Hanging With Holly...Views of my Garden and Series

Susan just got home and we'll be posting the next Trippin' video tomorrow or Wednesday.  In the meantime, come hang with me in my garden! I'm spending the week talking about my book series. 
I had so many people ask for series in order, I put up a page on my website. I really try to write the books in a series so they all stand alone. So if you start mid-series, you should be fine, though you'll probably have an inkling you missed something. LOL

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The first series I'm going to talk about is...you guessed it, my Maid in LA Mysteries.  When I put up the first book, Steamed, it was just for fun.  A lark. I'd never written a cozy mystery, but the main character, Quincy Mac, had been niggling at me.  She worried about her kids, her business and after she cleans a murder scene, she worries about going to jail and being forced to get a tattoo.

One book led to another.  Quincy's kids got older, she fell in love and built a new career for herself.  I thought I was done with her series after book 4, Swept Up.  I even wrote a nice little Where Are They Now post at the end of the book to give everyone a real sense of ending.  And yet...last month, the 5th book, Polished Off came out.  I know. Either I wasn't done with Quincy yet, or she wasn't done with me.  It's been ten years since the last book. Her life has continued to change and evolve.

Change and evolve.  That is the fun of writing series for me.  Like I said in the video, they're the same but different.  Characters and even settings evolve and change.  That's the fun of writing series.

Here are all five books in order:
Steamed: Amazon & BN
Dusted: Amazon & BN
Spruced Up: Amazon & BN
Swept Up: Amazon & BN
Polished Off: Amazon & BN

If you're reading on Kindle, you can get the first four books in one bundle: Maid in LA Mysteries. It's a lot cheaper that way.

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Another series is my Word of the Heart series.  Each book was written as a total stand alone.  The first book, Carry Her Heart, is about a mother who gives her child up for adoption, then builds her life around that child.  Pip is a character who is near and dear to my heart.  I love that she worked as a kindergarten story lady.  I did that for years and years.  I still adore children's literature.  Classics like, The Wild Baby, (I did a YouTube video of that one), Wolf Story (we just finished reading here again) and newer books like the Knuffle Bunny books, The Book with No Pictures and Andrea Beatty's STEM series of stories.

Carry Her Heart in Turkey

Okay, back to Carry Her Heart...It's truly a Romance+ story.  What's that you ask?  A book that at it's heart is a woman's journey...a journey that includes a romance, but that romance isn't the point of the journey.  Does that make sense?

I argued with my editor about the ending.  I can't really tell you how it ends, but know that I won.

The second book in the series is These Three Words.  I use the tagline Sometimes the Greatest Loves aren't Discovered, They're Rediscovered a lot for it because it truly sums up the story.  A couple who's marriage is on the rocks rediscovers each other.  Two things that stand out for me in this book.  First, it was my Forest Gump book.  The heroine has a number of strangers who come into her life and force her to look at her relationship in a new way.  The second thing is I used They're Playing Our Song in it (check it out).  I lost my mom a year ago, and I love that she got to read this homage to her.  She loved that musical.  And because she did, I did.  (Dear Broadway, please bring back a revival!!)  Toward the end, you get a bit of a clue about what is happening in Pip's life.
Finally, Hold Her Heart, is Pip's daughter's story.  Yes, Amanda (Siobhan) has come home.  It's not exactly how Pip imagined it.  But it is a true homecoming story.  These books are all first person in the heroines' points-of-view, so Pip's better half doesn't get much from his point-of-view moments.  There's a letter at the end of Carry Her Heart (that makes me cry Every Single Time) and the opening of Hold Her Heart (which also makes me cry Every Single Time).  I know, it's ridiculous.  I wrote the books.  I knew/know how they end (hint...all my books have Happily-Every-Afters) but still, Ned does me in.

Carry Her Heart: Amazon, Audible, BN
These Three Words: Amazon, Audible, BN
Hold Her Heart: Amazon

More series tomorrow!

Holly

PS. The first two books are on sale for another week!!  If you've never read the series, it's a good time to check them out!

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:

Amazon

Kobo

Radish Fiction

iBooks

B&N

Google Play

Audible

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!

Hanging with Holly

Susan’s in Denver so this is just a Holly Hanging in Her Garden video. LOL. I’m talking about going back to school and trying new things. Come hang out with me since Susan left!

Holly

Polished Off

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

And Carry Her Heart is on sale, along with the 2nd book in the series, These Three Words.

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:

Amazon

Kobo

Radish Fiction

iBooks

B&N

Google Play

Audible

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!

Trippin' with Holly and Susan—8

Today, we're talking about the changes in the publishing industry.  Oh, and you can see my Village People cover. Seriously, I didn't pick it, but it's a thing.

Holly

Polished Off

PS Have you picked up my new release, Polished Off: A Maid in LA Mystery?

Join in the fun at:
Amazon
B&N

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

Audible

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!

June Newsletter

Quincy is Back in Polished Off!!! The fifth (and final?) installment in the MAID IN LA mystery series —It's a climactic end for Quincy Mac, LA's favorite maid!  Quincy Mac came to LA as an aspiring actress, but when she inadvertently cleans a murder scene while working as a maid, she finds love, laughter and a bit of mystery! Quincy Mac’s life has changed in the last ten years. Changed for the better. She’s happily married to Cal and their family is growing. She’s finishing up a television show, Cereal Killers, and working on new ideas with Dick. Life is perfect. Until one morning, when she heads for some coffee in the writers’ room and trips over…a zombie. A dead zombie. She thought the only murders she had to solve were television murders, but when there’s a dead zombie on your mystery set and your name is Quincy Mac, you get down to work.  at Amazon!

On Sale for $.99 Don't forget to take a trip down Briar Hill Road this summer!

Hey, everyone!! I hope all my newsletter subscribers enjoyed the free novella, The Moments, last month.  It was my way of saying thank you for all your support.  Make sure you pick up the book that inspired The Moments, Briar Hill Road. It really is one of the most autobiographical stories I've ever written. My relationship with my mother-in-law inspired Haden and Kathleen's relationship in the book. Thank you everyone who's told me how excited they were for a new Quincy story. I've loved watching her life change throughout the years.  That's truly one of my favorite parts of this series...watching her grow.  I hope you enjoy reading this new book as much as I enjoyed writing it.  Please stop in and leave a review when you're done reading it! Wishing you all a marvelous summer! Holly PS. Check out my series of Trippin' with Holly and Susan videos. We're just two writers talking about books, writing and whatever else comes to mind!     Miss any of the 1st four Maid in LA books? Buy the Bundle!

A Short History

When I started writing, I wrote some romance short stories.  I loved them and was so excited when they started selling...and kept selling.  They were where I learned so much about writing, and about the romance genre.  A short story is by it's very name...short.  I can't tell a whole story.  Just a snippet.  A vignette.  I loved jumping into a couple's life, then jumping right back out.

Eventually, I wanted to tell bigger stories, and started trying romance novels.  And those sold.  But every now and then, I enjoy going back and playing with those short, blink-of-an-eye stories.  I like to think of them as a country video.  I'm telling you a story...just not all the story.

Nothing But Luck

Nothing But Love

Nothing But Heart

When Avalon was sold to Montlake Romance, and all my older stories for them were slated to come back out, I did three short stories that I felt tied together my Everything But... series (they're all on sale this month for $1.99 each) and my earliest series, WLVH Radio.  It was a blast introducing new readers to both series through the short stories.

Labor Day

There He Was 

The new shorts I'm writing this year aren't really tied to anything.  Oh, in Labor Day, I mentioned Quincy Mac, from my Maid in LA mystery series.  But these are simply stand-alone vignettes.  Labor Day, has been out for a few weeks.  Right after Labor Day came out there was a story on the news about a police officer in Ohio who bought a woman carseats. (Definitely go read his new story...what a nice guy!)  If you read my story you know why I felt I was a bit psychic after that!  I mean, I wrote mine first.

In mid-September, There He Was is out.  This one was inspired by an old Myth Busters episode where they show that a water tank can truly take off like a rocket. Mine doesn't launch exactly like that, but I watched the episode while I was mulling over that 'bang' moment when you simply know to your core that you love someone.

I hope you all enjoy these short stories.  As a writer, sometimes stretching your craft means going backwards and coming back to where you started!

Holly

PS. For newer writers, I think short stories can be a very useful educational tool.  They teach you how to focus completely on your characters.  You also need to be able to pick when to start your story and when to end it.  That sounds simple, but you have to figure out how to do it in a way that it makes sense to readers.  You have to give them enough to engage them with your opening, and end it so that they're satisfied.

Friends' Friday #6

Sorry I missed last week's Friends' Friday! We were in Blue Mountain, Ontario. I climbed the mountain...and survived.  It was a near thing! LOL  I got home and went to work cleaning up the sequel to Steamed: A Maid in LA Mystery, Dusted (I'm posting the cover here...I'm so jazzed with it!). Yes, Quincy Mac is back with another investigation and I'm having so much fun with this second book!  Thanks to everyone who's picked up a copy of Steamed and sent me a note, or posted a review!

So here we go...back to Friends' Fridays.  Here are weeks One, Two, Three,  Four and Five in case you missed them.  Hope you find a new-to-you author this week!





When I get together with Shirley Jump, there's always a lot of laughter.  She's a sweet lady and her books reflect that!












I had a chance to work with Winnie Griggs on a writing group's board. I'm not sure how she juggled work, her writing and the board's work, but she did it brilliantly.  She's such a talented, hardworking lady!








Talking about Judith Arnold is fun because her books rock, but talking to her is even more fun! And reading her books?? The most fun of all!









Jeannie Watt doesn't just write about cowboys and ranches, she lives in a Nevada ranching community.  She's definitely takes the writing advice, 'write what you know' to heart!








I wrote two Duets with Bonnie Tucker. Our stories were separate, but tied.  I can't tell you how much fun it was to work with a friend. I met Bonnie at my first writing conference and we've been friends ever since!

I hope you find a new-to-you author this week!  Thanks to everyone who's dropped me a note saying how much you're enjoying my Friends' Fridays.  I still have plenty of friends to go, so stay tuned!

Holly