Book Stories: Series Week #2

 Okay, more series today...the first one is one of my most enduring.  They're older stories, which makes it so much more special that readers are forgiving about my inexperience and love them anyways.  It all started with Nana Vancy...only she wasn't a nana then.  She was just a young girl who was in love...then her fiance missed their wedding day. So she cursed his family to...bad weddings.  Not to loveless marriages. Just bad weddings.  She spends the first three books trying to break the curse. I was writing the ending of book three and realized, I didn't have a clue how to break that curse.  But as I mulled it over, I realized I'd laid out the answer already. Phew.

The second trilogy wasn't planned.  Readers kept asking for more about Nana Vancy.  It seems after she broke the curse, Nana Vancy got bored, so she tries her hand at matchmaking.  I pitched the first new book, Everything But a Christmas Eve, as Nana Vancy tries her hand at matchmaking...to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas.  The editor bought it on that pitch.  LOL  When I got to the third book, I added two dogs who were based on my dogs to the story.  Of course I changed their names because they didn't want the PUParazzi hounding them.  LOL  That's them on the cover of Everything But a Dog.  We lost Ethel Merman (the black dog) this spring.  It's nice to know she has the book as a memorial.



 Here's the series in order:
Everything But a Groom:
Amazon, Audible, BN
Everything But a Bride:Amazon, Audible, BN
Everything But a Wedding:Amazon, Audible, BN
Everything But a Christmas Eve:Amazon, Audible, BN
Everything But a Mother (ugly cover...sorry):Amazon, Audible, BN
Everything But a DogAmazon, Audible, BN

Large Print

Large Print

Large Print

~~~

Okay on a related note (related to Everything But...) I originally sold these books to Avalon Books. They were a small niche publisher.  They did beautiful hardback editions (well, except that cover for Everything But a Mother...what the heck is that all about??) and they marketed them mainly to libraries.  When I heard that Amazon had bought the rights from Avalon and were putting the books out as ebooks (and later audiobooks), I wanted to do something fun to reintroduce them to readers.  So I wrote a trilogy of short stories, the Nothing But series.  Amazon also bought my WLVH series (more on that in a bit), so I added WLVH disc jockeys to the short stories.  I had so much fun doing them.  I hope you have as much fun with Nana and her crew!

Everything But Love

Everything But Heart

Everything But Luck

Keep an eye out...series week continues tomorrow!

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.

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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

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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!

On Writing: Partners

I'm heading to Philadelphia next weekend to do a workshop for the Valley Forge RWA.  It has me thinking about writing this week.

What does a writer want you to feel when you read their book?  What do they want you to take away from a story?  What was their point of telling that story?

If you've ever sat through an English Lit class, you've been asked questions like this.  And those questions have validity.  The author always had a point in telling the story.  Sometimes it's blatant and as a reader you know their take away. Good triumphs over evil.  Love wins out.  But sometimes their point is more obscure.  Maybe Love Wins Out is the point. But maybe there's something smaller and less tangible to the reader...something that drove the author to tell that story. 

When I wrote Briar Hill Road, Love Wins Out is easily my big theme...it's the theme that truly works for any book I've written.  But Briar Hill Road was also an exploration of what makes a family (most of my books are that, too).  Yet even more than that, for me as the writer, it was a cathartic book.  It was my way of saying goodbye to my mother-in-law.  

Here's the thing...you don't need to know that to read the book.  When I finish a book, when I've said what I wanted to say in it, I let it go.  My ownership of that story is done.  I hand it over to you...the reader.  And maybe you'll see the same thing in it that I saw as I wrote it.  Maybe you'll see that love always wins out.  Maybe you'll recognize that family isn't always born...sometimes it's discovered.  Maybe you'll realize, if only for a moment, that life is a journey and there are ups and downs.  Maybe you'll even see shades of my mother-in-law in Kathleen and think, I would have loved to be this character's friend.  (Trust me, you would have.)

Writing and reading...they are a codependent partnership.  I tell a story and then I set it free.  You get to pick it up and (hopefully) when you read it, you bring your own point-of-view, your own history to the story and you see it through a different lens than I wrote it.  You see it through your own personal lens.  Maybe you take away something I never imagined from it. And that's okay.  That's my hope.  That is my intent.  

Writer and reader are partners.  You and me...we're a team!

Holly

PS It's a sales palooza week.  (Publishers just send me notices...I have no control most of the time and just like to pass them on.)

Hold Her Heart
Just One Thing
Everything But...series
Fairly Human

Book Stories: Nothing But Luck (it's free for St. Patrick's Day)

Nothing But Luck

One day I had an idea...and idea about a tiny grandma who cursed her family to bad weddings.  It made me laugh.  I wrote up up a proposal that ended up under my bed.  (Well, not literally under my bed, but tucked away.)  A few years later, I met an editor who asked if I had anything for her and I remembered some of my under-the-bed stories.

She was an editor for small niche publisher, Avalon Books.  They sold their books to primarily libraries.  She bought not just my WLVH Radio romances, but also my Everything But...series as well.  They were all lovely, hardback, library-bound volumes. I didn't make a ton of money, but those books introduced me to new readers...readers who fell in love with the main character, Nana Vancy.  The first three books are romances where Nana Vancy is trying to break that curse.  

After she broke the curse, there were three more books where she tried her hand at matchmaking with her two friends and sidekicks, the Silver Bells (Annabelle and Isabel...named after two of my grandmother "Nana's" friends).  Uh, she wasn't good at matchmaking.  And that's how the Everything But...series was born.  Just a casual conversation at a conference.


I thought that was it.  That I'd wrapped up the series.  I got word that Avalon was closing it's doors and a new publisher bought their backlist.  And that's when the series made a comeback.  Montlake books republished them all as ebooks...and last year they all came out as audiobooks! 


Well, to make a short story longer, to celebrate the Everything But... ebook release, I wanted to do something for readers.  So I wrote a trilogy of short stories. Nana Vancy has given up matchmaking people in the final book of the series, Everything But a Dog (those are my dogs on the cover!) and she's matchmaking pets to their new owners in the trio.  I tied them to holidays as well.  Nothing But Heart was a Christmas story.  Nothing But Love was a Valentine's story and Nothing But Luck...well, that's a St. Patrick's Day story and it's free for the next few days to celebrate one of my favorite holidays!  Yes, I have deep Irish roots and a mad love for Guinness.

So Sláinte!  

If you've read Nana Vancy before...thank you for making her one of my best-loved characters. Please pass on the free copy of Nothing But Luck to a friend.  If you haven't read her stories, pick up Nothing But Luck for yourself...and feel free to pass it on to friends!

Holly

(Nana Vancy cameos in
Christmas in Cupid , A Simple Heart and in Carry Her Heart.)  

Everything But... Daycares and Nursing Homes

Everything But a Mother is available on audio. 5 in the series down...1 to go! Nana Vancy and the Silverbells are volunteering at a daycare in a nursing home in this one.

I've been going to nursing homes for...well, for decades. My grandmother had Alzheimers and was in an amazing home a block away from the kids' school. We stopped every day. My youngest basically grew up in that nursing home. And that's one of my inspirations for adding a daycare center in my fictional nursing home in Everything But a Mother. Whenever my kids went into the home, they were rockstars. All the residents got so excited to see young faces in the building.

It's nice to see that my idea is catching on. PBS did a great what happens when a nursing home and a daycare share a building piece. The Everything But series are lighthearted romps, but even in my frothiest stories, you can find things I'm passionate about. From how society deals with our elderly, to healthy eating, to CSA's, to dual-flush toilets and compost piles, oh, and Heinlein, Tolkien and Trixie Belden...I touch on all of it!! I hope you'll check out the Everything But... books on audio. If you bought the Kindle version, you can buy the Audible edition on Amazon for $1.99.

Everything but a Groom - 5/2/2017

Amazon, Audible, BN and iTunes

Everything but a Bride - 5/9/2017

Amazon, Audible, BN and iTunes

Everything but a Wedding - 5/16/2017

Amazon, Audible, BN and iTunes

Everything but a Christmas Eve - 5/23/2017

Amazon, Audible, BN and iTunes

Everything but a Mother - 5/30/2017

Amazon, Audible, BN and iTunes

Everything but a Dog - 6/6/2017

Amazon, Audible, BN and iTunes

And while you're shopping don't forget my newest releases:

Confessions of a Party Crasher

I Waxed My Legs for This?

Able to Love Again

Not Precisely Pregnant

The Book

Same Time Next Summer

Can't Find NoBODY

My Award Winning Words of the Heart series 

Carry Her Heart

These Three Words

Hold Her Heart

When you're done reading (or listening) to a book, I'd so appreciate it if you'd leave a review!  As always, thanks so much!!  Keep an eye out...new Views of My Garden videos are in the works!

Holly

PS if you read down this far...I just gave some free books out to my newsletter subscribers (if you're not one yet, you can sign up here...I always have something new going on for subscribers) and I have a few left.  If you'd like one, send me an email at HollyJacobs1 (at) gmail (dot) com. First come, first serve!

I've got a Confession...Confessions of a Party Crasher is out today!

I've got a Confession...a new book is out and there are more subscriber treats! Open the newsletter to find out more... Happy Spring, everyone!! If you hang out with me on social media, you'll know I've already been out in the garden and working out at camp! I love this time of year!!  Especially when I have good news. Are you ready?   Confessions of a Party Crasher is out today!! ...and I have a confession, the party is just getting started! Morgan Miller is out of work and out of luck. She’s moved back home to Pittsburgh to try and put her life back in order. When she agrees to attend wedding reception with her mom for she's appalled to learn her mother’s invitation is far from legitimate. Her mom has turned her into an inadvertent party crasher. When her friends agree that party crashing is a great way to meet men, Morgan's life goes from crazy to completely crazy. Wedding photographer Conner Danning keeps shooting her swoon-worthy glances and Morgan's ex is trying to de-ex himself. Coming home and falling in love might just be the one party Morgan doesn’t want to miss as she discovers that sometimes what you think you want isn't what you want at all!   Reviews: "...a funny tale of falling in love when you least expect it, best friends, and off-beat mothers..." We Write Romance "...a sweet, entertaining romance..." ~RT Bookclub "Hilarious situations, deep emotions, and lots of love make this one party you won't want to miss." ~Cat Cody, Romance Junkies "Confession of a Party Crasher is an entertaining frolic. I know whenever I see Holly Jacobs name on a book I can be guarantee that I am are going to have one laugh after another..." Writers Unlimited "Confessions of a Party Crasher is a book about relationships and life. As always, Holly Jacobs uses plenty of zany humor to enhance the story and make it dazzle." ~© Kelley A. Hartsell All rights reserved. "CONFESSIONS OF A PARTY CRASHER is a charming romantic story, where love is made even more special with laughter." Cataromance.com  Buy Confessions of a Party Crasher!! Last newsletter, subscribers were given a free short story, The Book.  It's up now for sale. If you missed it, or enjoyed and want to pass it on and/or review it, you can find it at: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2kJfWWx Nook: http://bit.ly/2kwL3nv Kobo: http://bit.ly/2l7sk3K (Yes, I listened to you all and I'm trying to publish more books for other platforms!) BIG NEWS!! By Popular Demand, the entire Everything But... series is being published in audio! Here are their release dates. They're all available for preorder now! Everything but a Groom - 5/2/2017 Amazon, Audible, BN and iTunes Everything but a Bride - 5/9/2017 Amazon, Audible, BN and iTunes Everything but a Wedding - 5/16/2017 Amazon, Audible, BN and iTunes Everything but a Christmas Eve - 5/23/2017 Amazon, Audible, BN and iTunes Everything but a Mother - 5/30/2017 Amazon, Audible, BN and iTunes Everything but a Dog - 6/6/2017 Amazon, Audible, BN and iTunes Here's a treat for all of you! My friend, Susan Gable, has a free book out now as she relaunches her Hawkin's Family series!  You can pick it up here.   That's it for now!  There are more books coming out this year, so you'll hear from me shortly!  Thanks as always for all your support! I hope you enjoy Confessions of a Party Crasher and that you pick up the Everything But series...on audio! Holly PS. You can get my newsletters directly by signing up at http://eepurl.com/4OPQL. Not only will you never miss a new release, you'll be eligible for all the subscriber giveaways and specials!