technology issues, as of late, and as a result, my complete outline and the first five thousand words of my next small town romance vanished. I spent three hours searching before caving and asking my dear husband Jesse who is a genius in all things computer related and he couldn’t find them, either. There is good news though: I did get my scrivener program to finally open up, but downside? No file there either.

I have to tell myself at least it was only 5 thousand words and not 50 thousand words. It took me several days to get over being so annoyed and irritated at losing the words and the outline. I have learned to back up things in more than one place, or even two places. I would handwrite things if my hands wouldn’t hurt so much from writing for hours.

Today is the very early morning hours of Thursday, and my goal is to get those lost words back by this time next week. I think this is all the news I have to share rumbling around in my brain this morning.

As always, have a wonderful day!

~Stephanie Marie Whitson

check out my logo I created!

Writing and Travel Update: August 20th, 2023

Hello one and all! Welcome to my little slice of the internet in which I share things sporadically with the intention of being consistent.

Writing Update

In my previous update, I mentioned my book Love and Sunsets was to be released on March 23rd. Spoiler: it was actually released March 30th.

Since the release of Love and Sunsets, I have found it difficult to devote chunks of time writing. I did publish a handbook titled RVing Tips which is available in Kindle Unlimited.

Speaking of Kindle Unlimited, once again I tried placing my books into it and once again it was not successful. Maybe it is because I don’t run paid ads, or maybe it is because my romance novels are no typical for romance novels? Either way, I’ve decided to pull all of my books and spread the love, as they say.

I recently updated the covers of my romance series so they all match. I moved away from an illustrated cover and went with photographs of people, but focused on closeups. For example, Love and Lattes focuses on the couple sitting in front of a table with coffee. If you do check out the new covers, please let me know. I am in the process of creating. Es images for my website with the updates covers.

What’s next?

I would very much like to say I know exactly what I am writing and exactly when it will be released. But that is not the case.

I have a rough outline for my next Love in Rockaway Beach series book, but I have not decided on the title yet. I do know I want it to be longer than my typical 30-40k. I also have a series of new titles and their tropes also romance. Finally, I have around 22k of a fantasy adventure novel I have been working on here and there for the past few years. It was inspired from the TV show Xena: Warrior Princess in that the main character goes on adventures and helps people along the way. There is magic, talking animals and even a water dragon in that one.

My goal is to have a book released by the end of the year. Most likely it will be a romance mainly because fantasy novels require a ton of world building and I’m still in the oh crap I need to create a map stage of world building.

Travel Update

In March we were spending time between Washington and Oregon as our oldest daughter was experiencing some mental health issues which required a treatment center for a few months. We were there from February 13th until May 4th. At that point, we simply wanted to get back to warmer weather and more specifically Texas. I did film a series of Vlog style videos about our drive back. If you’re interested be sure to check it out Here

We made it back to Texas just in time for the holiday weekend. We had intended to spend the summer in Texas, but I had made a change in our plans to head to Pennsylvania to check out the Hershey RV show. I am glad I made the change because it’s been unbearably hot this summer in Texas and even back in Oregon where are from has been ridiculously hot as well.

We spent Independence Day in Tennessee and experienced fireworks in a small town nearby. It was a nice day and beat part was the fireworks were in view of a massive county park complete with swings and walking paths. During our stay in Tennessee we spent a day exploring Nashville and it was fun, but also so busy!

Following Tennessee, we spent time in a couple of Thousand Trail parks in North Carolina before finally making it to Virginia. There was a few different parks we won’t come back to due to noise, condition of bath houses or the lack of cell signal. Forest Lake in Advance, NC and the one we are currently at are definite winners for returns.

I plan on doing some campground reviews soon so be sure to check out my travel YouTube channel for those.

What’s next?

In a week we make our way up to Pennsylvania where I will be viewing and a ton of different models as we plan on swapping to a motor home in a couple of years. I will be sharing walk through tours on at least three different ones.

During our time in Pennsylvania, I plan on checking out civil war sites, battle of Gettysburg and of course can’t forget checking Hershey Chocolate Factory.

My husband and I will be celebrating our 8th anniversary of when we first met. How will we celebrate? I found the nation’s oldest brewery I thought we could check out and of course getting Philly Cheesesteak Subs. The only problem is the date lands on a Sunday, so we might have to celebrate a day early.

The plan now is to be back in Texas in time for all the winter holidays. Stay tuned to see if that plan stays the same or changes along the way.

Thanks for sticking around and reading this incredibly long update!

What is a good your state is known for? Let me know in the comments and if we happen to be in the state, I’ll be sure to at least give it a try!

Author Needs

What do I need as an author?

It is a question often asked by indie authors as well as traditionally published authors. One answer which seems to be the answer given to most is:

You got to have a website!

Another one is:

Newsletter is the way to go!

I have missed feelings about the newsletter answer. I understand the purpose and reasoning behind a newsletter, but what happens if there are no subs after months? I have a newsletter link I share here s d other places, but I’ve had next to zero interest. I am sure it’s partly due to me not offering a reader magnet of some kind.

The other answer of having a website as an author is also a great resource. As an author, even one who is not yet published, having a website with your own domain is definitely worth it.

But next comes the question of what to include on a website as an author.

First, there should definitely be a page where readers can see all of the books you’ve written. I understand not everyone has a store through their website, but an excellent idea would be to have a link to buy each book where it is available.

Secondly, any social links should be shared on the website. Some authors have a separate page with all the links, while others have the icons on the top of the home page. However it is done, I feel it is important for readers to be able to follow you elsewhere. And lastly, and this piece of advice I am not the best at following, but authors should share a post with book updates, behind the scene updates or even a book they’ve read recently.

But what happens if you feel like your life is boring? What happens if you have no writing update to share? There are many places one could find writing prompt ideas and suggestions of things to share, which reminds me of one resource I might start using again.

Check out the Evergreen Author Platform Bundle from Marisa Mohi

The Evergreen Author Platform Bundle is not only a list of prompts, but it also helps with finding keywords for search engine optimization as well as writer related hashtags. There’s also tips to help you grow your instagram following, among other helpful advice. I used it to create a short series of videos title Get To Know The Author which you can view here, but I think I might actually follow my own advice and use it here as well.

What advice do you have for an new author? Do you feel a website is more practical or perhaps a newsletter?

March 5th Writing and Travel Update

Many months ago, I decided I would write a blog post to go live every Sunday. For anyone paying attention, I have done a miserable job at fulfilling that self imposed deadline nearly every week. So, this is me trying to start a weekly Sunday update here.

Writing Update

Love and Sunsets, which has been delayed a bit, will be available on March 23rd, 2023. This small town romance is the fifth book in my Love in Rockaway Beach series, but it won’t necessarily be my last book in the series.

I have had fun coming up with characters and their happily ever afters along with different tropes. I do plan on writing a few more in the series, but I’ve learned setting deadlines stresses me out to no end. Which means when I know it is ready then and only then will I announce specific release dates.

Travel Updates

Currently, we are in the rainy state of Washington and will most likely be in the Pacific Northwest for at least another one or two months. We had to travel to this rather cold part of the U.S. due to a family emergency and while it is being addressed, it means we are not in the much warmer state of Texas.

But have no fear! We do plan on being back in the great state of Texas definitely before the middle of summer.

Alright everyone I think that wraps up my update for this past week. Let’s hope I can manage to keep up with my new plan of weekly updates.