Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit.
I figure it's best to start a new year off with as much luck as we can garner.

On to my serious thoughts...
I chose HOPE as my word for 2025.
I know a lot of people who are anxious about the coming year. There's so much we can't control on a macro level. But we can hope for the best and we can work towards that goal...we can have say on a micro level. We can try to make our little corner of the world a better place.
We can volunteer.
We can pick up a piece of trash on the sidewalk.
We can smile at our neighbors and spread a bit of glee.
We can drive a little less.
We can plant a tree.
We can take care of ourselves physically and mentally.
I like to think of it as ripples on a pond. If I toss my
one small pebble in, it will make a ripple, but it won't make much of one. But if I invite all my friends to toss their pebbles in at the same time...well, we'd have a tsunami of HOPE.
So I invite you to toss a lot of HOPEFUL pebbles in your ponds this year!
One of my favorite quotes from Hometown Christmas (I know, quoting yourself is pretentious LOL) is
"I can't change the world, but I can try."

Let's make 2025 a tsunami of hope! Holly

Check out some of my books!

Deck the Halls

Exclusively available for Kindle and KU.
 Around the Square
Book 1-6 are available now! Book 7 & 8 are available for preorder and the final book will be out this fall!

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!!

Hometown Hearts

2024 Word of the Year

 I really put some thought into a word to build a year on. I mean, having one word carry the weight of an entire year on its back is an awesome responsibility. So I mull. Even when I think I have my word, I still mull. I want to get it right. 

Drum roll...

2024's word is...

PEACE.

Normally, my word is just about me. Given the state of the world right now, I've expanded my word to the entire world. It seems like a perfect global word to build a year on.  I try to keep my social media upbeat and positive, but that doesn't mean I don't see what's going on around me. I ache for all those who are suffering physically, mentally and spiritually. I stand with every person or nation who strives for peace. 

That's my macro hope.

My micro hope for the year is finding peace within myself. I'll confess, I find it on a regular basis when I'm out in nature. Everything seems to slow down. I can hear myself think. The worries of the world melt away. (Of course, sometimes my weekend peace is interrupted when in the midst of my nature walk the dogs find poop and roll in it. I blame Tallulah who has always loved stinky stuff...she's teaching Mabel bad habits.) 

That personal peace can collide with world peace. I'm not under any illusions that I can change hearts and minds worldwide, but maybe, just maybe, I can make one person feel just a bit lighter. Just a bit more positive. Just a bit more..peaceful. And maybe that person will spread their peace to another. And maybe they'll spread it and... Well, you get my point. My  heroine in A Hometown Christmas says she knows she can't save the world, but she can try. That's just it. I believe that things like Peace, Hope, Charity are contagious. 

So in this new year, I hope to be a super spreader and share my peace with all of you. 

Happy, Happy New Year! May 2024 bring us all a bit closer to our best selves.

Holly

PS Check out my books:

Book #5 is out tomorrow!!

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

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!!

Hometown Hearts

Word of the Year—2023

 

Last year my Word of the Year was Thankful. And I have so much to be thankful about. My family. My friends. Indoor plumbing...LOL

In past years I've had words like Patience, Stretch, Step, Glee, Hope, Time, Chapter, Stop...

As every new year approaches, I spend some time thinking about what I want to concentrate on for the next twelves months. I went round and round this year, not quite able to settle on any one thing. Finally I had it. I've talked before about how little things make me happy. But little things is two words. I know, I could have cheated, and I thought about it. But I hit on an adjacent word...Mindful. To be honest, it's a more powerful word than little-things. I plan to spend 2023 concentrating on the small moments that give me glee and hope. Moments with my kids and with the Minions. Moments with Himself. Moments with friends. Moments at the cottage. Moments in the studio. Beautiful, glorious moments.

But I'm sure there will be other moments to be Mindful of.

There's a poem I learned when I was very young...

“I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chatted all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow;
And ne’er a word said she;
But, oh! The things I learned from her,
When Sorrow walked with me.”

― Robert Browning Hamilton

So more than being mindful of the small, gleeful moments I'm hoping being Mindful reminds me to embrace those moments that aren't as gleeful or aren't gleeful at all. I want to meet them head on and see what lessons they leave me with. Lessons and gifts. I think most of our problems comes with one or the other...frequently both.

When I started writing, I wrote straight up romantic comedy. Books like I Waxed My Legs for This? my PTA Moms, Everything But...series, Not Precisely Pregnant. But over time, I've added more serious books. Books that deal with those non-gleeful moments. Briar Hill Road, Just One Thing, Carry Her Heart, my Hometown Hearts series... They all taught me so much as I wrote them. I'll confess, I cried more than once with all of them. But each left me some new insight about myself and about life. Just like those harder moments in real life leave us gifts. 

So I will be Mindful and try to embrace all the moments 2023 offers me. I will try to recognize them and hold them close. 

As the new year begins, I wish you all a marvelous, gleeful year!

Holly

Looking for something to read in 2023? Check out:

Surprises in All Sizes anthology.
One of my Hometown Hearts stories is included!

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

Word of the Year—2022

 Every year for a very long time, I've chosen a word for the new year. Words like Thankful, Patience, Stretch, Step, Glee, Hope, Time, Chapter, Stop...

The last few years have been a challenge for all of us. Covid...well, sucks. My family has done all we can do to stay safe. This year, we were finally all together for the holiday. Everyone but our youngest member (who's too young for a shot) got their vaccines and boosters. We all tested before we got together to protect the baby. And it was...loud, chaotic and absolutely wonderful. My word for 2021 was Thankful...and I am that. As I looked around at the people around me, I realized what a perfect word I choose for 2021. But as we look toward the next year, I mulled various words to build 2022 around. I kept coming back to one. That's generally my sign that I've found my word.

So here it is...

Drumroll.

RENEW.

Back to Covid... Despite being in the thick of a surge, there are vaccines, boosters and new therapeutics coming online. Though we limited our family celebration to immediate family, I'm pretty sure that we'll be in a position to have a big, extended family celebration this summer. Our second Christmas in July. We can renew our connections.

We started planning an addition to The Cottage...not just renewing it, but finally getting an indoor plumbing. Oh yeah, I'm fancy! We'd hoped to start it in the fall, but the builder got behind, so we're hoping to start in the spring!

My family, my home...and personally. That's always the biggest part of my Word of the Year.

Personally I plan to renew my personal growth. I want to follow my passions. I've always tried to follow a Family-First mantra. That won't change. But realizing that it's okay to say no...that's always been a challenge. One year my word was Balance. I worked at finding a work-life balance and a personal family-me balance. I'm going to renew those attempts. I'm going to find more time in the studio. I'm loving growing in my craft. I've found a passion for folk art. Playing with traditional glazes and forms...and making them my own. Yep, I want more time with that.

And I plan to renew my attempt at furthering my other Words of the Year. 
I want to renew my attempts to be Thankful, to be Patient, to find Glee, to... 
Well, you get the idea.
Renew. 

By now, you all know I'm a walker. I use my morning walks to...well, I'd say meditate, but that sounds too fancy for what I do. I mull. I think about books I'm writing. I think about goals I'm working on. I think about things I want to work on in the studio. And sometimes I don't think about a thing. I simply take in the beauty that surrounds me and live in that moment. Small moments. In Just One Thing, the heroine had a profound moment with a deer as she walked. Last year, Tallulah and I saw one in the woods as we walked. It froze just beyond the first line of trees. We froze as well and for a moment the three of us were quiet and still together. It sounds so small here, but it was so magical. Moments. I'll renew my attempt to find and recognize those moments next year.

So there it is. My word. Renew. I'll spend the year mulling over it and trying to apply it to my year.

How about you? Have you picked out a Word of the Year in the past? Are you going to try it this year?

Whether you do or don't, I wish you all a wonderful new year. Stay safe, look for those magic moments and I hope you renew all the things in your life that are important to you!

Holly

PS. 
I'm so excited that in 2022 I'll be combining my two passions...writing and pottery. Yep, there's a new book coming out. A woman who RENEWS her life, follows her passion, maybe finds a relationship...and definitely finds a dead body. She needs to figure out who dunnit!

You can preorder A View to a Kiln: A Harry's Pottery Mystery, now!

Kindle

iBooks

Kobo

Barnes & Noble

Have you missed any of my Hometown Hearts series? Here's the list:

Crib Notes: Hometown Hearts #1

Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iBook

A Special Kind of Different: Hometown Hearts #2

Kindle, iBook, Kobo, Nook

Homecoming: Hometown Hearts #3

Kindle, Kobo, IBooks, Nook

 Suddenly a Father: Hometown Hearts #4

Kindle, Kobo, Nook, iBooks

Something Borrowed: Hometown Hearts #5

Kindle, Kobo, Nook, iBooks

Something Blue: Hometown Hearts #6 

Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Apple Books

Something Perfect: Hometown Hearts #7 

Apple Books, Nook, Kobo, Kindle

Something Unexpected: A Hometown Hearts short story 
Amazon

A Hometown Christmas: Hometown Hearts #8
Kindle 
Nook
AppleBooks
Kobo

Word of the Year—2021

 

Every year for more than a decade I've talked about giving up New Year's Resolutions and instead coming up with a Word of the Year. My Word of the year for 2020 was Patience. I feel very prophetic about it because 2020 was definitely a year that required a lot of patience. I tend to try to view the world as a glass half full sort of place, but frankly this year has been required a lot of work to maintain that view. So many people are hurting and suffering.  1 out of every 1,000 Americans has succumbed to Covid. Even while I find the beauty in the world—whether it's the minions, my family, a new studio, a new book, the cottage—I see the beauty but it's tinged with the sorrow that we've all felt.  Patience. It's taken a lot of work and patience.

Most years I simply share my Word of the Year. This year, I'm going to walk you through how I pick one. (If you've watched Trippin' with Holly and Susan videos, you've seen my weird, circular thought process in some of them.)

I've tried to make a difference where I can. I've tried to spread glee. I've...I've patiently tried to make the world just a little brighter.

So now I need to pick a Word for 2021. My first inclination was HOPE. I'm hopeful that before the end of '21 things will be better. Not necessarily back to normal, but better. HOPE feels like a good choice even though I've used it as a Word of the Year in the past. I don't think anyone can ever have too much hope.

And yet, I also think this coming year is going to rely on SCIENCE. For a decade scientist worked on a new way of developing vaccines. They worked, they tested their mRNA technology and when this horrible virus came along, they'd laid the groundwork for preparing an effective inoculation in record time. My family is filled with frontline workers and I'm so proud and THANKFUL for the work they do. And I'm so THANKFUL for that science as they've begun getting inoculations that will protect them. So THANKFUL. That's another great idea for a Word for '21. I'm THANKFUL for my brave and amazing family. I'm THANKFUL to the scientists who've worked so hard for a decade and put us in a place where we could confront this pandemic in a timely way. 

I'm Hopeful and Thankful. Both words encompass science. So now I've narrowed my word to one of those two. Those Trippin' videos will also show you that I have no problem twisting things to suit my purpose...I could just pick two words. And yet...I love having one word to focus on.

I'm hopeful that scientist continue to work hard and think of new ways to save lives. I'm thankful for all they've done and are doing. If you've ever read How to Catch a Groom, you know of my inherent fondness for science and I feel this year has proven that fondness out.

I'm thankful for all our frontline workers and hopeful their jobs will become just a bit easier in '21.

I'm hopeful that our country will find a way to come together and work together for the good of all of us...the good of the least of us. I'm thankful for all the people who've spent their lives working for the least of us.

I still haven't decided. So I plugged the both those words into Google to see what popped up. I found:

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” Gilbert Keith Chesterton

You all know that glee is a word I use a lot. I strive for finding that glee everywhere in everything.

This seems like a sign.

So while I'm full of hope for '21 my word of the year is THANKFUL.

I'm thankful for scientists. Thankful for frontline workers who've faced so much this year. I'm thankful for Himself. I'm thankful for my family and friends. I am thankful for my writing and my pottery. I'm thankful for Tallulah. I'm thankful that despite the troubles this year, the new year brings with it hope for something better.

I am thankful. 

I've had words like Patience, Stretch, Step, Glee, Hope, Time, Chapter, Stop...

THANKFUL. It's a good word to add to my list and a good word to center the new year around.

When I wrote Same Time Next Summer, I investigated TBIs (traumatic brain injuries) and discovered that recovery from a TBI isn't sudden. It's slow and difficult process. I suspect 2021 is going to be like that. Things will be better, but not all of a sudden. Slowly, with hard work, we're going to get back to normal or a new normal. And I am going to try to be thankful for each step in the process. 

Wishing you all a hopeful, thankful new year!

Holly

PS My Books and Pottery

HollysWoodsStudio

And check out Hometown Hearts:

Crib Notes: Hometown Hearts #1

Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iBook

A Special Kind of Different: Hometown Hearts #2

Kindle, iBook, Kobo, Nook

Homecoming: Hometown Hearts #3
Kindle, Kobo, IBooks, Nook

 

Suddenly a Father: Hometown Hearts #4

Kindle, Kobo, Nook, iBooks

Something Borrowed: Hometown Hearts #5
PREORDER. Available 1/21
Kindle, Kobo, Nook, iBooks

PREORDER. Available 3/21
Kindle, Kobo, Nook

Patience—Word of the Year

I started picking a word of the year long while back.

I don't like resolutions. If you break them then you feel like a loser.  Goals are better. Something you're working toward, but still if you don't achieve the goal, there's an element of failure to it. A Word of the Year is better yet. They're goal-esque. But they're also a foundation to build a year around. They're something to weave into the fabric of your year. Something for everything else to spring from.

I know I'm early, but I've already picked my Word of the Year for 2020...Patience.

Being laid up with crutches means I'm relying on others more than I am accustomed to. Himself has been amazing. He's been trying to take care of me. Trying is the big word. I am not easy to take care of.  LOL But I'm working on my patience. (Maybe it's not just patience but a certain humbleness I require. It takes a humbleness to ask for help. I'm going to mull that over now that I've thought of it.)  I have figured out how to get my own drinks (travel mugs shoved in sweatpants pocket) and even a bowl of lunch (office chair used as a rolling table) but I didn't do either this weekend...I've asked Himself for help.  He's been infinitely patient with this less than patient patient. LOL He's picked up the slack for me.

So I'm working on my patience with myself.

I have always been the caretaker. When I was young, I took care of my brothers, including a baby brother twelve years younger than me. I've taken care of my kids, my extended family, neighbors. That's the role I'm used to. Caregiver. Care-ie...not so much.

In that last blog post I said every obstacle comes with a gift in its hand. And it does. I'm hoping one of the gifts these crutches have brought me is patience. So there's a gift.

Sometimes my word of the year isn't difficult. One of my favorite words of a year was Glee...I tend to have a lock on that. And come to think about it, I've found glee even in the midst of all this. But patience...yeah, I've got some work to do this year! And maybe that's not such a bad thing. Sometimes it's good to have some work to do.

Every obstacle comes with a gift.  I suspect that learning to be more patient isn't going to be this particular obstacle's only gift.

How about you? Are you thinking about a word for 2020?

Holly

PS The first two Hometown Hearts books are available for preorder!! Yes, A Special Kind of Different is up too!! Crib Notes is out in January, A Special Kind of Different in March!!

Crib Notes:
Amazon
Nook
Kobo
iBooks

A Special Kind of Different:
Amazon
Nook
Kobo
iBooks

Happy New Year...My Word of 2019

Some people make new year's resolutions. I used to. But they seemed to be forgotten almost as soon as they're made. So years ago, I started picking a word of the year.  Watch the video to find out what this year's word is!

Happy, Happy New Year to all of you!

Holly

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

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

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