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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BAM

B&N

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:

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Kobo

iBooks

B&N

Google Play

BAM

I Do Not Have a Chicken Collection

I do not have a chicken collection. A certain person thinks I do. So I have an ever-growing chicken population in the house. A reader even sent me the cutest chicken bowl a few weeks back...it was adorable. But I do not have a chicken collection. 

So when this certain person gave me two new chicken books, and I sighed. Because I do not have a chicken collection. But then I read them. I was hooked.  For years, I was the kindergarten story lady, like Pip in Carry Her Heart.  I love children's literature. Love it!  Still, I do not have a chicken collection.

Check out Interrupting Chicken. You'll be as hooked as I am.

Holly

PS I do not have a chicken collection.

PPS I do have a new book, The Makeover.

PPPS (Okay, even I know that's ridiculous) the prequel, Not Precisely Pregnant, is free today!

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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