Hollyworld: August 2018

Monday, August 27, 2018

Setting Goals: My Novel Freshman Experience

Setting Goals.

When I first started writing, I treated my attempts like work. I set a goal and did everything I could to meet it. I treated my writing like a business before it was a business. And that commitment worked for me and my vocation.

So as I'm starting my pottery avocation, I'm doing the same thing. My big goal for the term is to get better. I want to throw better (and better than not good should be doable. LOL) and I want to get better at the things I'm already happy with (my Santas and log mugs). And I want to learn more studio skills.

But I wanted a bigger goal. There's a group at school that does Empty Bowls Dinner in the spring...it raises money to fill empty stomachs. Guests have a simple meal of soup and bread...and you get to keep a handcrafted pottery bowl. They need a lot of bowls. So I said...I'll do fifty. Since I am so new to throwing, this is a hefty goal. But I'm hoping it improves my throwing and glazin. I'm hoping to learn to throw a shape and size consistently. And I need to find a design I like. And I like the idea of all that learning ultimately feeding people in need.

I made three smaller, wider bowls (on the left). They weren't bad, but I tried a taller, deeper bowl. I think that's a better design. I made three of those, then tried one a bit taller.

So seven. I'm seven bowls into my goal.

Now, along the way I threw a very small, bad bowl. But rather than let it go to waste, I tried my underglazing on it again. Another poppy. It'll make an acceptable change or key bowl.

Goals. They're a way of moving forward in a vocation or avocation. They SHOW you what you can do. Uh, yeah that was a lead-in to today's Trippin' with Holly and Susan. We're talking about Show Don't Tell. Yes, it's kind of a writerly topic, but even as a reader, understanding how a book goes together can enhance your reading experience. So check it out...

A viewer (how cool is that to say or write?) wanted us to talk about Show Don't Tell—so here it is. And we discover Susan gets "tangry" and Holly might be a bit of a smart a$$. LOL Hope it gives you Monday Glee!
Holly

PS There's a new episode of Able to Love Again out on Radish today. What's Radish? An app for your phone so you never run out of books to read. You can check out The Moments for free there as well!

PSS

Polished Off

Don't forget my new release Polished Off: A Maid in LA Mystery is out! Check out Quincy's newest adventure!

And there's a salespalooza this month. Check out:
Just One Thing
Hold Her Heart
Everything But...series

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!

Find my books at:

B&N

BAM

In Erie, you can find my books on the shelf at Werner Books! Stop in, check them out and tell them I said hi!

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Where Stories Come From

When I started writing, I was unsure what I would write. I grew up on science fiction and fantasy. That wasn't it. I sold a poem early on and made $4. I decided that wasn't it. And then I found romance. I loved how it honed in on two characters, their obstacles and how they found a way beyond them in order to find each other. Comedy. Drama. The basic component stays the same. People meet. Things get in the way. They overcome them. They find each other.

And early on, I discovered you could add all kinds of elements to that "formula." And in my Fairy Godmother series, I added...fairies. And comedy. I was so lucky to find a small press who loved the fairies as much as I did. And I added my love of Heinlein to the fairy myth. You see, he felt that characters who are truly loved exist somewhere. His characters visit Oz. In my series, the fairies are loved enough that they come to life. That's where this story began with, what if Heinlein was right.

What-if. That's where all stories begin.

Over the years I've asked that question about fairy godmothers, wedding cursing grandmas, people recovering from loss, or dealing with pain... I keep asking the question. All my stories come from that one question.

The fairy godmother series got new covers a few years back and I love them. Since then the fairies have found a new group of readers. The first book, Mad About Max is on sale for $.99.

Talking fairies seems like a nice segue to my latest Trippin' with Holly and Susan where we talk about superheroes. Yes. I know you're thinking fairies aren't superheroes, but I would argue that fairies and other magical creatures could easily hold their own against superheroes. Although, if my Fern, Myrtle and Blossom were the fairies in question, there would be mishaps. Guaranteed. LOL

Every story begins with someone asking themselves, what if. What if fairies came to life? What if a kid got bit by a spider? It's always the same question.

Holly

PS Check out the newest Trippin'. If you missed any, you can find them on YouTube.

PPS

Polished Off

Don't forget my new release Polished Off: A Maid in LA Mystery is out! Check out Quincy's newest adventure!

Find my books at:

B&N

BAM

In Erie, you can find my books on the shelf at Werner Books! Stop in, check them out and tell them I said hi!

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Experimenting: My Novel Freshman Experience and another Trippin' with Holly and Susan

I'll confess, there's a certain freedom in experimenting. I've been doing a lot of that this summer with both clay and paint. Trying to see what works—what I like. Letting go of the need to be perfect and approach art (and life) with no real expectation other than answering the question what-if. (That's my favorite writing question, too!)

What-if. It's a powerful question. What if I tried...? What if I did...?

All that questioning and experimenting has taught me things. First thing is, I like asking questions. Second, I learn more from trying something myself than having someone tell me. Yes, I learn more even if the experiment fails. Something that all my arting and claying (yes, I've decided those are words) have taught me that I really like folk art. I've started to collect pieces by other artists. Knowing my art preferences will help as I try arting myself. I start back to school tomorrow (I'm so jazzed about going back) and have been thinking about what I want to learn this term in ceramics. I want to learn practical studio things, like loading, programming a kiln and mixing glazes, but in terms of my claying, I want to experiment more. I want to what I can do with clay. I'm sure you'll be seeing more My Novel Freshman Experience. I hope that you all ask yourself, what-if...and try something new this year. A class. A new podcast. Something. Life is short and there's so many wonderful things to try! Try something new today!

Holly PS A new Trippin' with Holly and Susan

What does a hero named Larry have to do with Taco Bell and Trippin" food? Listen to today's Trippin' video and find out!

(BTW, since the senior editor didn't think Larry was a hero's name, I changed it to Mac—everyone called him that except the heroine, who spent most of the book calling him Larry...I'm so tricky!)

PPS

Polished Off

PS. Don't forget my new release Polished Off: A Maid in LA Mystery is out! Check out Quincy's newest adventure!

And there's a salespalooza this month. Check out:
Just One Thing
Hold Her Heart
Everything But...series

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!

Find my books at:

B&N

BAM

In Erie, you can find my books on the shelf at Werner Books! Stop in, check them out and tell them I said hi!

Friday, August 17, 2018

Back to School—My Novel Freshman Experience

School starts for me on the 23rd. Yep, I'm going back to school! I'm so excited. I wanted to finish my summer's work before classes started, and the face jug in the video was my final project. I know some of you have said they're ugly...and they are. That's the point really.

Why do I like making something ugly? Well, I think they're kind ugly-cute. But more than that, for me their a way to connect to my history. I've been working on-and-off on a family tree for a few years and I've found I have deep Appalachian roots. And face jugs, though they've been discovered in Mesopotamia, have deep mountain roots. I like that connection. My son asked for one. I made two, so he'll get his choice.

I am just taking once class again, and yes, it is a Ceramics Class again. LOL At this rate, I'll have finished my first freshman term by next summer.

So this might not be the fastest degree in history. Frankly, I have no clue what degree I ultimately want. But I'm having fun and that is a big part of why I'm back to school. And I'm learning so much.

What did my first term teach me? I love ceramics as much as I thought I would. If you've read, Just One Thing, you'll see a bit of my longing for a pottery class. But more than that, I'm loving the freedom of clay. I am not an expert, and I don't expect to be. I'm experimenting. I'm trying new things. Those Santas were inspired by my father-in-law. He carved his in wood. I tried to replicate some of them. And then I expanded and made my own. Those small jugs with the weird mold looking splotches? Those were an experiment. I've done a lot of black and I'm trying more colors.

But more than all that, my first year back at school reminded me how much I love learning. I mean love it. I don't know a lot about much, but I know a little about a ton of things. As a writer, that's important. When I wrote that pottery scene in Just One Thing, I'd never wedged clay. I researched it and tried to translate it. Those bits of lots of things work their way into my stories.

So what are my goals this term? To get better. I started wheel throwing over the summer. I am better than when I started, but I'm not good...I want to get better. And I want to do more carving. I've discovered I really like that aspect of claying. I'd like to make at least one container with a lid. And I really want to play with glazing and underglazing. I started painting because of the claying. I want to work more on how to translate one art to the other and back again. That picture above of a small jug I made trying to replicate the Erie beach scene I'd painted.

Back to school!

I'm so happy!

I plan a lot of claying this fall!

And maybe that's my biggest lesson...the one I want to share with all of you. I think I've found the true fountain of youth...never stop learning. Maybe your thing isn't ceramics. Maybe it's a real class. Maybe it's painting. Maybe it knitting. Maybe it's a lecture on history. Maybe...

Whatever it is it's individual, but I hope whatever your Maybe is you find it and love learning about it!

So keep an eye out for more of My Novel Freshman Experiences. Just think, in a couple years, I might be writing about My Novel Sophomore Experience! LOL

Holly

Polished Off