Being a Woman

I watched Barbie this weekend and loved it. Loved the message and loved the memories. Oh, how I loved my Barbies. I had two Malibu Barbies that I dubbed the twins. I had a Ken who couldn't keep his head on his shoulders. I had a black haired Barbie...who was my first one. And...  Well there was a whole gang.  Oh the adventures they had. 

I'm going to confess, the movie got me thinking about my life and who I am. What sort of woman I am. I've spent most of my life working as a writer...working for myself. There was no man I answered to. I've worked some marvelous female editors (if you're one of them reading this...thank you!). I've been surrounded by a cadre of women writers who've supported me and over the years have become more than colleagues, but rather friends. 

But I'm more than a writer. That comes second to my other main job. I'm a mother of four—three  are daughters. Looking back, I know I wasn't a perfect mother. God knows, I wasn't perfect. But I did try to be perfect in my attempt. I apologized when I was wrong. I tried to be there for them. And I hoped they saw in me a strong woman who spent her life trying to do her best and loving them wholeheartedly.

Do you remember Caps for Sale? The peddler wore a stack of hats on his head and had to balance them carefully. That's what being a woman is. Balancing a stack of hats as you walk through life trying to avoid the monkeys. The things you expect of yourself. The things others expect of you. Every choice you make adds a hat to the pile you carry.

I raised four kids. I've cared for other kids. I was a kindergarten story lady (like Pip in Carry Her Heart). I was on the PTA (like my PTA Mom trilogy). I was on the school board. I volunteered in a Teen Parenting program. I planned the kids game for our school's Feather Party (like Once Upon a Thanksgiving). When I was young, I cared for three younger brothers after school. Then  I cared for my kids. Then my grandmother as she got older. My mother-in-law when she got sick (like Briar Hill Road). I cared for my neighbor, Marge, who had no one. We made her family. Now I care for the Minions and an aunt and...caring. That's been my life's major calling. 

Back to Caps for Sale...I've dropped hats. Over and over again, the monkeys have come along and I've lost all my hats. But after a moment,  I stopped, picked them up and kept going.

That's what being a woman is for me.  A series of dropping my hats and then picking them up and getting on with it.

I agree with Barbie...being a woman is hard.  But it's a joy. I might juggle a lot of hats and I might not be perfect, but truly it's been my glee. 

 

Holly

On Sale for $.99:
A Hometown Christmas
Amazon
Nook
Kobo
iBooks

Christmas in Cupid Falls is on sale at Amazon for $.99/

Slip and Fall: A Harry's Pottery Mystery #2 Kindle, iBooks, Kobo, Nook A View to a Kiln: A Harry's Pottery Mystery #1 Kindle, iBooks, Kobo, Nook
A View to a Kiln on Jeopardy!!

Exclusively available for Kindle and KU.
 Around the Square
Book 1, 2 , 3 & 4 are out now. 
Book 5 is available for preorder!

Hometown Hearts

A Hometown Christmas

Happy Holidays...or should I say, HOLLYdays??!!

I know I've been talking about my new release, Slip and Fall: A Harry's Pottery Mystery, but today I'm talking about A Hometown Christmas...it's on sale for $.99 just in time for Christmas! Come join my hometown gang and celebrate with this very special holiday story!

One of my all time favorite reviews from a Hallmark Holiday movie friend, was, "This should be a Harllmark movie." I'll let you know if Hallmark calls! LOL In the meantime, I hope you'll give it a read! 

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, whatever holiday you celebrate! 

Holly

PS. While you're shopping the sale, check out my most recent books and pre-order the what's-coming-next ones?

Slip and Fall: A Harry's Pottery Mystery #2 Kindle, iBooks, Kobo, Nook A View to a Kiln: A Harry's Pottery Mystery #1 Kindle, iBooks, Kobo, Nook
A View to a Kiln on Jeopardy!!

Exclusively available for Kindle and KU.
 Around the Square
Book 1, 2 , 3 & 4 are out now. 
Book 5 is available for preorder!

Hometown Hearts

Holly Jacobs' August Newsletter

Who's the Boss? is finally out!!

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer. We've been busy at camp. There are so many projects that still need done after last year's addition. But despite that, we still find time to have fun. This weekend's bonfire was amazing! In other news, we have a new addition...Mabel Francis. Tallulah wasn't sure at first, but they're growing closer every day. And a puppy does add to the summer chaos! Our dogs do tend to make it into my books...keep an eye out for Mabel sometime in the future. (Yes, it might be hard to see Mabel...black dogs are not super photogenic. LOL) But the big news is, Who's the Boss, book #4 in the Around the Square series, is finally out for your Kindle!! Mia loves everything about her job...everything except Larry Mackenzie. But sometimes fate makes unlikely allies. When Mac inherits a baby, Mia helps out with Katie O'Keefe until Mac can find the baby a forever home. But the more time they spend together, the more Mia discovers that maybe she was wrong. Something about Mac is pulling at her. But if he can't open his heart to Katie, how will he ever let Mia in? Mac needs to discover that family isn’t something you are born into, sometimes it’s something just waiting for you to discover. If you listen, your heart can show you the way to your true family...and everlasting love. In Who's the Boss?, Mac and Mia find that sometimes the path you think you're on isn't where you're supposed to be headed at all. If you've missed any of the Amazon exclusive series, you can find them all here...  Around the Square. I waited to send out my Who's the Boss email because I wanted to let you know that Suddenly a Father is on sale for $.99 for the rest of August.  Suddenly a Father  Kindle Kobo Nook iBooks That's it for now! The second Harry's Pottery, Slip and Fall is out this autumn. If you missed A View to a Kiln, (a Jeopardy answer!!) check it out! As always, thanks for all your support! Enjoy the last days of summer...and if you have kids at home, REALLY enjoy when they go back to school! Holly

The HOLLYdays are Here!

 

For years I volunteered at my kids' schools. My longest stint was as the Kindergarten Story Lady. (I wrote about it in Carry Her Heart/Hold Her Heart...everything is fodder for my books! LOL) My second longest stint was as a PTA Mom. For years, I was in charge of the annual Feather Party's kids' games.  It was utter chaos...and utter fun. When I started writing my PTA Mom Holiday books, I knew there'd be a similar Thanksgiving event (there aren't many Thanksgiving books!). The heroine is a single mom with way too much on her plate, but she still finds time to volunteer...and maybe fall in love? 

My premise for the series was three PTA Moms miss the first meeting of the year and get assigned to the worst PTA Committee. They'll be in charge of the PTA holiday events. I'll confess, I'm very proud of the Thanksgiving play in Once Upon a Thanksgiving...I wrote it. Well, I didn't write a whole play, which is a shame because I've had school teachers reach out about it. One of these days, I may finish it.

The second book has a Christmas poem that was inspired by one of my favorite high school teachers. (Remember I said, everything is fodder!) She gave me a pipe cleaner spider for my tree and every year it's the first ornament I put up!  The heroine of Once Upon a Christmas is a single woman, raising her sister's child...a child who's father shows up on her doorstep.

Writing the third book, Once Upon a Valentine's, was...well a treat. In the first two books, I talk about the heroine being an accidental arsonist.  Her husband cheated on her...on a couch she bought. She asked for the couch in the divorce...but didn't want to sit on it. I mean, who would? She wanted to burn it...and took out a neighbor's shed along with it, by accident. In the third book, she is serving her community service and planning the most romantic event of the school year...the Valentine's Dance. She's not in a very romantic mood! LOL But sometimes love happens in its own time

The book bundle includes a short story featuring the PTA president as well!

The PTA Moms Collection is on sale for Thanksgiving. Just $.99 for the whole series!  If you've read them before, I hope you'll share the sale with friends! (And thank you!) If you haven't read them, I hope you'll give them a try!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Holly

PS Check out this year's releases while you're shopping!

Signs of the Times
Available for Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

Chances
Amazon 
Barnes and Noble
Kobo  
Apple Books 

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

Book Sale!! Crib Notes

How are things going? I hope you're staying in and staying safe! We've been busy with training Tallulah. She's growing so fast! She's doubled her weight since we brought her home in March!  And we're busy working on my studio! I'll post pictures of the finished area sometime soon!

Other than that, I've been working on a new series (more about that soon!) and wrote a Covid-19 short story, Quarantine...that features a puppy named Tallulah. Yep, truth in fiction!

But the big news is, Crib Notes is on sale now!

Thanks, as always, for all your support! If you have a moment, please share the sale on your social media, or leave a review at your favorite site! The Hometown Hearts series is about family. I think it's a very timely subject in our current situation.

Holly

On Sale: Crib Notes, HH #1

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Out Now: A Special Kind of Different, HH #2

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Preorder: Homecoming, HH #3
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The rest of the Hometown Hearts series will be coming soon.
Suddenly a Father will be out in September of 2020 and
Something Borrowed, Something Blue and Something Perfect in 2021!

Quiet

The house is quiet.

Weirdly quiet.

It's generally filled with Himself, various kids and dogs.

Himself is in Disney with some of the kids. I was supposed to be there, too, but even though I've ditched the crutches (YAY!!) I'm not up to a Disney trip. At least not the way my family does Disney...I've Fitbitted that in the past. It's generally at least a 20,000+ day. Yep, my swiss cheese thigh and I bowed out. And since Ella passed away, I'm here in this eerily quiet house.

I'm working on a new book and the main character is suddenly alone. And I think I understand the silence closing in on her better than I did when I started her story. I was trying to remember a time when I was all alone in a house for any extended period and came up blank. Most of the time, I'm cramming my work into the quiet minutes between the crazy ones. This week, I have a string of quiet minutes. And I'm hermit enough to enjoy the change of pace. For me it's a treat, but for my character...  Looking at a lifetime of those quiet minutes is a daunting task.

So I'm filling these quiet minutes by cooking food I love and Himself isn't such a fan of. (I made a banging cream of chicken and tortillini soup...mmm.) I'm working on the book I mentioned and in the studio, and I'm trying to finish this last Sanderson's Stormlight book (Dude, 1,200 pages?). I think I'm fortunate that I love solitude. LOL

How about you? Chaos or quiet? Or like me, do you enjoy a healthy mix of both?

Holly

PS Himself tried out the newest Star Wars ride yesterday and said it was amazing!

PPS. I hope you'll check out my new series!

OUT NOW: Crib Notes

Amazon

iBooks

Nook

Kobo

Preorder: A Special Kind of Different

Amazon

iBooks

Nook

Kobo

Preorder: Homecoming
Amazon
iBooks
Nook
Kobo

The rest of the Hometown Hearts series will be coming soon.
Suddenly a Father will be out in September of 2020 and
Something Borrowed, Something Blue and Something Perfect in 2021!

ON SALE THIS WEEK at Amazon:

Just One Thing
First Everything But trilogy

Obstacles

I know many things about myself.
I love my family and Himself.
I treasure my friends.
I have Medusa hair.
I do not truly wake up until I have hot, strong black coffee in my hand.
I love to read, play with ceramics, learn new things...
I feel most at home out in the middle of the woods at the cottage.
I am a busy sort of person.
I am not a patient patient...

Oh, that last one.
I've been having some ongoing issues since summer with my bad leg. It has put a bit of a hitch in my giddiup this summer and fall. Well, last week, they took out my decades-old hardware and we're hoping this last surgery is the LAST surgery. Yes, my bionic leg is screw and plateless. It's a regular old leg. And I'm on crutches for a bit while those screw holes in the femur heal.

Uh, remember that not patient patient Holly fact? It's coming into play. But I'm being very well behaved even if I'm not patient. I'm resting a lot and slowly rebuilding my strength. All my wood-splitting means my arms aren't doing too bad with the crutches. So I'm moving more slowly than usual, but I'm moving.

I'm setting small goals for myself. For instance, yesterday I made the bed and made the morning coffee. Poor Himself did pretty much of the rest of my daily routine, but darn that bed looked nice and the coffee was just the way I like it, hot, strong black coffee. Today, I've already made the coffee, I'm making that darn bed, and I'm going to find one more new thing to throw in the mix. Maybe unload a dishwasher. Anyway, that's how I'm going to measure my recovery...one new (regular) thing at a time.

My ultimate goal is to be back in the studio by the end of January. I've always been someone who likes to work with goals. I try to have realistic goals. It's almost time to pick my word for 2020. And I'm not going to wait until the new year to pick it. I'm going to pick it now. Patience.

I've always found it easier to be patient with others than patient with myself. There's so much in the world I want to learn and do. So many new things to explore. That hitch in my giddiup is slowing it all up. But slow doesn't mean stopped. So I'm being patient. Or at least trying to.

Here's the thing, goals are great. They give us something to move towards. But I think we have to be kind to ourselves and be patient with ourselves. Sometimes life happens. And our goals have to change. I might not be hosting my big Christmas Eve bash this year (thanks to my marvelous sister-in-law for taking that on), but darn the bed is made. LOL And I've read 600 pages in that 1,000 page book my son has been telling me to read (Brandon Sanderson is an amazing author) and I truly binge-watched The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's new season. Yeah, most of the time I don't have the time to binge watch. My leg has derailed my plans, but it's also given me time to do things I wouldn't normally have time to do. Every obstacle comes with gifts in its hands!

So Ella and I are going to sit on this couch under my buffalo plaid blanket and read the paper today. (Well, she doesn't do much of the reading.) Then I'm going to make that darned bed and find a way to do one more thing from my normal routine today.

And by the end of January, I'm going back to the studio. In the meantime, I'm going to look for all the gifts this particular obstacle has in its hands! And I'm going to patiently celebrate and embrace each of those gifts!

Holly

PS. I have two Christmas books on sale, and the first two Hometown Hearts books are available for preorder!! I hope you'll check them both out. And check our the Dear Reader Letter on A Special Kind of Different's Amazon page. Celebrating our differences gives me glee!!

Christmas in Cupid Falls

Everything But a Christmas Eve

Crib Notes HH #1

Amazon, iBook, Nook, Kobo

A Special Kind of Different HH#2

Another Term Winds Down—My Novel Freshman Experience

Burlon Craig Face Jug

I signed up for a spring class last week. Another pottery class. If you're counting...my sixth. It's my third independent study (officially individualized studio) class. I'll confess, the flexibility works well with balancing the minions and the rest of the family. And I like spending a term going in my own direction. Professor H. makes a great advisor. He offers opinions and some direction, but let's me be in the driver's seat. I'm already feeling sad about spring being my last ceramic's class. Of course, by the time the class is over, I should have my own studio up and running! Yep. I've got studio glee!

But here's what being a class of one is missing...reports. Yeah, I know, some people might think that's a plus, but over the out-of-school decades I forgot how much I love doing a deep dive on a topic.  We have to do a report on a ceramic artist in a week. I did a presentation on Rob Bernard my first term. It was supposed to be five to ten minutes, but I had pages and pages of notes. Interesting facts I was sure everyone should know. (My daughter assured me that not only did the kids in class not want to know, but there was a chance my glee over reports annoyed them! If it did, they were kind enough to feign interest. LOL) I did manage to keep it to ten minutes, but would have loved to have gone longer. I left so much unsaid. This time, I'm doing a presentation on Burlon Craig. I'm trying to keep it short...but it's still hard! He's equally interesting and exciting. He is known

Holly Face Jugs

 for his face jugs in the Catawba Valley in NC (my southern roots are firmly planted just north of there).  I bought a great book, The Final Kiln Opening, about his last sale which was so cool. And I bought a book on that folk tradition, based more in Georgia called Brothers in Clay. Equally engrossing reading...alright engrossing in a totally geeky way. LOL I've got pages and pages of notes.

Ten minutes?  I have to fit all this in ten minutes? The trouble is real. LOL

To add to my condensing everything into a less than ten minute presentation, I found YouTube videos from a PBS show called Folkways. They showed Burlon in his studio and firing his kiln. You can find them at Burlon on Folkways. They were fantastic! The second video talked to other local ceramic artists who were related to, or knew, Craig. They watched him work. I wish I'd discovered him sooner and could have visited his studio as well!

I fell in love with face jugs my second term. I wrote a bit about them here.

Holly's Game of Thrones inspired Face Vase

Holly's Jug

 I've done a bunch since then. For me they're a connection to my southern roots and to be honest, I just think they're ugly cute! LOL And art inspires art. School inspires study. I've been trying my hand at some folk art painting and one of my favorites is Burlon's kiln firing. It's obviously rough, but I've done a few versions of it. I love the flames!

Holly's Burlon's kiln painting.

I've been wanting to buy a Burlon Craig face jug but they're a little rich for my blood. But I did find one of his swirl teapots. It should get here soon. I'm soooo excited! I'll post a picture when it arrives.

I don't know what I'm going to take up at school next fall. Maybe some more art classes. I'm working toward a degree...maybe. I plan to just continue taking classes that interest me, and if I get close to a degree, I'll take some of the must-take classes. At this rate, it'll be a decade from now. But hey, for me, it's not really the destination (a degree) that matters. It's the journey. And so far, I've enjoyed every step of My Novel Freshman Experience journey!

Holly

PS Just in time for Thanksgiving, another school story...this one from a PTA mom's point-of-view. Once Upon a Thanksgiving is on sale!

Holly's June News

2019 is the summer of Love and Laughter! How to Catch a Groom is out now and will be followed by How to Hunt a Husband in August! Check them out... How to Catch a Groom: 1. Find a man who is your complete opposite. 2. Help save him from utter embarrassment. 3. Call in a favor and ask him to help you out of a wedding emergency. 4. Try not to fall in love with a man who values logic more than love.   Wedding planner, Desdemona Smith, follows her heart. College professor and researcher, Seth Rutherford, is a man who loves logic.   When Seth loses his bride--a woman who was perfectly suited to him--he's confused. It doesn't make sense. Desi assures him love isn't logical and Seth soon discovers neither is Desi. Then why is he attracted to a woman who is his opposite? Why can't he seem to get enough of Desi Smith? Can these two opposites make the perfect romance?   How to Hunt a Husband: 1. Try to ignore your mother's constant matchmaking. 2. Find a kindred spirit who shares your tribulations. 3. Come up with a wild plan to fix your meddling mothers once and for all. 4. Try to ignore the fact your feelings might be something more than just an alliance. Shannon and Nate agree to a con in order to get their mothers off their backs. She'll be Roxy, a sexy stripper, for his mom and he'll be Bull, a Harley-riding biker, for hers. When they start spending a whole lot more time together they discover something unexpected is going on. Maybe it's love?  And very exciting news...Once Upon a Princess and Once Upon a Prince are being released in the US as  Manga—comics. It's a fun way to read a story. I hope you'll check them out! Spring has finally arrived here in Erie! We've been out in the garden and working at the cottage. We finally finished the stonework behind the wood stove and we're starting a pole-barn. I'm sure any of you who follow me on social media will see pics! The barn is so exciting because I'll be putting my own ceramic studio in it! I still have two more terms of classes at the university, but after that, I'll be on my own. I want it ready by this time next year! I hope you'll pick up this summer's romantic comedies! They're perfect for a beach read...or a couch read. If you've picked any of my books up, I hope you'll stop at your favorite bookstore and leave a review. That's the best way to help new readers find my books! We just celebrated our one year anniversary of Trippin' with Holly and Susan videos. The last batch were in filmed in my office and the new ones are out at my cottage! Check them out on YouTube. You can subscribe there so you don't miss an episode! I'm posting today's newest video at the bottom of the blog. We shot it at the cottage. Yes, that's my favorite writing place! Have a marvelous June!! Holly Books On Sale: Hold Her Heart Everything But a Dog Everything But a Mother Everything But a Wedding

Optimism

Sadly, our ash trees at the cottage are infected with the ash borer. The insects destroy the trees.  Most of the trees in our backyard out there were ash. Watching the trees die, one after another broke my heart. We have a few more that are too close to the cottage and will have to come down this summer. But nature is optimistic.  I was out working at the cottage yesterday and as I walked through the woods, I noticed a ton of new maples sprouting up.  Nature is optimistic.  The woods will adapt.

I like the lesson in that.  Crap happens.  We can moan, or we can pick ourselves up and optimistically begin looking for something new.

I didn't snap a picture, but our Gettysburg Oak (my FIL started it from a Gettysburg acorn) that was struck by lightening a few years back is coming back.  It's got to be about ten feet high now. I like that despite its injury, it believed in itself and came back. It found its inner-optimism.

I try to write characters who are optimistic. Even when they go through something awful and can't see it, they have some small kernel of optimism. It might be buried deeply, but it finds its way to the surface. Books like Just One Thing, or These Three Words (it's on sale for $.99 right now) I think portray that.

Optimism is there in my comedies, too. In The Makeover, the heroine remains upbeat and optimistic (okay, sometimes it's a bit buried) despite a town secret, a bad makeover, a lovelorn bull...and a grumpy visiting reporter. 

Optimism.  It's part of my daily glee.  I find that glee in small things which helps me  believe that good things will happen, even if they're just a small thing. A hot cup of coffee, baby maple trees in the woods, a book that touches my heart. I try to encourage my characters to believe that as well! Even when bad things happen and I can't quite feel optimistic, I fake it until it becomes reality. LOL

I feel optimistic we'll all have a good, gleeful day!

Holly

PS Check out our newest Trippin' with Holly and Susan.  You can catch up with all of them at YouTube.

PPS. Check out my books!

Briar Hill Road

Between the Words

Able to Love Again

PTA Moms: the Collection

The Moments

Find more of my books at:

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