Stephanie Payne Hurt Interview Published on: 12, Oct 2017

I was born and raised in a small town, south of Atlanta, Georgia. I still live there today. I've always wanted to be a writer. I started writing stories when I was thirteen.

When I was a teenager, trying to get anything published was almost impossible. I'd write in notebooks and later on a computer, never doing anything other than getting the characters to stop screaming at me. In 2012 my niece and assistant found my old manuscripts in my desk drawer. She read them and encouraged me to self-publish them. So, that's when I started my writing career.

Horseshoe Publishing was started in 2012 to publish my books through. I started the company with my assistant. Then we opened it up for submissions to other authors to help them get their work ready for publishing. We also included website design and social media setup. As a busy author, it helps to have someone to do these things for you.

I try to write every day. Usually, I get in at least 1500 words a day if not more.

As a Children's Minister I take care of the programs for nursery age up to sixth grade at our Church. I make the volunteer schedules and make sure we have the curriculum and supplies that are needed. There are so many funny things that happen with the children. One of the funniest things that happened was as I finished telling the kids about Noah's Ark, I commented on Noah's age. One of the children looked at me seriously and asked if I was that old and if I knew Noah personally. Needless to say, I had a good laugh.

I've always loved pirate movies and books, even from a young age. When I was a young girl, I'd imagine sailing on a pirate ship with Blackbeard and finding lost treasure. I pulled as much about pirates that I could and the ships parts so that every part of the book would be as close to real as possible. It was a great joy to get to use the knowledge I've gained over the years about pirates.

Of course, one of my hobbies is reading romance. But I also consider writing a hobby because it brings me such happiness. I also play the piano, organ, and paint landscapes for relaxation.

If I'm writing an intense scene, I'll listen to chamber classical music, giving it a darker tone. Then when I'm writing a sweet scene I'll listen to soft love songs. Sometimes I will go out for a long walk as I work out a plot problem. If the problem keeps giving me problems, I'll step away from the project and work on another to clear my head. Usually, when I step away, it comes flooding back in.

The more complex character to me was Ewan Cowen. He had many facets of his personality. Their love story was such a refreshing storyline to me. They seemed to know almost from the start. Since the Scottish Highlands intrigue me, it was only natural that I would base the Cowen series in historical Scotland. Plus one of my favorite actors, Gerard Butler is from Scotland. It helped to imagine his voice when writing Ewan's character.

Funny food combinations, let's see, I sometimes like peanut butter on my toast instead of butter, does that count?

I've known for a long time that literature had the power to make someone smile, cry, laugh or just feel better about things. That's one of the things I love about writing, I want to take my reader away from their everyday life and transport them to another world, if only for a moment.

When the Five Oaks Series came about, I'd been playing the idea of doing a series about a family-owned ranch and the dynamic of the family. Then we were on our way back from a family vacation in Florida and as we entered Georgia, I started reading street signs and so the names were born. With this series, I'd like my readers to feel like they're part of the Cauthen family. By the way, the Cauthen name came from my grandmother's maiden name. I even put her recipes in the back of the final book.

If I could step back in time, I'd push myself to write more and do everything I could to get published.