Spring Newsletter

Happy Spring!! It was a long winter here in Erie, but things are warming up now!  I have baby tomatoes in the kitchen on a warming mat.  I have to confess, I'm beyond excited about them.  This is our third year of heirloom seeds I gathered.   On a book note...well, this is going to be a crazy month for releases.  Most of you know I set most of my books in Erie...well, this month, I'm heading down to Texas for a story! I have a fun new release for Amazon Worlds, My friend, Carolyn Brown, is spearheading a new world, Blame It On Texas.  She invited me to come visit and I did! It just so happened that I had a character from this fall's The Plus Side who needed to get out of Erie quickly. Sunny and her big dog, Shep, finds themselves at the Palo Duro Canyon, Texas. There she meets a certain deputy and...well, come down and visit the canyon with me and see what happens! Today there's my second Cupid Falls story, A Simple Heart! Paisley Jones moves to Cupid Falls, Pennsylvania to start a new life for herself and for her orphaned niece. She buys Simple Treasures craft store and hires Gideon Byler to help with some renovations. Gideon's not sure what he makes of this woman who sweeps into town and starts changing everything. But slowly he begins to realize that this stranger just might have more in common with him than anyone else he knows. Can the magic of Cupid Falls help two people who are lost between worlds find common ground...and maybe love? Something you might not know is I weave baskets.  You can see a lot of them on Pinterest. Watch next month for I Waxed My Legs for This?This was my first sale to Harlequin.  I'd been trying to break into their comedy line for a couple years and I got really nice rejections, but I felt bad that I wasn't bringing more money into the house.  I mentioned maybe I should get a job.  My husband said, no...he was positive I'd sell to Harlequin soon.  That was January of 2000.  Harlequin call in March that year.  Then Silhouette Romance called and...well, I've been selling books ever since.  And yes, my husband occasionally reminds me that he told me so!   I'm off next week to Barbara Vey's Readers' Luncheon.  If you're going, please look me up and say hi!  I'll definitely be at the bingo game! Happy Spring, everyone!! Holly

Blame it on...Texas!

Blame it on Texas...
well, actually, I'm blaming today's surprise release on Texas and Carolyn Brown.  You see, Carolyn and I are friends.  And she invited me to send one of my characters down to her Palo Duro Canyon, Texas series.

To be honest, I didn't plan to say yes.  As a matter of fact, I'm so busy here I didn't think I could say yes.  And yet, I found myself thinking about Texas and a character, Sunny, from this fall's The Plus Side. (Remember the ICU nurse, Alice in These Three Words?  It's her story.)  Sunny had just a small cameo in the book, but I knew more of her story than I'd included in The Plus Side.  And I knew that Sunny needed to get out of town.  What if Sunny headed to Texas?  

Darn those two words...what-if.  Once I thought them, I couldn't unthink them.  And I certainly couldn't stop thinking about Sunny and Texas and...  Well, before I knew it, I had a story and Sunny was in the canyon.  She met a few of Carolyn's characters there and she met a certain deputy, Josh Able and...

Well, I hope you'll pick up Able to Love Again and see what happens next!

I'll confess, I didn't plan to write this story, but I'm so glad I did.  I loved Josh and Sunny, and everyone in the canyon!  Most of my books are set here in Erie.  Oh, I've set some in neighboring Ohio and New York, and my Maid in LA series is set mainly in California. It was so fun to send Sunny from Erie to Texas.And I hope after you pick up Able to Love Again, you watch next week for my Mother's Day release, A Simple Heart: A Cupid Falls Novella! (It's available for preorder!) After that, comes I Waxed My Legs for This? in June! (Also available for preorder!)  And there are more coming soon!  I'll give you details as soon as I have them!

Before I go, I want to say, "Carolyn, thank you so much for inviting me to Texas!  I had so much fun!"  I hope you all enjoy your visit, too!

Holly

 (You can read Carolyn's Palo Duro Canyon stories, Long Hot Texas Summer and Daisies in the Canyon.)