Climb in the backseat for another trip with Susan and me. Today we're talking about taking your own journey and not comparing it to other's journeys! (And Susan uses the words Holly Jacobs and Nora Roberts in the same sentence! LOL) I've been thinking about the idea of every journey is an individual journey. I know, it's sometimes easier to say than believe. There's that whole keeping up with the Jones's thing. But I have to confess, I'm really happy with what I do. I spend my day writing stories that delight me for readers who in many cases have become friends! That's a pretty good life!!
I have a new story started on Radish today. Able to Love Again. I hope you'll check it out!! Sometimes you're running away from something...and sometimes you're running TO something. Holly
PS. Don't forget my new release Polished Off: A Maid in LA Mystery is out! Check out Quincy's newest adventure! And Carry Her Heart is on sale, along with the 2nd book in the series, These Three Words. Plus, if you love Quincy Mac, my other stand-alone cozy mystery, Can't Find NoBODY is on sale too! Don't want to miss any new releases in the future? Subscribe to my Newsletter!! I'll keep you up-to-date and I frequently have something special for subscribers!
As always, you can find my ebooks, paperbacks, hardbacks, audiobooks and available through Kindle Unlimited. They're also available in a lot of other languages. I hope there's something for all of you!
Susan and I are talking about manners today as we roadtrip home to Erie. I know it's not really a writing topic, but it's timely! Actually it is sort of writing related...and definitely life related!
And I'm picking back up with some of my book series!
Today, let's talk about Briar Hill Road and The Moments. I wrote Briar Hill Road for a very short lived Harlequin line, Everlasting Love. The idea was telling more than just how a couple meets and falls in love, but the width and breadth of their relationship. Briar Hill Road starts when the hero/heroine are kids and follows them as they get older. It was a unique concept. At the time, I was still recovering from the loss of my mother-in-law. She was truly one of my best friends and years later, I still miss her. That friendship between a two women, along with that sense of loss are very much present in the story. I've said for a long time that it's one of the most autobiographical stories I've ever told, even though it's completely fiction.
The second story in the series is written in that lifetime-of-love style, though it's just a short novella, or long short story. It's the couple's daughter's romance. Right now it's up for free at Radish. What's Radish? A site for people who read on their phones. I'm new there. I've got a few more books I'll be putting up there. So if you loved Briar Hill—which I hope you did/do—if you download the app, you can read the sequel for free. Check them out: Briar Hill Road Amazon & BN The Moments Radish ~~~
Let's talk about Cupid Falls. I've got a sense of pride about the Legend that begins the book. Someone who lives in the area outside of Erie read that part and emailed me to ask if it was real, and if so, how did she miss it. Here it is if you missed it:
Prologue
The Legend of Cupid Falls, Pennsylvania
To the south of Erie, Pennsylvania—south of the Great Lake that shares a name with the city—is Falls Creek. It is bigger than most creeks, but not quite large enough to be considered a river. It runs through field and forest to a ridge, carved millennia ago by a glacier. There, it plunges over the edge, falling to a hollowed-out swimming hole before becoming a creek again and meandering on its way.
Local legend has it that when George Washington visited the nearby town of Waterford in 1753, one of his retinue was touring the area. Thelocals took him to the falls, and there he met a farmer’s daughter. He married her later that same year and they settled near the creek. Years later, their daughter went to the falls with a group of friends and noticed that one of the boys in the group might be more than a friend. They married later that same year. And so it went, year after year, decade after decade, couple after couple, until the small waterfall, which in actuality was little more than a creek tumbling over a small cliff, became known as Cupid’s Falls.
When a town grew up a few miles away, the residents named it Cupid Falls as an homage to their waterfall.
And to this day, it is said, that when two people meet at the falls and declare their love, they are destined for a long, happy romance . . .
Even if that’s not what they went to the falls looking for.
If you follow my camp posts, you're familiar with the area I set my fictional town, Cupid Falls. The second book, A Simple Heart, deals with an almost Amish couple. Yes. Almost. LOL We have a lot of Amish neighbors. If you've seen pictures of The Cottage, most of the wood comes from neighbor's mills. Locally source, locally milled. I love that. Christmas in Cupid Falls Amazon A Simple Heart Amazon
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Finally, one of my very earliest series, Dear Fairy Godmother.
I grew up reading science fiction and fantasy. Heinlein, Tolkien, Lewis, Bradley... When I started writing, I thought maybe that's what I'd write, but I fell in love...with romance. But early on, I tried blending the two. Here's the premise, a romance writer writes a bestselling series featuring three inept fairy godmothers who realize their writer isn't very happy—certainly not happily ever after happy—so they come to life to help her out. They stick around and help out two other couples. And I thought I was done.
But readers loved those fairies and asked for more. And so I did one more grand finale story, Fairly Human. And I'll confess, if you read that one, I adore Blossom's bosom lament. LOL Here's the order: Mad About Max Amazon, BN, Kobo, Google Play Magic for Joy Amazon, BN, Kobo, Google Play Miracles for Nick Amazon, BN, Kobo, Google Play Fairly Human Amazon, BN, Kobo, Google Play
I hope you've enjoyed these posts and finding out a bit about the why's and how's a story is written. Holly
PS. Don't forget my new release Polished Off: A Maid in LA Mystery is out! Check out Quincy's newest adventure! And Carry Her Heart is on sale, along with the 2nd book in the series, These Three Words. Plus, if you love Quincy Mac, my other stand-alone cozy mystery, Can't Find NoBODY is on sale too! Don't want to miss any new releases in the future? Subscribe to my Newsletter!! I'll keep you up-to-date and I frequently have something special for subscribers!
As always, you can find my ebooks, paperbacks, hardbacks, audiobooks and available through Kindle Unlimited. They're also available in a lot of other languages. I hope there's something for all of you!
I mentioned my WLVH Radio series yesterday, so here's a bit about it.
It was also a series bought by Avalon Books, who mainly marketed to libraries. This made so much sense to me. I was actively writing for Harlequin and having more hardback books in libraries hopefully introduced me to new readers...who hopefully picked up my Harlequins. The first book, Pickup Lines, had a simple enough premise. As part of a WLVH Radio promotion, a girl and a guy live in a truck. The one who makes it longest wins it. She's determined to win it because her car blew up and she needed it. He's determined to win it as a marketing gimmick for the family business. I've got to confess, I loved trying to set almost book...in the cab of a truck.
The second book, Lovehandles, is named after the station, WLVH where love is more than just a song. This one is the the story of two of the WLVH . The third book, Night Calls, is about a DJ who buys...an Old English Mastiff. I mentioned that my dogs Ethel Merman and Ella Fitsgerald were the cover models for Everything But a Dog, well, the model for Night Calls was our Mastiff. Oh, he was a sweet dog. He didn't have a mean bone in his two hundred pound body. What he did have was slime. Lots and lots of slime. In the interest of being accurate, I put that slime in the book. Accurately. My only revisions for the story was...deslime it a bit. LOL So, what you get in the book is a bit less than he really slimed. It's not just a dog story, btw. His owner and a neighbor fall in love...with him and with each other! Finally, the fourth book is Laugh Lines. Now, the cover is bad, but truly it's better than the first version...which had what looked like a stripper pole in the center. So the mic is a better choice. It's a shame the cover was so bad. I loved writing a romantic comedy about a stand up comedienne. Here's what I learned writing standup...it's hard to make standup comedy in a book. Oh, I agonized over it. But in the end, I was happy with this little story. Here's the series in order: Pickup Lines Lovehandles Night Calls Laugh Lines (and you meet one of the DJ's in the Nothing But... trilogy)
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This next trilogy is near and dear to my heart. The opening premise was...what happens when three single PTA moms miss the first meeting of the year and get stuck on the crap committee? They were so much fun to write because I know these moms. I was these moms. Well, not the divorced or accidental arsonage parts, but the kids taking up the bulk of your time sort of thing. I volunteered with the PTA. I ran their Thanksgiving kids' party for years. So yes, I do love these moms. (If you're from Erie, the school is inspired by St. John's School.) So here's my moms.
In Once Upon a Thanksgiving, Samantha has a full-time job and kids. Lots of kids. The last thing she needs is to plan the Thanksgiving Pageant. And yet there she is doing just that. I side note, I'm pretty proud of the lines from the supposed pageant. I wrote them! Book two, Once Upon a Christmas, is about Michelle. She's happy to plan the Christmas Fair. She works full-time and is raising her nephew....who has never met his father and is determined to find him. I loved how Michelle and Danielle work together in the story. The third book, Once Upon a Valentine's still gives me glee. Carly was a pip. She's my accidental arsonist. How does that happen? Let's say you spent months planning, designing and buying the perfect pieces for your husband's office. And let's say you finally finished and found him bopping the secretary (how cliche) on your perfect couch. And let's say you win that couch in the divorce settlement. Would you ever sit on it? No. You'd probably be like Carly and burn the thing. Of course, if you do, move it far away from any neighborhood structures! LOL To say Carly's anti-love is an understatement, which makes the fact she's planning the Valentine's Dance ironic. I loved all these moms and their love interests. If you want to check them out, they're:
Don't forget my new release Polished Off: A Maid in LA Mystery is out! Check out Quincy's newest adventure! And Carry Her Heart is on sale, along with the 2nd book in the series, These Three Words. Don't want to miss any new releases in the future? Subscribe to my Newsletter!! I'll keep you up-to-date and I frequently have something special for subscribers!
As always, you can find my ebooks, paperbacks, hardbacks, audiobooks and available through Kindle Unlimited. They're also available in a lot of other languages. I hope there's something for all of you!
Okay, more series today...the first one is one of my most enduring. They're older stories, which makes it so much more special that readers are forgiving about my inexperience and love them anyways. It all started with Nana Vancy...only she wasn't a nana then. She was just a young girl who was in love...then her fiance missed their wedding day. So she cursed his family to...bad weddings. Not to loveless marriages. Just bad weddings. She spends the first three books trying to break the curse. I was writing the ending of book three and realized, I didn't have a clue how to break that curse. But as I mulled it over, I realized I'd laid out the answer already. Phew.
The second trilogy wasn't planned. Readers kept asking for more about Nana Vancy. It seems after she broke the curse, Nana Vancy got bored, so she tries her hand at matchmaking. I pitched the first new book, Everything But a Christmas Eve, as Nana Vancy tries her hand at matchmaking...to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas. The editor bought it on that pitch. LOL When I got to the third book, I added two dogs who were based on my dogs to the story. Of course I changed their names because they didn't want the PUParazzi hounding them. LOL That's them on the cover of Everything But a Dog. We lost Ethel Merman (the black dog) this spring. It's nice to know she has the book as a memorial.
Okay on a related note (related to Everything But...) I originally sold these books to Avalon Books. They were a small niche publisher. They did beautiful hardback editions (well, except that cover for Everything But a Mother...what the heck is that all about??) and they marketed them mainly to libraries. When I heard that Amazon had bought the rights from Avalon and were putting the books out as ebooks (and later audiobooks), I wanted to do something fun to reintroduce them to readers. So I wrote a trilogy of short stories, the Nothing But series. Amazon also bought my WLVH series (more on that in a bit), so I added WLVH disc jockeys to the short stories. I had so much fun doing them. I hope you have as much fun with Nana and her crew!
Don't forget my new release Polished Off: A Maid in LA Mystery is out! Check out Quincy's newest adventure! And Carry Her Heart is on sale, along with the 2nd book in the series, These Three Words. Don't want to miss any new releases in the future? Subscribe to my Newsletter!! I'll keep you up-to-date and I frequently have something special for subscribers!
As always, you can find my ebooks, paperbacks, hardbacks, audiobooks and available through Kindle Unlimited. They're also available in a lot of other languages. I hope there's something for all of you!
