More What to Do With Your Kids

It sounds like there's a chance we'll have kids home for a while yet, so here are a few other ideas.

The Cincinnati Zoo is rocking! They've got the Fiona Show and a daily Live Safari on FB.

I've been addicted to a Live Stream of a nesting bald eagle. I check in now and again. The kids love it.

More on STEM. Have you read Andrea Beatty? Check out:
Rosie Revere, Engineer
Ada Twist, Scientist
Iggy Peck, Architect

Oh, and check out yesterday's project:

We've built a solar powered robot and a remote controlled car. I'm ordering some magnet sets today. Oh, and check out the Turing Tumble. Mine's on backorder, but I know someone who has one and loves it for the kids.

The oldest minion is learning to spell states. We made it through Hawaii this week. Once we've, we're hoping to learn capitals! The little minions are working on sight words. Well, we do sound them out first, but they're learning to recognize them quickly. I added a new word yesterday. Lamp. I think we're going to keep building our vocabulary one word at a time. They love Sight Word Palooza. They run with the cards, labeling the objects. It's a very kinetic way to learn that works for them.

I have some birdhouses we'll be painting and hanging next week. And since we've been watching Mo Willem's Doodles, we're going to be making our own books! (I'd like to say that the fact that I'm a writer inspired them to write, but I'm pretty sure it's Mo. LOL)

Check out GoNoodle on YouTube. Get the kids up and moving!

The oldest minion has been reading a book a day to the little ones. Reading. If there's nothing else we do, that's the ticket. I've always said that books raised me. It's the truth. I've lived thousands of lives. I've learned so many things, but mainly I've learned empathy. It's hard to not feel empathy when you've walked miles upon miles in someone else's shoes. So reading. My goal is at the end of this, the minions are all reading better and reading for glee!

Good luck, everyone!

Holly

PS After a long day with the kids, if you're looking for a book to relax with, I have a new series for you.

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!

Social Distancing

It's a scary time. I get that. It's frustrating. And if you're a social butterfly, social distancing is so difficult.

They closed my university today for the rest of the term. I'm sad about no more studio time until my own studio is done.

But there are things to do. Since I can't be at the studio today, I'm spring cleaning. That way, when we're all given the green light, I'll be caught up in the house.

I cleaned off my bookshelves (well, a few...I have a lot of shelves, it'll be a few more days) and cleaned off a display shelf over the dining room windows. I took down my teacups and replaced them with some of my pottery and my Burlon Craig teapot. (If you're bored, you can go back and read about my girl crush on BB Craig here.)

Yep, I'm pleased. I'll have a few more pieces to add when I go up to school and clear off my shelves.

Then I scrubbed and waxed my counters. They're soapstone and I wax them every six months or so. Don't they look great?

Then I took a walk. When I walked by my front lawn, some crocuses were up. I stopped a moment and smiled. You see, my MIL (who inspired Briar Hill Road) planted them decades ago. They used to spell out SPRING, but don't anymore. Still, every time they come up it feels like it's really spring and I think about her. So she was on my mind as I walked today. And I gave some thought to being thankful I'm walking again. I think it's more important than ever to be thankful when times are troubling.

I came home and emailed my professor about clearing out my studio space, then I cooked. I made that springtime cake I mentioned on FB the other day, homemade bread, and I made a beer can chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner. Comfort food, baby!

I started planning how I was going to keep the minions busy since they're not in school. I'm making Sight-Word Palooza cards for the younger two. I'm going to make flashcards for common items here like television, book, table, chair... The game will be to match the card to the item. As they get better, we're going to time them. Yes, if it's a competition, the minions are all in. I pulled out all my easy readers for the oldest minion, and I'm going to print out the states for "spelling." Also printing out all the presidents. When my kids were little, I had them memorize them all. To this day they can still recite the presidents. We'll also be working on our STEM cars and definitely planning a lot of days at camp.

Oh, and I worked on my new book.

Day One is done. Well, almost. I'm planning on picking up a book and reading the rest of the night away.

It was a busy, productive and thankful day.

I think that's going to be my theme for the upcoming days.

Hoping you're being careful, listening to the CDC and finding things to keep yourself busy! Things you enjoy. Time with your family. And I hope you remember to find things that give you glee each day, and then give thanks for those things.

Do you have any plans around the house?

Holly

PS If you're home and looking for something to do, catch up on our Trippin' with Holly and Susan videos.

PSS Looking for something to read? My Hometown Hearts series is out...well, the first two books are out. I hope you'll pick them up!

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!

I'm worth it...

I was going to pick up something quick for my dinner while I was at the grocery store today. I'm solo this week and I've cooked a lovely risotto and some bangin' cream of chicken soup with cheese tortellini. Mmm. I thought cooking another nice meal for just myself would simply take too long.

And the moment I had that thought, I kicked myself. (Well, since the leg's still weak, it wasn't much of a kick, but I deserved it.) As I kicked myself, I reminded myself, that I'm worth it. I'm worth taking the time to cook something just for me. So I made a huge tossed salad with spring greens, and a lovely crab marinara. Had a nice glass of wine even.

I've spent my life as a caregiver. My brothers when I was growing up, my family, my grandmother, my neighbor...  I think it's easy for caregivers to forget to give themselves time as well. Taking a moment to cook myself a lovely dinner. Taking a moment to read a book. Taking a bunch of moments going back to school. Heading to the studio. Those moments...well, I'm worth them. Yes, I may forget sometimes. I think we all do. But it's worth reminding ourselves.

Maybe during this shortest month, we should all take a moment to do something for ourselves. Whether it's cooking, or claying, or reading...

Take a moment. You're worth it!

Holly

PS Here's my newest 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!

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

So there's a chance I'm a geek.

So there's a chance I'm a geek.

Burlon Craig Swirl Teapot

Now, my kids would assure you that there's more than just a chance, but I've long held out hope they were wrong. Until after reading four books for an upcoming 10 minute presentation, reading a bunch of articles and an hour-long  video, I realized I had another book on my shelf and picked it up and gleefully started reading it.

Do you think there's a chance that five book's might be overkill for a ten minute presentation? LOL (If my kids are reading this they're nodding.)

But here's the thing, the subject is fascinating.

My teapots.

I talked about my report in my last post. Burlon Craig. He had a long career and shaped an entire region's worth of potters.  All this reading about Catawba potters led me to experimenting with alkaline glazes in class this term.  And I'm planning to try swirling clay someday soon.

My Barn (well and Himself's)

My presentation is coming up and I swear I'm going to try to keep it at that ten minutes, but it's going to be tough. (To Any Fellow Student...I do promise to try! LOL) And after that, my term is over. I have one more term of ceramics. I'm only the second person in my professor's career to have a third independent study in his class.  And I feel a bit panicked because there's so much more to learn and I'm not going to fit enough in just one more term.

But there's also a sense of excitement. When this term's over, I should have my own studio up and running in the back of the barn.

Speaking of excitement, I unloaded three kilns this weekend for the class. It was fun watching the kids' pieces come out and it was like Christmas whenever I pulled out one of mine!

Yes, I'm afraid my kids are right...I'm a geek. But hey, I'm okay with that! I find such glee in all the little things in life. And maybe I go overboard on a ten minute presentation, but I learned a lot with all this reading.

I'll let you in on a secret...finding things that inspire you to go into overdrive mode might be a ticket to never getting old!

Holly

PS My Hometown Hearts series is starts in January! The first book, Crib Notes, is available for preorder now! I hope you'll pick up your copy! (The first chapter is available as a sample at iBooks.) I'd really appreciate your support with a preorder! Each one gives my book a bit more visibility!

Amazon          Nook          iBooks          Kobo

PPS Today's Trippin' with Holly and Susan video really ties into this blog post. If you've missed it, check it out! And if you follow me at YouTube, you'll get alerts whenever a new episode is uploaded!

Mother's Day

When I first started writing, I wrote a romcom with four kids at home. Someone said, "You can't put kids in romantic comedy." I laughed because I'd just sold a book with five kids. So many of my stories have mothers and their kids. All the how-to-write books say write what you know. I have four kids so...well, let's just say I've got kids in many, many of my books!

I've been lucky to have so many strong women in my life. My daughters, my mother, my mother-in-law, my grandmother, my friends and my readers. They've shared so much with me—from fortitude, to resilience, to unconditional love. They've allowed me to be a part of their stories, and shared their stories that came before me. Stories of their lives—some where happy, some not so much, but all of those stories taught me—are teaching me—who I want to be.  These amazing women were mothers, grandmothers, friends, Rosie Riveters, secretaries, teachers, nurses, pharmacists, cooks and comics...  

I know how lucky I am to have my live to have lived a life with so many amazing women populating it.  They're each why I love writing moms, grandmas and strong women!

If you're a mom, I wish you a wonderful day (if you're not a mom, I wish you a wonderful one, too)! And if you're looking for a new story (whether or not your a mother), I have a few Mom books for you!

Thanks, as always, for letting me a part of your stories!

Holly

Mealtime!!

Food.

I had an editor once comment that my characters seemed to eat a lot of meals. Hmm. I eat meals three times every day so it makes sense that my characters do as well. Those meals are a great time to connect with someone else in books and in real life. Our family gets larger and larger, so a lot of our meals are chaotic.  I do love our Thanksgiving meals. We have a family tradition of saying what we're thankful for. One of my kids habitually has long, long lists. So long she writes them out. This year she made a little booklet.  I'll confess, I think life is pretty good if you have to write a book of everything you're thankful for!

So yes, there are and will continue to be meals in my books. 

There were a lot of meals in Between the Words. Food and coffee. I mean, how could that be a bad combo?? Those meals were important to the story because while this is a book with two romances in it, it is truly a story about creating a family.  And for me—and hopefully for a lot of you—that idea of gathering for a meal is about people connecting. A family connecting.  (Here's a great article on eating together.)

Maybe that's a good goal for the new year for all of us...spend more time eating meals with people who matter to us. Taking time to connect.

In today's Trippin' video, Susan and I are talking about what historical figure we'd have dinner with. We hit 50 videos with this one. And guess what? We still haven't run out of things to say! LOL

Holly

PS.

And check out 2018's releases!!
(And keep an eye out for 2019's! There are a bunch!):

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

PPS.
Have you missed our most recent Trippin' with Holly and Susan? You can catch up with them all on YouTube.

Trippin' with Holly and Susan—2

It's time for the 2nd Trippin' with Holly and Susan.
Today, we're talking about...what else, books!

Polished Off

Hope you're enjoying the trip!!

 Remember Polished Off 
hits the shelves next Tuesday!!  
See what Quincy and the gang are up to now!

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!

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