Memories...the Music Connection

This coming February, Lucy Arnaz and Richard Klein will be reprising their roles in They're Playing Our Song for one night in a concert in NYC...and guess who has tickets?  Yep, me!!  I'm so excited. I grew up with this musical. You see, my mom went to New York and saw the original show.  She bought the album (now known as vinyl by my kids) and brought it home. I fell in love with the songs on their own merit, but also because my mom loved it so much.

When I was writing These Three Words, the hero is a man of few words.  One song from the show played over and over again in my head as wrote his scenes.  Fill in the Words. It was his theme song. So when I go to that show (!!!!) I'll be thinking of my mother and about the hero of These Three Words. Of all the books I wrote, this one was her favorite. I think it was the music connection. I hope it reminded her of her first trip to NYC.

Smells. Foods. Music. They all can take us back into the past. They can take us tumbling into our memories.  I mentioned last week that Pillsbury's Cranberry Bread will always make me remember my grandmother...she made it every holiday.  The smell of hyacinths always make me think of my surrogate grandfather. But for me, music is my strongest trigger. Lawrence Welk makes me remember weekends at my grandmother. They're Playing Our Song and Steve and Eydie's That Holiday Feeling will always say Christmas to me and remind me of my mom.

Memories. Our past influences our present and that influences our future. That truly was the theme of These Three Words. Two people who lost each other until their memories pull them back together. My tagline for the book is Sometimes the Greatest Love isn't Discovered it's Rediscovered.  Memories. They can change our present and our future. And for me, they can help me write a story that I hope resonates with readers.

Holly

PS. Books on Sale this Month: These Three Words Carry Her Heart Christmas in Cupid Falls And check out this year's releases: Polished Off PTA Moms: the Collection Between the Words Briar Hill Road Find my books at: Amazon Kobo Radish Fiction iBooks B&N Google Play BAM In Erie, you can find my books on the shelf at Werner Books! PPS. Have you missed our most recent Trippin' with Holly and Susan? You can catch up with them all on YouTube.

Thanksgiving...a holiday of glee!!

I've been talking about my new book, Between the Words, but this week, I'm talking about my PTA Mom Collection. I loved writing about three single moms finding love at holidays and I'm thrilled they're all in one collection (with a bonus story). I'll confess, In Once Upon a Thanksgiving, I loved that Samantha actively worked at being optimistic and happy.

With kids, a job and an unexpected PTA Committee job (the Thanksgiving pageant), she's got a lot on her plate. But she realizes she's a work in progress and just gets down to work on all of it...and in learning to be happy.

That message resonates with me. Glee is a state of mind...one we all can work on cultivating.

I will admit that I love Thanksgiving because it's a holiday that centers on family and on counting our blessings. We have a tradition here of going around the table and saying what we're thankful for. Some of the thankful-items are silly on purpose, but no matter how silly they are, it's a great reminder that we're lucky. Yes, I talk about glee a lot and I think that awareness of how lucky I am makes it easier to find glee tucked up in most of my life.

I think that's why I love this holiday so much. I might have to do a lot of cooking (making the brine today then tomorrow cooking in earnest), but there's something to be said about a day that's spent counting our blessings and reminding ourselves why we're lucky! A day of glee!

So as you all start to bustle around the kitchen prepping for the big day, I hope you take a minute to find your glee!!

Holly

PS Here are the most recent Trippin' Videos...

PPS Check out this year's releases: Polished Off PTA Moms: the Collection Between the Words Briar Hill Road Find my books at: Amazon Kobo Radish Fiction iBooks B&N Google Play BAM In Erie, you can find my books on the shelf at Werner Books!

Between the Words—New Release!!

Between the Words

You met Alice in These Three Words. And now she's got her own story, well, part of a story!! It's out today!! Alice had the perfect life...which fell apart when her husband's pregnant mistress showed up at her door. Olivia was leading an imperfect life until it fell together when she met her cheating boyfriend's other woman...his wife. Two Women. Two Romances. Two Happily-Ever-Afters in this final installment to Holly Jacobs' bestselling Words of the Heart series. Life happens between the words...so does love. I hope you'll check out this newest book in the Words of the Heart series! Each book completely stands alone, but if you've read them all, you'll find the connections! I'm happy to announce the first three books are on sale this week for $.99!! If you're missing any, this is a great time to pick them up! Here they are in order: Carry Her Heart These Three Words Hold Her Heart Between the Words   My love of affair with pottery continues but my bowl-palooza has ended. I made 50 bowls for this spring's Empty Bowl fundraiser. Okay, I made a few more than that! I made one to give away to one of you! You just have to promise to be kind...these are better than when I started, but I'm no expert! It's in the kiln now. I'll glaze it next week. So keep an eye on your email in December. I'll announce the winner near Christmas! You don't have to do anything to enter if you're on my newsletter list. If you're not, you can join here!! Books and ceramics. That's the biggest happenings in my life other than family. And the family is keeping me hopping! We went to Gettysburg at the beginning of the month. It rained the whole ride down, but the weekend ended up being lovely! The leaves were at their prime! I love Pennsylvania! I hope you enjoy the new book, Between the Words. Don't forget that the PTA Mom series is available in one Collection that includes a bonus story!  The first story is Once Upon a Thanksgiving...a great way to start the holiday season!! And Quincy Mac's 5th book, Polished Off, is out as well! I'm signing up for spring term tomorrow...yep another ceramics class is on the list! So you can be sure you'll be seeing more pieces. In the meantime, Happy Reading and Happy Thanksgiving!!  As always, thank you for all your support!! Holy PS If you have a minute, I'd really appreciate it you review the books you've read! Those reviews are a great way to help other readers find my books! Polished Off PTA Moms: the Collection Find my books at: Amazon Kobo Radish Fiction iBooks B&N Google Play BAM In Erie, you can find my books on the shelf at Werner Books!

What Makes a Family?

I just finished Futureface by Alex Wagner. It's her personal journey...her exploration into her family's roots. More than that, it's her search for where she belongs.

The book resonated with me.  I didn't know anything about my biological father until I was an adult. After we found him I found that branch of my family tree. Over the years we've built a relationship I treasure.  I've dug into that family tree and have reveled in family stories. So Alex's book and search truly resonated with me.

And my fractured family might give readers insight into why family is such a big part of the books I write. It doesn't matter if I'm writing a comedy or women's fiction or mystery...family's at the center of the story.

Next Tuesday my new release, Between the Words, comes out. It's a different type of story for me. You see...

Alice had the perfect life…which fell apart when her husband’s pregnant mistress showed up at her door.

Olivia was leading an imperfect life until it fell together when she met her cheating boyfriend’s other woman…his wife.

Two Women.

Two Romances.

Two Happily-Ever-Afters.

The Words of the Heart series is really four very stand-alone books that all intersect. Alice first appears in These Three Words. Other characters also come from the series. But the heart of the story is Alice and Olivia's relationship...the family they build. And while they both find romances, those new relationships are complicated by their fear of losing that family.

Family.

It's complex. In some cases, like Alex Wagner's the journey to where she belonged took her took her to Burma and Luxembourg. For me it took me down south and to Europe. In Between the Words Alice and Olivia's journey to family shows them that at it's core family is all about the heart.

I hope you'll preorder Between the Words. Like I said, it's totally a stand-alone book, but if you want to read the series in order, they are:

Carry Her Heart
These Three Words
Hold Her Heart
Between the Words

The first two, Carry Her Heart and These Three Words are on sale for $.99 this month.

Holly

PS.

Polished Off

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

Then go back to school with three PTA Moms.  There's a bonus short story included! Check out the PTA Mom Collection!!

PTA Moms: the Collection

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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:

Amazon

Kobo

Radish Fiction

iBooks

B&N

Google Play

BAM

In Erie, you can find my books on the shelf at Werner Books! 

Claying and Writing and New Books...oh my

We emptied the gas kiln last week. It was a very busy term for me. Today, I'm starting on a new batch of projects. My goal is to improve my wheel throwing skills and do some more underglaze painting. I tried a lot of different glazing techniques.
Never stop. Never be satisfied. Never give up looking for more things to learn. I use those rules for myself with my pottery..and with my writing!

That's my thought for today. I finished an entire kiln full of projects. Rather than resting on my laurels, I'm starting new projects. I'm going to try to improve on what I know and learn more.

Speaking of new projects, I'm just finishing up the second book in a new series. Oh, how I'm loving this series! It's cracking me up. I wish I could share more, but I promise as soon as I can, I will.
But in the meantime... Between the Words is available for preorder!!

I'm so excited!! Between the Words is a bit different. It's set in my Words of the Heart world. It started out as Alice's story (you met her in These Three Words) and ended up being the story of two women...Alice and Olivia. Yep. Two heroines. Two heroes. Two romances.

And if you missed them this summer, Polished Off (Another Maid in LA book) is out and my PTA Mom Collection as well (It's perfect for the holidays and includes Once Upon a Thanksgiving, Once Upon a Christmas, Once Upon a Valentine's and a bonus story!).

Lastly, the first two books in the

CARRY HER HEART

THESE THREE WORDS

Oh and if you haven't already, sign up for my newsletter. So many people have been following my pottery journey and I'm going to give away a piece to one of my subscribers around Christmas! If you're not signed up, click here.

That's it for now! Happy reading!!

Holly

PS Here are our latest Trippin' videos!