Pets in Books

1. Ella Fitzgerald

I don't post all my videos on my blog (you can find any you missed on YouTube), but this one was so much fun. You get to meet my dog, Ella Fitzgerald and we talk about her rise from cover model, to movie star. Okay, what Susan and I really talking about is pets in books, but that's not how Ella sees it! LOL

Speaking of Susan, we're filming more Trippin' videos tomorrow. If you have any questions for us, or topics you'd like us to discuss, please feel free to send them to me!

Holly

PS Check out my books!

Find more of my books at:

Amazon

Kobo

iBooks

B&N

Google Play

BAM

B&N

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.

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!

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.)  

Teaser Tuesday, Christmas in Cupid Falls

#TeaserTuesday

Christmas in Cupid Falls

by Holly Jacobs

This week, a sneak peak at Nana Vancy's cameo in Christmas in Cupid Falls:

<<They reached the coatrack and all three of them pulled out their coats.

Nana Vancy smiled at him as she slipped hers on. She looked as pleased as if he’d aced a spelling bee. “Yes, my friends. I adopted Clara Barton and Madame Curie to help match Annabelle’s second cousin’s daughter by her third marriage once removed. Bela was so mad when I came home with the dogs, but they stole his heart. There have never been two dogs so loved. And when I decided that matchmaking people might not be my calling . . .”

Kennedy’s laughter couldn’t be contained at that. “From what you told me, there were a few glitches.”

Nana Vancy grinned as she nodded and admitted, “Just a few, kedvenc, but I did help bring together some very happy couples. But when I matchmaked Annabelle’s second cousin’s daughter by her third marriage once removed, who was a veterinarian—”

Kennedy laughed as she interrupted, “—with a man who was allergic to dogs.”

Nana Vancy said, “It all worked out, didn’t it? And I discovered my true calling was matching dogs to their forever homes. And with help from family and friends, I started Everything But a Dog Foundation.”

That was a long story made longer, Mal thought but didn’t say out loud as they walked out onto the sidewalk. He glanced to make sure that Kennedy had zipped up her parka against the cold.

She caught him at it and glared at him. He didn’t need the words to know she was telling him she could look after herself.

He sighed. This time it wasn’t only Kennedy who looked at him, but Nana Vancy, too. She pointed down the street at a big man with two dogs. A large black one and a much smaller white one that had a very sausage-like build.

Mal looked at the big man smile as the tiny woman approached him. He wasn’t a romantic by any stretch of the imagination, but when Nana Vancy’s Bela joined them with the dogs, Mal could see how much love there was between them. It reminded him of Clarence and Joan. Or his grandfather and grandmother.

Nana Vancy walked up to the big man and their bodies brushed, as if drawn together like magnets.

“Kennedy, Malcolm, this is my Bela.” There was pride in her voice . . . and love.

“Bela Salo,” he said, shaking their hands.

“And this is Madame Curie.” At the sound of her name, the black dog sat down and offered them her paw.

Kennedy knelt down awkwardly and took the paw. “Aren’t you a beautiful girl?”

The little white dog, not to be outdone, jumped up at Kennedy, anxious for some affection, too. But Kennedy’s center of gravity was extremely off because of the baby. The small dog hurtling in her direction was enough to topple her, but Malcolm sprang forward and grabbed her under her arms, steadying her.

She looked up. “Thank you,” she said, then turned her attention to the demanding sausage-like white dog.

Nana Vancy shot him a look that made him feel like a bug under a microscope, then she said, “And that rude dog is Clara . . . Clara Barton. She has no manners and very little brains.”

Bela looked slightly insulted on the dog’s behalf. “But she is all heart, that one.”

As if to prove his point, Clara was busy kissing Kennedy, who hadn’t asked Mal to remove his hands, so he continued to steady her as she continued to kneel by the small dog.>>

Christmas in Cupid Falls, by Holly Jacobs

Welcome to Cupid Falls, Pennsylvania…well, actually, this is Waterford, PA.  But it's where my October release, Christmas in Cupid Falls opens.  In Waterford.

Excerpt:

The Legend of Cupid Falls, Pennsylvania

To the south of Erie, Pennsylvania—south of the Great Lake that shares a name with the city—is Falls Creek. It is bigger than most creeks, but not quite large enough to be considered a river. It runs through field and forest to a ridge, carved millennia ago by a glacier. There, it plunges over the edge, falling to a hollowed-out swimming hole before becoming a creek again and meandering on its way.

Local legend has it that when George Washington visited the nearby town of Waterford in 1753, one of his retinue was touring the area. The locals took him to the falls, and there he met a farmer’s daughter. He married her later that same year and they settled near the creek. Years later, their daughter went to the falls with a group of friends and noticed that one of the boys in the group might be more than a friend. They married later that same year. And so it went, year after year, decade after decade, couple after couple, until the small waterfall, which in actuality was little more than a creek tumbling over a small cliff, became known as Cupid’s Falls.

When a town grew up a few miles away, the residents named it Cupid Falls as an homage to their waterfall.

And to this day, it is said that when two people meet at the falls and declare their love, they are destined for a long, happy romance . . .

Even if that’s not what they went to the falls looking for.

As for the movie…well, I'm sure Spielberg isn't worried! LOL But I hope it gives you a taste of what small town Pennsylvania is like!

Holly

Valentine Gifts!

I couldn't find a way to send you all flowers...or even chocolate, but I wanted to do something to wish you all a Happy Valentine's. I'm so lucky to have such great friends and readers.  So, on Monday and Tuesday, Nothing But Love (a Kindle short story) is free again, and on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Nothing But Heart (also a Kindle short story) is free.

It was so much fun to try to combine my Everything But... series and my WLVH Radio series in this short story trilogy.  I got my start writing short stories and it's been a number of years since I've written one.  It was fun to go back to it.  It's really a very different way to tell a story.  Especially a romance.  In just a few thousand words, I can't give you a believable Happily Ever After, but I try to leave you with a potential HEA.

So Happy Valentine's!

Holly

PS And keep an eye out in March...the last book in the Nothing But... Trilogy, Nothing But Luck, will be out in time for St. Patrick's Day!

PPS The free stories are available at Amazon stores in other countries—Canada, UK, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Brazil...