My Story Garden

I am a Story Gardener -- I neither plot nor "pants" the idea. It's more like planting a seed (the characters), then watering and nurturing with Goal, Motivation, and Conflict (thank you, Debra Dixon). The Story Garden will need fertilizer (organic, of course, which could be stinky). The Plot will climb a sturdy trellis, that must assure a beginning a middle, twists and turns, and an end. The Story Garden will grow from the bottom to the top of the Plot Trellis. A gardener never knows what gnarly twists and turns--or weeds and bugs--a Story Garden may develop before the fruit fully ripens. My task is not to smother the natural vitality of the Story Garden, but to ensure the Vine does not rot in the process. 

Big Deal Sale!

Cast Of Characters is part of Amazon's Big Deal, and will be available for only $1.99 for Kindle through August 23rd.  That's a 91% savings!  Happy reading!

Cast Of Characters

Did I mention there's also a story in there by me?  Oh, well, there is.  Something new.  :)  Enjoy!

~Deb

www.debstover.com

Hero's Name

As some of you may recall, the hero in my novel, SOME LIKE IT HOTTER, is named Mike Faricy.  Well, I met a real Mike Faricy at a conference some years ago, when he came in and demanded why I had written a book about him.  After I assured him it was purely coincidental, he left happy with an autographed book.  :)  Since then, I've met yet another Mike Faricy, who is also an author in his own right.  He said anytime someone googles his books, they end up finding my SOME LIKE IT HOTTER instead of him.  So I've vowed to help readers find his books, too.  :)

Here's a link to a recent interview with him:

http://lauries-interviews.blogspot.com/2011/05/spotlight-interview-with-mike-faricy.html 

He lives part of the year stateside, and part in Ireland, and we've become Facebook penpals.  He seems like a stand-up guy, and certainly has a good sense of humor.  I even mentioned that I could change the hero's name when I reissued SLIH, but he nixed that idea.

Perhaps he likes being the hero of a romance novel, fighting against evil--AKA Slick Dawson--or he just wants to spend more time with the heroine, Abigail Kingsley.  :-)

As my late husband always said, whatever works. ;-)

SOME LIKE IT HOTTER is now available for Kindle, Kobo, Sony, Nook, and--soon--iBooks.  So is A WILLING SPIRIT, and SHADES OF ROSE will be very soon.  Check my website for details.

Happy Reading!

~Deb

www.debstover.com

Happy Valentine's Day

I am so excited.  One of my all-time favorite historical romance authors--the incorrigible and incredible Rebecca Paisley!!!!--is launching a web presence, and will be blogging soon!!!!  Check back here for more info.  I'll post a link to her blog as soon as she posts her first note.  :)  I hope, I hope this means we may have another of her wonderful books to read in the not-too-distant future!!!!!!

May all my readers have a magical Valentine's Day!

Love,
Deb

Snowy Morning

Not unusual for January in Colorado at 7,436 feet.  We're due more with blowing, so I poked my head out the door and snapped a few iPhone photos before it starts again.

Happy reading and writing, all!

~

~Deb
www.debstover.com

Thanksgiving, Snow, Etc.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and made some lasting memories.  You never know when you may need them.  I pull mine out every year and go through a mental slide show of holidays past.

We woke this morning to about six inches of fresh snow.  Very pretty.  The Palmer Lake Star has been lit for the Season, too, so it's beginning to look a lot like...  ;-)  Of course, the most beautiful photo I've ever seen of our Star is this one, taken last winter on a bitterly cold full moon night after Christmas by my gentleman friend, Martin Yaslowitz.

I took these snow pics before the sun had fully risen, and they're a little fuzzy--not enough coffee--but not too bad for phone pictures from an amateur.  :)  I'm a writer--not a photographer. 

Speaking of which, I am in the process of preparing some of my back list titles for Kindle.  Check my website for details.  A Willing Spirit will be first.

Happy reading, all!

The F Word

My name is Deb Stover and I'm a genre slut--technically, a sub-genre slut.  My published novels, short stories, and novellas all fall under the romance and/or women's fiction umbrella.  However, from there they pretty much run the gamut.

Time travel, historical, paranormal (ghosts, reincarnation, angels, curses, witches, devils, fairies), fantasy, contemporary, suspense/mystery, western, sexy and not-so-sexy, humorous and serious, scary and not-so-scary, and...so forth. 

Yep, I'm a serious sub-genre slut....

My brilliant literary agent advised me a decade ago that I should focus.  I cringed.  The "f" word?  F-f-f-f-focus?  Only write one kind of book?  Seriously?

Yes, seriously.  In order to build my readership, I should f-f-f-f-focus on one sub-genre for several books and stop being so, er, promiscuous with my muse.

This is like the desert island question.  If you were stranded on a desert island with only one book to read, what would it be?  Voracious readers consider this a special level of hell.  One book?  Yikes!  What a nightmare...

So, just as I decided to try f-f-f-f-focusing on contemporary paranormal romance for a while, my personal life went into the tank.  My husband's cancer came out of remission and became terminal, my health took a horrible turn, and I spent approximately six years pretty much unable to work.  I finally finished The Gift, which is a paranormal contemporary romantic suspense psychic empath ghost story (big grin), and realized, after losing my beloved husband, that I did not want to f-f-f-f-f-f-focus on this type of book.

Life is too short, and writing is too hard, not to follow our muse.  Yes, I absolutely agree with my brilliant agent's F-word advice.  She's wise far beyond her years.  However, I realize now I need to f-f-f-f-f-focus on the books of my heart.

I need to practice what I preach.  I often tell beginning writers not to write what they don't enjoy reading.  I ask them what type of book first made them sit down at the keyboard and type that first manuscript.  So I asked myself those same questions.

I've just completed a proposal I warned my brilliant literary agent is "classic Deb Stover."  Bless her, she said, "That sounds wonderful."

Let's hope she still feels that way when she reads it.  :)

Writing is hard work--really hard work.  Before we publish, we do it for love, and because our Muse demands we breathe life into the characters who haunt us day and night.  There's no money, no royalties, no deadlines.  It's all for the passion and pleasure of storytelling.  And, if we get lucky, we get both.

I got lucky back in 1995 when my first book was published.  I have to say that almost every one of my published novels have been books of my heart.

I'm ready to get lucky again.

Happy writing and reading!

Love,
Deb

View from Here

I often post images of the amazing snow up here at almost 7,500 feet. We had a big snow the last day of summer and the first day of spring--and several since, I might add. We haven't seen any flakes for a couple of weeks now, so we're counting our blessings, and the pollen now. Even seeing a few blossoms here and there. So I thought it was only fair to share the view from my office window that greets me each morning when it isn't covered with snow. Even I have to admit you should be jealous. :) In the evening, I can sit on my deck and look to the east to see twinkling lights in the towns and cities below. It's pretty spectacular.

FYI, the old Queen Anne mansion you see in the photos is utterly gorgeous and it's for sale. If I had a few million lying around, I'd snatch it up. The estate is called Estemere.

Happy reading and writing!

http://debstover.blogspot.com/2010/05/view-from-here.html

~Deb, writing in the Rockies

Springtime in the Rockies

http://debstover.blogspot.com/

Spring showers at 7,436' above sea level are often white. In fact, I remember many Mother's Days spent with snow. The tomato seedlings are still inside, but the lettuce and peas don't mind germinating beneath the snow, thank goodness. I'll bet the bears wish they had waited a couple of weeks longer before leaving their caves this year, though.


View from my front door at 6:20 AM, April 24th, 2010

View from my office, 6:21 AM, April 24th, 2010

I console myself with the reminder that summers at altitude are wonderful, though entirely too short.

Looks like good writing weather. And reading...

Happy spring, wherever you are!

~Deb

First Review for THE GIFT

"This story had me totally absorbed. Several times I was so engrossed that when I heard a noise, I nearly jumped out of my skin. This book is vintage Deb Stover! I hope against hope that the next book will be Sam's. I'm sure he has quite a story to tell! For those readers who enjoy a tortured heroine, a hot cowboy rancher and a bit of woo woo in their stories, I suggest you run to your nearest bookstore when this one comes out and grab it up! Be forewarned, have plenty of time to read because you won't want to stop until you turn the last page!"
~Kathy Boswell, FRESH FICTION

Easter at High Altitude

Snowball fight instead of Easter Egg Hunt, anyone...? This is the scene out my front door about 11:00 AM.

At least the bears are still hibernating! :)

Happy reading, all.

~Deb

What Are You Reading?

READ is a discussion list started in 1998 by myself and a handful of other authors and readers who wanted a friendly online venue to interact. It's grown over the years into a real community. One of the readers came up with the acronym:
Readers
Enjoy
Authors'
Daydreams

Another reader on the list--the amazing Carol Carter--designed the logo you see here in needlepoint. She created a beautiful book cover with the logo on it as well for yours truly--AKA READ Mom. :)

READ is a friendly list--not one for trashing books, though we do give honest opinions about what we like and/or dislike. Those familiar with the romance writing world will understand the meaning of the phrase "RWA free zone." We ask those wanting to promote writers' only events, where there is nothing of particular interest or benefit to readers, to ask permission first, or to post only a link to the online information. Why? Because READ is primarily a readers' list. There are hundreds of writers' lists online. We certainly don't need another one.

READ's friendliness is the key to its appeal. Click on the logo to join us, and let us know what you're reading. Who knows? The author might be on the list already, waiting to answer your burning questions....

Happy reading!

~Deb

New Year - New Website!

Isn't this cool? I pass the magic wand, so to speak, to a true professional, and she not only understands what I mean by creating a design that mimics a path into the "story realm," but she even makes my blog page look like my website. :) I've had a presence on the Internet since 1993, but have always maintained what has become a monster of a website myself. The original NovelTalk Chats began at my site in 1994 via mIRC, as I'm sure some of you recall. Those were the days when we thought the Internet was like Science Fiction. Now, those old programs are antiquated and almost laughable.

But isn't this artwork beautiful? Rae Monet is the designer, and I couldn't be more pleased with her work. When you get the chance, take a look around and kick the tires. Once I'm finished with The Gift -- which will be by 2/1/2009! -- I'll spend some time organizing of the old, dead links.

Happy New Year!

Love,
Deb

Winter Again Already

Autumn in the Rockies is entirely too short. Already the beautiful aspenglow has given way to biting cold nights, with brilliant sunshine during the day. When the wind isn’t blowing, people unfamiliar with Colorado are often amazed that we locals are out walking around in sweaters when it’s 20 or 30 degrees outside. It’s downright balmy to us on a calm, sunny day to stomp around in the snow without having to brace ourselves against the wretched wind. Alas, we do have more windy days than not. Fortunately, my house up here next to the Peak National Forest is against Sundance Mountain, which shelters it from the north and west. Most really bad weather comes from those directions. We certainly still get our feet of snow every season, but that mountain offers us a tiny respite from the bitter cold wind, for which I am always thankful.

Thanksgiving is coming entirely too soon. I’m writing like a mad woman, as The Gift is now on the schedule for November 2009, and I must have it finished by the end of the year. I’m excited about finally seeing this book in print. It’s been quite a stumbling block in my path for far too long, and it’s time to see it to fruition.

For what are you thankful this season?

Love,
Deb