Quarantine

Like so much of the country, Pennsylvania has a stay-at-home order. Right before the state went on lockdown, we got a new puppy. Tallulah Mae. I'll confess, she's been keeping us busy. As a writer, staying at home is my normal.  This week, I've been writing another short story, Quarantine, this week in between house-training a puppy, homeschooling the minions and working on the barn.

Quarantine

I've also been trying to post upbeat messages of hope and glee on my social media accounts! In the midst of this crisis good things still happen. Kids laugh, puppies chase balls, and people love. People fall in love. That's the story I wanted to tell in this short story. I didn't want to minimize the tragedy of what's going on, but rather I wanted to remind myself and anyone who reads it that in the midst of awfulness, good things happen. I hope this short story does that.

As always, there are elements of real life in my fiction. Of course this one has a puppy in it. Tallulah Mae to be exact. And it's a story of heroes. A nurse and a grocer. I think this crisis has reminded us all that heroes are everywhere.

I still love writing short stories. Those were my first writing sales and they're still such a joy to write. I hope you check out Quarantine and I'm including the list of the other shorts I have up and available.  And don't forget the first two books in my Hometown Hearts series are out, and the third is up for preorder!

I hope you all are staying safe and staying at home. I hope despite everything that's going on, you're still finding moments of glee in your days.

If, like me, you're home with kids, I've got some tips on what we're doing here with 4-8 year olds. Tip 1 & Tip 2.

Holly

Other Short Stories and Novellas

The Book

Labor Day

There He Was

13 Weeks

Bosom Buddies

Cinderella Wore Tennis Shoes

Able to Love Again
Spoons

Nothing But Series
(Short stories w/ characters from my Everything But series and my WLVH series)

Book 1 Nothing But Love

Book 2 Nothing But Heart

Book 3 Nothing But Luck

OUT NOW: Crib Notes

Amazon

iBooks

Nook

Kobo

Out Now: 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!

Creating

So, I've been slowed down now for a month and a half. First on crutches and now limping along without crutches but with daily step limits.

So I've binge watched some tv and read almost 3,000 pages of Brian Sanderson's Stormlight Archives.

ANNNNND, I've been creating. I'm back at working on a new book. And I have a new release, Crib Notes! (If you haven't checked it out yet, I hope you will!) Plus, I've done a bunch of painting. And now that I'm getting back in the studio, I'm doing some tile work for the new studio...which now has a name. Holly'sWoods Studio! LOL (I have way too much fun with my life.) To be honest, I can't imagine a life without creating. It gives me glee.

Ray Bradbury said, "In my later years, I have looked in the mirror each day and found a happy person staring back. Occasionally I wonder why I can be so happy. The answer is that every day of my life I've worked only for myself and for the joy that comes from writing and creating. The image in my mirror is not optimistic, but the result of optimal behavior."

Yes. I get what you're saying, Ray. Ultimately every book I write or piece of ceramics I create is for my own glee. But beyond that, especially with my books, there's an element of creating for you, too. Basically, I create for my own enjoyment, then I let it go and give it to you, the reader (well, hopefully you are a reader! LOL). As I read Sanderson's books, I feel as if I'm getting to know a bit about him and his world-view. But I might be totally wrong. What he intended as a writer and what I take away as a reader are two entirely different things. And that's the way it is with creations. We give up all rights to interpreting our creations when we set them free. It's up to each reader or viewer what they take from it.

But I hope as you read my books you find pieces of me in each. Sometimes they're blatant things. For instance, I worked with teen moms for years, which my heroine in Crib Notes does. (I talk about it here.) But sometimes the pieces of myself are less concrete. I hope that tucked up in each creation you can find pieces of my glee, of my wonder, or my optimism.  

Creating.

It's really kept me sane since I've been laid up. 

I hope you have your own creative outlets. Like Ray Bradbury said, I think it leads to a happier life!

Holly

PS Here's some of my creation specials out this month:

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

Happy HOLLYdays Newsletter 12-19

Holly's HollyDay Newsletter (Not a subscriber? You can join my mailing list here.)

Hi, everyone! I meant to send this out sooner, but I've been having some medical issues. I've had plates/screws in my leg for decades. After months of infections, and a surgery in August, they took them out a couple weeks ago. So I'm home recovering and I'm no longer bionic! LOL Which is why this newsletter is a little late. The exciting news is the first two books in my Hometown Hearts series are available for pre-order!!  Crib Notes is out in January, A Special Kind of Different is follows March.  You can preorder both at: Crib Notes: Amazon iBooks Nook Kobo A Special Kind of Different: Amazon iBooks Nook Kobo My other big news is the work on our barn (my future studio) is plugging along! We finally have doors on the front! But mainly this quick newsletter is to wish you all a happy holiday...no matter what holiday you celebrate! And as the new year approaches, I hope you're thinking about your word of the year!  Mine is going to PATIENCE. I need to work on that. Turns out I'm not such a patient patient! LOL I blogged about it here. I'll talk to you all in the new year! I wish you nothing but glee this holiday season! Holly

Copyright © 2019, All rights reserved. My URL is: www.HollyJacobs.com

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!

My Novel Freshman Experience: Reboot

My Novel Freshman Experience Reboot

I've been going over some of my first year at school blogs for kicks and giggles. It was fun going back and remembering that first class. Finding time to take two years of classes has been a challenge. Time. Frankly, I don't have much time at all. One of those early posts I talked about making time stretch. I'm still stretching my time to its well-frayed limits on a daily basis. 

But I wouldn't have it any other way.

I've now had four freshman classes and I'm about to start my fifth. Yes, they've all be ceramics.

We're building a barn at our camp and I'll have my own ceramic studio before I finish my spring term ceramic class. That'll be six classes. And there's still so much to learn and experiment with.  I'm thrilled that I'll have the opportunity to keep studying ceramics in my own studio. But the question is, what will I study next at school?

Hmm. I have a year to decide. Yes, I'll have a fall and spring ceramic class, but then I'm done. I'm sure I'll be blogging about the decision! LOL

If you want to read more of my adventures, you can see more Novel Freshman posts here.

School starts in a few weeks...and I can't wait for this next adventure!

The barn starts to go up next week! Can't wait for that, too!

Yep, my life is beyond exciting!! Stay tuned for more My Novel Freshman Experience (Someday there might be some My Novel Sophomore Experience blogs LOL), more Days of Beauty, more Family Treeing and more...well just me chatting!

Holly

PS Check out my summer of Rom Com:

The Makeover

How to Catch a Groom

How to Hunt a Husband

May-December Friendship

The Makeover

I moved a family friend from one nursing home to one closer to my house. She's moving to more nursing care and it was a good time to move her closer to me.  You see, we're not related by blood, but we're family. She was my MIL's neighbor for years, and when we moved in here, she became ours. And as her care needs have increased, I've stepped in to help. It interesting explaining to doctors our relationship.  Friend would work. But I choose to say I'm her fungus...she caught me and can't get rid of me.  LOL She's part of the family.

Between the Words

That idea of May-December friendship might seem odd to some people, but I sort of feel as if my life has been filled with older friends and kids.  Yep, I've spent my life balancing the two.  LOL I was my grandmother's caregiver for years. She was in the home I just moved my friend into.  Nana was a difficult woman. She was a Rosie Riveter. She raised my mother singlehandedly. She was a tough old bird, but she loved me unconditionally and I tried to return the favor.

PTA Moms: the Collection

 I think those May-December relationships show up in my books.  Pearly Gates and Nana Vancy are two of the older characters who've appeared in a lot of books respectively. I love watching how their dynamics develop with younger heroes/heroines.  And I'll confess, I love writing older characters. They say and do what they want. There's a certain freedom in that. Maybe that's part of what attracts me.  That freedom.

Briar Hill Road

Someone asked why I stepped in for my neighbor.  Her husband passed away. She never had kids. She was alone. How could I not?  I am overflowing with family, but I like to think if I were alone in the world, someone would help me.  I hope you see that in my books as well.  That sense of community. That idea that we are all dependent on each other.  That idea that we are all connected.

The Moments

So as I sit here tonight, I'm thinking about getting older and what I hope for those older years. And I guess I hope even if I slow down, I hope I still find glee in everything. And I think it helps that most of my glee doesn't come from the big things in life, but rather the little things. Himself, kids, family, friends, Ella (my dog), books, coffee, sunsets on the beach, ice cream, a fire in the winter . . .

Yeah, it doesn't take much. And that's a good thing.

So tonight, I wish you all a sense of connection with your community. I wish you all glee.  I wish you all a good book and comfortable chair!

Holly

PS

Able to Love Again

Find my books at:

Amazon

Kobo

iBooks

B&N

Google Play

BAM

Thanksgiving...a holiday of glee!!

I've been talking about my new book, Between the Words, but this week, I'm talking about my PTA Mom Collection. I loved writing about three single moms finding love at holidays and I'm thrilled they're all in one collection (with a bonus story). I'll confess, In Once Upon a Thanksgiving, I loved that Samantha actively worked at being optimistic and happy.

With kids, a job and an unexpected PTA Committee job (the Thanksgiving pageant), she's got a lot on her plate. But she realizes she's a work in progress and just gets down to work on all of it...and in learning to be happy.

That message resonates with me. Glee is a state of mind...one we all can work on cultivating.

I will admit that I love Thanksgiving because it's a holiday that centers on family and on counting our blessings. We have a tradition here of going around the table and saying what we're thankful for. Some of the thankful-items are silly on purpose, but no matter how silly they are, it's a great reminder that we're lucky. Yes, I talk about glee a lot and I think that awareness of how lucky I am makes it easier to find glee tucked up in most of my life.

I think that's why I love this holiday so much. I might have to do a lot of cooking (making the brine today then tomorrow cooking in earnest), but there's something to be said about a day that's spent counting our blessings and reminding ourselves why we're lucky! A day of glee!

So as you all start to bustle around the kitchen prepping for the big day, I hope you take a minute to find your glee!!

Holly

PS Here are the most recent Trippin' Videos...

PPS Check out this year's releases: Polished Off PTA Moms: the Collection Between the Words Briar Hill Road 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!

The Artistry of Life

I'm back in my ceramics class and working at learning to throw on a wheel.  It's not easy.  Not easy at all.  I can't tell you how many pieces have gone caliwumpus (that's a technical term...LOL). But I sit back down at the wheel and try again. And again. And again.  I'm not sure if it's a passion for pottery or just plain stubbornness.  But there I am, clay splattered and trying.

The school will have an Empty Bowl fundraiser in the spring and I signed on to make 50 bowls.  Yesterday, I trimmed the bottom of ten...so now I'm at 32/50.  And I'm learning about finishing, too.  A finished bowl has a foot on it. It's not just decorative. It thins out the bottom of the bowl so it fires better, and it helps keep glaze on the bowl, not on the bottom of the kiln.  Real potters will pick up a piece and check the bottom to see how it's finished.  I guess the true mark of artistry is making something no one sees beautiful.

I like that thought.

Artistry can be something no one else really sees.

It's a nice thought that applies to real life.  I think we should all strive to be an artist at life. Doing kind things no one else will ever see or notice.  I like to think kindness is contagious. So while I'm working at getting better at pottery (my goal is to have my professor pick up a bowl and say, I'd use this) I think I'll try to get better at the artistry of life.  Doing small acts of kindness (maybe large acts of kindness LOL) and spewing kindness like I try to spew glee.  The world can always use a bit more kindness and glee!

Those 50 bowls I've promised to make turned into 51. So many people have asked for my pottery, I thought giving one away would be fun.  The problem with that is how to draw one name.  I've been doing more of my giveaways through my email list. So if you want a chance at a bowl, all you have to do to have your name in the hat (not a real hat LOL) is be signed up for my newsletter. You can do that here.  I'll draw in November.

As we all go out today, let's try to be artists of life and spread some kindness and glee!!

Holly

PS

Monday's newest Trippin' with Holly and Susan. 

If you've missed episodes, you can find them here.

PPS  

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!