Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Enough is as good as a feast.

 I've been working on my family tree again. For a long time, I thought just my maternal relatives came from PA. But it turns out a number of my paternal branches started their lives in the US in Pennsylvania. So many of their stories have been lost, but I do know they came to Pennsylvania for freedom—they were Mennonites and Quakers looking for a place to worship as they saw fit and William Penn's woods offered them a chance for that.

My cottage is deep in Amish and Mennonite country. I know a bit about their religion. But I didn't know much about Quakers...so of course I bought a book.  

I will confess, I love used books...they come with a history.  My favorites are those that are marked up with notes and highlights from those who read them before me.  So I found a book...How the Quakers Invented America (David Youst). It's a simple book about a simple people. "Enough is as good as a feast," is a line that caught my eye—and I was obviously not the first one to notice it.

So much of my life (and my posts online) are about simple things.  A beautiful sunrise.  A walk in the woods. A day in the studio. Tallulah and her antics. 

My life centers around my family and those simple things. They're what gives me glee.  And those simple things are everything.  I think that's my magic power...I know what matters. My family and those simple things. I have to wonder if some of those people from so far long ago left me with that knowledge buried deep in my mitochondrial DNA. Enough is as good as a feast.  Yes, it resonated with me.

That love of simple-things is there in my books. They're not big epic tomes, they're  small stories about regular people.  They're about people who know enough is as good as a feast. The greatest compliment anyone's ever given me about my books is, I wish she was my best friend.  

I think Harry in my new book, A View to a Kiln, is that kind of character. The book opens with her husband telling her he's not happy and leaving her. That moment is a turning point for Harry. She realizes she deserves to be happy as well and changes her life...for the better. That is until she finds a dead body in her kiln! 

I hope you check it out, and I hope you take a moment today to look at the little things in your life that give you glee!!

Holly

PS I'm posting this on TwosDAY...2-22-22. It's a simple thing that has had me smiling all day!!





A View to a Kiln: A Harry's Pottery Mystery

Kindle
iBooks
Kobo
Nook






Have you missed any of my Hometown Hearts series? Here's the list:


Crib NotesHometown Hearts #1




A Special Kind of Different: Hometown Hearts #2





HomecomingHometown Hearts #3



 Suddenly a Father: Hometown Hearts #4


Something Borrowed: Hometown Hearts #5





Something Blue: Hometown Hearts #6 


Something Perfect: Hometown Hearts #7 





Something Unexpected: A Hometown Hearts short story 
Amazon

A Hometown Christmas: Hometown Hearts #8
Kindle 
Nook
AppleBooks
Kobo


Tuesday, February 08, 2022

February 8, 2022 Newsletter


Move over Quincy Mac...
Meet Harriet Lawe!

First there was Markie Malkowicz who tripped over a dead body on her way out the door one Monday. Then there was Quincy Mac, who accidentally cleaned a murder scene. Today, is the first release in my new cozy mystery series. Meet Harriet Lawe. She leaves a lucrative career as an attorney and starts her own pottery studio...Harry's Pottery. Everything's going fine until...she finds a dead body in her kiln. Now she's trying to find out whodunnit to save her new business!

A View to a Kiln: A Harry's Pottery Mystery
Kindle
iBooks
Kobo
Nook

I started taking pottery classes a few years ago at Mercyhurst University. (This is one of my Face Planters!) One day I asked the professor if I could cremate a body in a kiln. And thus Harry's Pottery was born. (After I took my last class he retired. I think I might have broken him!) Combining my love of pottery and books was such a thrill! I hope you enjoy Harry's first adventure. Her second book, Slip and Fall will be out in '23!)
If you want to take a tour of my studio, check out my video!

As always, thanks for everything!

Holly

Keep an eye out for my July release, Chances! 

 

Find Out More

Check and see if you missed any of my Hometown Hearts series!

Have you missed any of my Hometown Hearts series? Here's the list:


Crib NotesHometown Hearts #1




A Special Kind of Different: Hometown Hearts #2





HomecomingHometown Hearts #3



 Suddenly a Father: Hometown Hearts #4


Something Borrowed: Hometown Hearts #5





Something Blue: Hometown Hearts #6 


Something Perfect: Hometown Hearts #7 





Something Unexpected: A Hometown Hearts short story 
Amazon

A Hometown Christmas: Hometown Hearts #8
Kindle 
Nook
AppleBooks
Kobo