My Future Studio

Future Studio

See that picture at the top of the page?  That's the site of our future pole-barn. And you know what'll be in the pole-barn? My future studio!!! My studio be facing the woods and pond. There'll be lots of windows and a big porch out the back.  I soooo can't wait!

It's been a crazy summer so far and craziness appears to be on the calendar for the rest of the summer. So whenever I can, I take a moment to myself. I was out at camp yesterday enjoying the silence. Well, not silence. I heard three cars go by and a lot of birds. But that's about it. That silence is a balm. I didn't talk, didn't turn on music. I just settled in that silence by myself.

I was thinking about silent religious orders and realized I get it. There's a certain appeal to being that quiet. To listening to yourself think.  When things are chaotic here, quiet days like this are a balm and recharge me.

 So today, is going to be another, busy, loud day. But I feel ready to take it on. Although I suspect I'll be ready for another quiet day next week! LOL

My pond.

People tend to move full steam ahead. Jobs. Family. Chores. Sometimes everyone needs to just stop and listen to ourselves think.

I'll keep you posted on the studio. First project is having a road put back to it and leveling out that site (which is currently a big pricker patch). By the time I run out of ceramics classes at the university next spring, I should have my own workspace. A studio in the quiet, quiet woods. Perfect!

Holly

PS Looking for something to read? Check out my New Releases and Books on Sale...and when you're done, please leave an online review!

New Releases:
The Makeover
How to Catch a Groom

Books On Sale:

Everything But a Dog

Everything But a Mother

Everything But a Wedding

Holly Jacobs' April Newsletter

The Makeover If you've watched my Trippin' with Holly and Susan videos, you've probably realized I'm a comfortable person. My studio clothes are my camp clothes are my everyday clothes. I went to NYC for a conference a few years back with my daughter. There was a big party at the Waldorf. She asked if I remembered to bring makeup. Uh, I hadn't. So she came back to give me a makeover before the party. Despite the fact mine was a good makeover, I have a lot of sympathy for The Makeover's heroine's bad makeover. Here's her blurb: Welcome back to WMAC News, a station Where Nice News Matters. Erie, Pennsylvania reporter, Mace Mason longs for a big, groundbreaking story but he doubts he's going to find it in a small town in neighboring Ohio. What he does find is Zoe, a woman with the worst makeover in the history of makeovers. When she cleans herself up, he discovers a small-town girl who seems utterly content with her life. But he quickly suspects Zoe's trying to keep something from him. With each minute Mace is not only closer to the secret . . . he's closer to Zoe, as well. Will this crazy couple ever fall in love and save the day? *** Reviews: "Holly Jacobs's latest is a very special blend of warmth and wit, highlighted by clever dialogue." ~RT Bookclub "...loveable characters that come to life, a charming storyline, and an abundance of the humor one has come to associate with Holly Jacobs' books." ~Love Romances "Ms. Jacobs does a fabulous job describing the personalities, foibles, and follies of small town living. Zoe and Mace have a wonderful chemistry, and their dialogue is sharp and witty. Ms. Jacob's characters are funny, fresh, and make you want to sit down and chat with them a while." ~Romance Junkies "...a wonderfully funny story." ~Writers Unlimited Reviewer *** I hope you'll check it out! It's available as a ebook and a paperback. It's also available in Kindle Unlimited.  And while you're at Amazon, the first WMAC News story, Not Precisely Pregnant, is free today. It's my thank you for picking up The Makeover! This is my summer of romantic comedy. How to Catch a Groom and How to Hunt a Husband will be out in June and August.  Romantic comedy was my first writing home and it's always fun to come home. Speaking of homes, I'm planning to spend my summer at our cottage. We're still thick in the renovations. You can see where we're starting the season here. You can keep an eye on projects on social media. The blue tape around the stone is to protect the wood when we grout. All that stone came from our property. I'm taking Susan out later this spring to film so more Trippin' with Holly and Susan videos! I so love it out there! I hope you love where you're at as well. And I hope sometimes where you're at is a comfy chair reading The Makeover! As always, thanks for everything! Holly PS. If you'd prefer getting my newsletter in your in-box, you can subscribe here.

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Stoning, Wolfing and Learning...oh my.

I spend a lot of My Novel Freshman Experience posts talking about going back to school and learning new things (so far just about ceramics, but maybe someday soon I'll take another type of class LOL).  But here's the big thing I hope to share...learning something new doesn't require going back to school.  This weekend Himself and I started stoning behind the woodstove at The Cottage.  That is something very new.  We've laid tile before, but this is a different process altogether.  We're hoping to finish it over the course of a few visits.

It's not just people who learn new skills.  Since we lost Ethel Merman, Ella Fitzgerald has had to learn to be an only dog.  She's been more than a little lost.  But she's getting better.  We've been trying to convince her she's a camp dog.  She's pretty sure she's not, but we're still trying.  After we finished our stoning this weekend, we headed out to the truck. I didn't bother to put Ella on her lead...she's always happy to leave camp and head back to the house.  But this time...she took off.  She found her inner-wolf and led us on a merry chase.  Well, merry on her part.  She is very fast for a small sausage dog.  

But in the end, we lured her back to the truck with a treat.  She learned that camp can be fun.  We learned that she is a dog who will continued using her lead...even if it's just a short walk to the truck.  (This picture was taken after her wild wolf run...she doesn't looked the least bit sorry, does she?)





I'm still loving ceramics, but it's led me to painting as well.  I'm enjoying that as well.  That's the thing with learning...one thing leads to another.  I'm hoping Ella's done learning about her inner-wolf, but I know I'm not done learning about pottery and painting and stoning and...  Well, I'm not done with any of it.

I hope you have your Monday Glee today and that you find something new to learn about and maybe love!

Here's a couple more Trippin' with Holly and Susan videos.  We're still touring Erie with this round.  So come to Erie (at least in the videos, but we'd love if you came in real life, too!) and talk about books with us.  If you have any questions or topics you'd like us to discuss, please let me know!

Holly

Today Susan and I are talking about writing assistants. And we're continuing our tour of Erie, PA. We're at the courthouse in this episode...on the outside, not the inside! LOL  

Reader Expectations...they're something writers try to meet. Find out why in our newest video. When you pick up a Holly Jacobs' book, what do you expect?

I talked about the three types of books I write...comedy, drama and cozy mystery. Check out all three and tell me if you can find what they have in common. Comedy...PTA Moms: The Collection Drama...Briar Hill Road Cozy Mystery...Polished Off

PS

Polished Off

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

Then go back to school with three PTA Moms.  There's a bonus short story included! Check out the PTA Mom Collection!!

Able to Love Again...There's a new episode out today!

PTA Moms: the Collection

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

BAM

In Erie, you can find my books on the shelf at Werner Books! 

Holly and Ella go to camp.

I'm so glad so many of you are enjoying Trippin' with Holly and Susan. There's a new episode tomorrow.  But in the meantime, I thought I'd give you some glimpses of camp.

Ella has gone out much in recent years. Ethel hated it and Ella was Ethel's shadow. But she's learning to go out with me now.  We spent the day out there working. It was flower palooza!

The pines we planted this spring (more than sixty trees) are doing well. And some from a couple years back are really coming in.



 The little tree on the right is very special. 

Himself's father brought an acorn home from Gettysburg and planted it.  We moved it out to camp and it flourished.  Then it got hit by lightening. I thought we were going to lose it.  The last few years it's looked a bit wonky, but this year it's really coming into its own.



I love our pond. At the far end is the spring. There's the foundation from an old springhouse there.  It's a bit gross, but one day I'm going to clean it out and put a new springhouse up on it.

 And here's my view when I work on the new back porch. In the second shot you can make out the orange tree stumps. As soon as we cut down the last of the dead trees, we're having someone come out to grind the stumps.

And finally, a shot from inside.  Why? Just because I love it there.  LOL It was downright chilly in there this morning when Ella and I arrived.  I guess the insulation is doing it's job.

I got a bunch of work done on the new computer. It worked well!  Everything seemingly made the move intact. And agent read the new mystery...she liked it, she really liked it! LOL

That's it. Stay tuned tomorrow for the next episode of Trippin' with Holly and Susan. If you missed the first episode, you can watch it here. You never know what we're going to talk about!

Holly

PS 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!

Earth Day

Turkey in the woods 

It's Earth Day!!

How did you celebrate?
I have dozens of new trees coming next week, that's going to be my big celebration even if it's a bit late.
To be honest, I try to make every day earth day! We compost and have an organic garden. I walk when I can, and if I can't, I combine my errands and make them one giant circle. I have a rain barrel and a dual flush toilet. (Yeah, I had a sweet scene between a hero and heroine as she installed a dual flush toilet. I thought my editor would make me change it, but she let it stay!)
So Thursday is my big celebration.
Today we went out to camp today, took a long hike (saw turkeys out and about) and I started to get my stuff out of storage and put on the walls now that the cottage is finished. It was like Christmas! I forgot I bought cool canisters at a house sale last year. And my tinware looks great on the shelves!

Canisters

Tinware (black & red)

Tinware (a green set from Sweden)

We have a lot of Erie antiques here at home and I started collecting Crawford County stuff for the cottage. I love this sign over the sink.

Finally, we moved the antique sewing machine upstairs. I'm going to use it as a desk at camp. It's hard to see my view through the screen, but it's going to be beautiful!

I put one of my antique, cast iron presses on the little nook over the stairs. The area still needs something, but I think this will stay there. I like the look.

Tomorrow I'm heading to school and then writing...I'm always writing. LOL I can't wait to tell you all about this WIP (work-in-progress). It's another cozy mystery. Have you checked out Maid in LA? The first four are out now, and the 5th is out in June! If you're in a mood for another cozy mystery, I also have Can't Find NoBODY. I do love this title!
Hope you had a lovely Earth Day and that next week is a great one!
Holly
PS My daughter got me this platter...more chickens. I don't collect chickens, no matter what she thinks! LOL