Magic Hearts

 I met a cousin a while back and he introduced me to an aunt this week. Well I met her on the phone. We talked for two hours. She told me about a grandmother I never knew and a great-grandmother I never knew. She shared family stories and gave me a connection to people I've only known by their names on my family tree. It was amazing.

If you read my books (and I hope you read my books) you know that idea of what makes a family is something I write about a lot. My family is at the center of everything I do. And discovering the family from my broken family tree...the family I never knew has given me such joy. I think that comes through in my stories. 

Carry Her Heart was a story about a mother who gave a baby up for adoption.
Hold Her Heart was the story of that baby—all grown up—coming home and finding her mother. She had to grapple with the question (my question) of what makes a family. 

Hold Her Heart:

Those two books really comes at the idea of family from two different directions that end up in the same place. I explored the idea of family from an entirely new space when I talked about adoption through the Keller family in my Hometown Hearts series. In Crib Notes, Cessy wrote a paper about it for school:

Yes, I've explored the idea of family—of what makes a family—over and over. That's the beauty of being a writer. Those book taught me what I'd already learned—every time I think my heart is as full as a heart can be, I realize there's more room. Hearts are magic...they can never be full.

Family.

I so lucky to have Himself and the family we've built. They fill my heart. But meeting new family...well, hearts can expand exponentially. There's always more room.

Christmas is next week and we will all miss parts of our family we can't be with. But that's the other thing about magic hearts...no amount of distance can really separate us from those we love. 

So Happy HOLLYdays, everyone! May your hearts be overflowing and please stay safe!

Holly

PS Books and Pottery

HollysWoodsStudio

Christmas in Cupid Falls and Everything But a Christmas Eve are both on sale for $.99 for Christmas!

And check out Hometown Hearts:

Crib Notes: Hometown Hearts #1

Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iBook

A Special Kind of Different: Hometown Hearts #2

Kindle, iBook, Kobo, Nook

Homecoming: Hometown Hearts #3
Kindle, Kobo, IBooks, Nook

 

Suddenly a Father: Hometown Hearts #4

Kindle, Kobo, Nook, iBooks

Something Borrowed: Hometown Hearts #5
PREORDER. Available 1/21
Kindle, Kobo, Nook, iBooks