Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Book Sale!! Crib Notes

How are things going? I hope you're staying in and staying safe! We've been busy with training Tallulah. She's growing so fast! She's doubled her weight since we brought her home in March!  And we're busy working on my studio! I'll post pictures of the finished area sometime soon!

Other than that, I've been working on a new series (more about that soon!) and wrote a Covid-19 short story, Quarantine...that features a puppy named Tallulah. Yep, truth in fiction!

But the big news is, Crib Notes is on sale now!

Thanks, as always, for all your support! If you have a moment, please share the sale on your social media, or leave a review at your favorite site! The Hometown Hearts series is about family. I think it's a very timely subject in our current situation.

Holly

On Sale: Crib Notes, HH #1

Out Now: A Special Kind of Different, HH #2
Kobo

Preorder: Homecoming, HH #3
Amazon
iBooks
Nook
Kobo

The rest of the Hometown Hearts series will be coming soon.
Suddenly a Father will be out in September of 2020 and
Something Borrowed, Something Blue and Something Perfect in 2021!

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Family

I met a first cousin once removed (yes, I had to look it up) online last week. She's an uncle-I've-never-met's granddaughter. She seems very nice. I'm glad I could help as she explored her family tree...a family tree that is connected to mine.

Talking to her brings me back to the question I've asked over and over again in my books...what is family?

I've explored many incarnations of adoptive family and friends-as-family in my Hometown Hearts series. I explored a mother who gave a daughter up for adoption and then that daughter's return home in Carry Her Heart and Hold Her Heart. I've... I just keep exploring family over and over and in the end I keep coming up with one answer—one basic truth. Family is about love.

For me there are two types of family. Little f family and Big F Family.

My family tree represents little f family. People who share a genetic connection to me. We share DNA. I'm so enjoying this exploration. I'm related to a founder of Brown University. I have branches that are firmly rooted in pre-Revolution New England, and other branches equally rooted in pre-Revolution southern colonies. I come from Appalachian folks. I come from Mennonites, Protestants and Catholics...and I'm sure there were other beliefs mixed in. I come from England, Germany and Ireland. I come from huge family branches and small ones. I've found my grandmother's birth parents and confirmed my suspicions with DNA. Part of my family were homesteaders on a plot of land just down the road from our cottage. Truly, I can get lost in exploring these branches.

And yet, all these names and fascinating stories I've discovered aren't big F Family. I wouldn't call them up to bail me out of jail (it's never happened but who knows? LOL) or call them with exciting news. I wouldn't share my woes and glee with them. Those are things I share with...Family.

I think the world's current crisis has a lot of people thinking about family...about what it means to be Family. I'm sure my definition might not be everyone's. But that foundation of love...it should be part of everyone's definition. I've said before that I truly believe every obstacle brings a gift. We all are in the midst of a huge crisis...but maybe that means it will have an even bigger gift. Maybe we'll all look around and discover just who is Family and how much they mean to us.

Family. I've built my life around mine and to be honest, I've built a career around it.

Stay in, stay safe. And pick up a book!!

Holly



OUT NOW: Crib Notes

Out Now: A Special Kind of Different
Kobo

Preorder: Homecoming
Amazon
iBooks
Nook
Kobo

The rest of the Hometown Hearts series will be coming soon.
Suddenly a Father will be out in September of 2020 and
Something Borrowed, Something Blue and Something Perfect in 2021!


Thursday, April 09, 2020

Quarantine


Like so much of the country, Pennsylvania has a stay-at-home order. Right before the state went on lockdown, we got a new puppy. Tallulah Mae. I'll confess, she's been keeping us busy. As a writer, staying at home is my normal.  This week, I've been writing another short story, Quarantine, this week in between house-training a puppy, homeschooling the minions and working on the barn.

Quarantine
I've also been trying to post upbeat messages of hope and glee on my social media accounts! In the midst of this crisis good things still happen. Kids laugh, puppies chase balls, and people love. People fall in love. That's the story I wanted to tell in this short story. I didn't want to minimize the tragedy of what's going on, but rather I wanted to remind myself and anyone who reads it that in the midst of awfulness, good things happen. I hope this short story does that.

As always, there are elements of real life in my fiction. Of course this one has a puppy in it. Tallulah Mae to be exact. And it's a story of heroes. A nurse and a grocer. I think this crisis has reminded us all that heroes are everywhere.

I still love writing short stories. Those were my first writing sales and they're still such a joy to write. I hope you check out Quarantine and I'm including the list of the other shorts I have up and available.  And don't forget the first two books in my Hometown Hearts series are out, and the third is up for preorder!

I hope you all are staying safe and staying at home. I hope despite everything that's going on, you're still finding moments of glee in your days.

If, like me, you're home with kids, I've got some tips on what we're doing here with 4-8 year olds. Tip 1 & Tip 2.

Holly

Other Short Stories and Novellas
Nothing But Series
(Short stories w/ characters from my Everything But series and my WLVH series)



OUT NOW: Crib Notes

Out Now: A Special Kind of Different
Kobo

Preorder: Homecoming
Amazon
iBooks
Nook
Kobo

The rest of the Hometown Hearts series will be coming soon.
Suddenly a Father will be out in September of 2020 and
Something Borrowed, Something Blue and Something Perfect in 2021!