| ||||||||||||||||||
|
Tuesday, August 06, 2019
How to Hunt a Husband Release Day!!!
Love is a Laughing Matter
It's release day for
It's been an exciting summer here! This is the site of our new barn, which will contain my ceramic studio! Yes, I'm still claying! I start back to school in a couple weeks. I can't wait! I'm planning another fall giveaway, so keep an eye out! I'll just draw a newsletter subscriber's name randomly and post it! (Not a subscriber? Join 
Saturday, August 03, 2019
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.
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
Thursday, August 01, 2019
Family Treeing
There are so many stories in my family tree. I'll never be able to research them all.
I've had family who've been in the US pre-Revolution.
I have immigrants who came to the country in just the last few generations.
Some were royalty.
Some were sharecroppers.
I've got ancestors from Scottish clan Wallace (Maybe "Uncle" William that might explain why I'm sometime a rebel).
I have a relative named Thankful (a good reminder).
I have both Friends and Mennonites in my family.
One of my ancestors was a founder of Brown University and one Penn State.
I think what really fascinates me is the story that goes with each person. I can never know the full extent of those relatives life, but I can piece together bits of them.
The great-grandmother, Sarah, who I just confirmed is biologically my ancestor (see Move Over Trixie Belden) was a single girl working in as a housekeeper. My married great-grandfather worked for the railroad and traveled to her town as part of his job. He adopted their baby with his wife. Sarah went home and went to nursing school. She never married and lived with a single sister for the bulk of her adult life. When her sister died, she lived there alone.
And I can't help but wonder how giving up her daughter weighed on her. How it impacted the rest of her life. She inspired Carry Her Heart in a way. And the sequel, Hold Her Heart, was my love-of-HEAs attempt to give her a better ending.
Yes, for me, researching my family tree is a way to tell my own story and discover the stories of those who came before me.
Each of my family tree's branches came from somewhere else. Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, Germany. That means each branch has a person who gave up everything they knew, climbed on a boat and sailed to America. Some came when the country wasn't a country yet. They helped fight for our right to self-rule. Some came far later. But each one gave up everything for the chance at a fresh start—for a chance to build a better life for their children. As a mom, I admire their strength and optimism and hope that if needs be I could echo it. There's nothing—nothing—I wouldn't do for my kids. Nothing.
And I owe each of my ancestors a debt of thanks, because I love Erie, I love Pennsylvania and I love the US. I love my life. None of that would have been possible if they hadn't been brave enough to sail into the unknown and optimistic enough to believe they were sailing towards a better life for themselves and future generations.
Yes, for me, genealogy all comes down to the stories. Each new discovery brings a new branch and a new story to delve into.
Each of us makes choices and builds our own life, but I think it's important to remember we stand on the backs for those who came before us. We stand on the strength and optimism of those who came to this country looking for a better life.
I hope that I've done them all proud!
Holly
PS Check out my summer of Rom Com:
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Move Over Trixie Belden!!
If you've read my Maid in LA series, you know of my love of Trixie Belden. I named characters after Trixie and Honey! I grew up reading her books. I shared them with neighbors and spread the love. My poor copies have duct tape holding together the bindings—a visual sign of how much they were loved.Well, as of last night, it's official, I don't just love Trixie, I now write those cozy mysteries...and I SOLVE MYSTERIES.
Yes, that's right, move over Trixie. I solved the mystery. Technically two mysteries.
You see, one of my grandmothers was adopted. Rumor has it, her adoptive father was her biological father. I found a copy of her birth certificate and it had her birth mother's name. The father was listed as someone other than her adoptive father, but it was a close mix of his name, so I was pretty sure adoptive dad and birth dad were the same man.
But how about her biological mother?
I found a girl with the name on the birth certificate. Right age. She was close enough to my grandmother's birth place that it seemed she seemed like a likely candidate. So I researched her and my grandmother's adoptive (maybe birth) father.
Everything lined up, but still, it was a guess.
Until last night. I found DNA matches between me and my great-grandfather's family tree. Cousins. I kept searching and found a few of them.
And tonight, I found DNA matches to my possible great-grandmother's family tree. She wasn't just possible. She is my grandmother's mother.
Move over Trixie and Quincy Mac, and Markie Walkowicz!! I'm a detective.
So much of my family tree has been a mystery. And while I know that family is more than blood, there was a huge question about the people who came before me. Their journeys led to me. Slowly, I'm unraveling those mysteries. Slowly I've discovered where they came from...where I came from.
And with those discoveries, I can reiterate what I've always known...family isn't blood, it's those people in your life that matters.
I know my mom's favorite person in the world was her grandmother. And her grandmother wasn't related by blood. Mom would talk about how her grandmother was always there for her and how much she missed her, even decades later. They were true family.
As a writer I love these stories I've discovered. I have doctors and sharecroppers in my tree. I have people with titles, and people who drank themselves to death (literally, a relative was drunk and froze to death), but also as I writer, I know what counts...the people who love you and the people you love. Whether there's a blood connection or not, they are our true family!
Holly
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Inspiration
Inspiration is everywhere.
I saw a cute little cup in Pottery Making Illustrated. I liked it so I tried out a version of it. You can see where the inspiration came from, but this one has a certain Holly-spin to it. I made it my own.
That's how inspiration works for me. I see something and then twist it in a way that pleases me. I twist it in a way that speaks to me. We have a lot of lichen on the trees at our cottage. And that inspired this vase...
Inspiration. I think there's a certain joy in watching for those moments that can change our perspective and move us in a new direction. I find that kind of inspiration in everything. I apply it to my art and to my writing, and I make it my own.
I hope you find something that inspires you today!
Holly
PS Same Time Next Summer is on sale today for $.99.Thursday, June 20, 2019
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!
Books On Sale:
Monday, June 10, 2019
Holly's June News
| |||||||||
|
Spring has finally arrived here in Erie! We've been out in the garden and working at the cottage. We finally finished the stonework behind the wood stove and we're starting a pole-barn. I'm sure any of you who follow me on social media will see pics! The barn is so exciting because I'll be putting my own ceramic studio in it! I still have two more terms of classes at the university, but after that, I'll be on my own. I want it ready by this time next year!Sunday, May 12, 2019
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
Friday, May 10, 2019
Pets in Books
 |
|
Speaking of Susan, we're filming more Trippin' videos tomorrow. If you have any questions for us, or topics you'd like us to discuss, please feel free to send them to me!
Holly
PS Check out my books!
Find more of my books at:
Saturday, May 04, 2019
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
PPS. Check out my books!
 |
| Briar Hill Road |
 |
| Between the Words |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)