Cottage Tour

Here's the Cottage tour some of you've been asking for.
Oh, and Artist not Author...although I suspect you know what I meant.

Thanks for checking it out!

Speaking of checking out...here are a few books. The second Around the Square book is out in February!!

Holly

Just One Thing is for sale this month on Amazon!
If you just watched my renovating, addition at the cottage, this book is set there in my mind!

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

Signs of the Times
Available for Kindle and Kindle Unlimited
Book #2 comes out in February! 
By Design takes a the marriage of convenience trope and...well, has a bit of fun with it.

Chances
Amazon 
Barnes and Noble
Kobo  
Apple Books 

A View to a Kiln: A Harry's Pottery Mystery
Kindle
iBooks
Kobo
Nook

Questions

I love asking questions. Even more than that, I love finding answers. The Minions and I play a game in the morning...ask a question. Sometimes it's, "What's the biggest snake in the world?" (The reticulated python is the longest...we went with that.) Sometimes we go on long questiony journeys, one question leading to another. Sasquatch, the Wright Brothers, the Gold Rush... 

I've found two distinct branches in my family tree that makes me wonder if my love of questions is genetic.  One line is Mennonite. They came here from Switzerland and I can find their names in church lists for a couple centuries.

The other line is Quaker. I'm still tracing them back, but so far, I've found a few into the 1700's. 

I love that they all questioned the hierarchy and forged their own paths.

Then they stopped. Both lines by the mid-eighteen hundreds were no longer practicing their breakout faiths. Did each generation keep asking questions until they finally answered them? Or did they keep asking questions and never found answers and simply turned away, looking for answers in another direction? It's been fascinating research.

So many things about my family tree makes me ask questions. Trying to understand the paths that brought my people here. The Swiss/German branch seemed to come for religious liberty. I can imagine their stories. One relative was an Irish doctor who married a titled English lady and they both moved here. I can imagine their story as well. But some of them are big...well, questions. Following their paper trail will never give me all the answers to my questions, so I'm left with imagining my own.

Questions sometimes lead to concrete answers. Sometimes they lead to guesses and stories. If questioning is genetic, maybe I owe my writing career to good genes. I am a shirttail relative to Emily Dickenson. I like to think the few genetic strands we share help inspire me to find the beauty of words.

Questions. I think having a bunch of things I'm asking is a great way to start a year. I'm just a small branch on my giant family tree.  I wrote a blog not long ago about mtDNA, where I imagined the long line of women I come from. I doubt I'll find all the answers this year, but I'm hoping I find some! And I suspect anything I discover will lead to more questions.

Wishing you a new year filled with questions...and answers.

Holly

PS Looking for something to read this new year?

Looking for something to read in 2023? Check out:

Just One Thing is for sale this month on Amazon!
If you've followed my renovating, addition at the cottage, this book is set there in my mind!

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

Signs of the Times
Available for Kindle and Kindle Unlimited
Book #2 comes out in February! 
By Design takes a the marriage of convenience trope and...well, has a bit of fun with it.

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—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

mtDNA and a long line of women...

 

Yes, another post about my family tree...well, sort of. I'm combining that with a bit of geeky science stuff. (And for those who know of me deep affection for Schrodinger's Cat and Pi Day, well, this post won't surprise you. LOL)

As I plunge into my past, I can't help notice how often one of my grandmother's names is lost to history. My grandfather's name is there...in a census, on a property deed or in a will. His wife's name? It's a bit more hit or miss. She might be simply listed as Mrs. John Smith. 

It's so frustrating. I've dug through so many death certificates, looking for a maternal name.
That led me to mulling over the idea of Mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA.

I might like geeky science stuff, but I'm not a scientist, so my explanation is very layperson. You get your mitochondria from your mother. (Okay, I read a piece that some paternal mtDNA can sneak in, but let's just go with maternal.) So as I look at my family tree, at those named and unnamed women on the female branches of my tree, I realize that I share the same mitochondria as them. I'm bumping into an issue with my 3rd great-grandmother. I can't pinpoint her first name, much less her last name. She's listed in a deed transfer as John and wife.

And wife.

Now I want to be clear, I am thrilled to be Himself's wife. And I'd like to think he's thrilled to be my husband. But I've never been one to use the title Mrs. Himself. I'm mainly Ms. Holly, when I use an honorific at all. Mainly I'm just Holly or Hall. Sometimes even Hey You. 

This matter of family, or names is something I've mulled a lot in the past. I was born with one man's last name. I adopted another man's last name. I married and happily took Himself's last name. And I when I started writing, I wrote under an altogether new last name. 

Through all those names, I've been Holly. It's a name my mother gave me in hopes that it would never lead to a nickname...which of course explains they I've spent most of my life as Hall. (Poor Mom.) 

Anyway, you can trace your mtDNA all the way to Africa and see how your tribe of foremothers migrated. All my children carry my mtDNA, but only my daughters will pass it on. Their children will have it, but only a granddaughter will pass it on. I love that image of a long line of women. One after another. Mother to daughter down the line. And then, someday, when I'm gone, that mtDNA I inherited from my mother will still be out there, moving down the line. I love that piece of immortality. It makes me feel a little better about the unnamed women in my family tree...a piece of them is still here.

On a total aside, in a very geeky tangent, I was talking about the nuclear fusion experiment with the Minions today. I really am so excited about this giant step. But how to talk about fusion vs fission with kids. Hmm. My layperson explanation worked well. Imagine smashing rocks apart. Pieces would fly everywhere. The little pieces? Those are radiation and they're bad for you. But if you take a couple rocks and glue them together...there are no little bits (radiation). That idea of clean, unlimited energy is so exciting, even though it's decades away!

Yeah, I know. I romance novelist talking mtDNA and nuclear fission...just another day in my life. LOL

Holly

That idea of finding family runs through all my books, but especially in my Hometown Hearts series. You can find the whole series here, and one of them, Something Perfect, is part of a new anthology, Surprises Come in all Sizes. The whole collection is only $.99. It's a great way to try it out along with some marvelous stories by other bestselling, award winning authors! I'm so thrilled to be in an anthology with them!

Tangents

I follow Alexis Nikole on Instagram. She's a forager whose enthusiasm is contagious. (One of the Minions adores her videos. He laughs every time she ends a video by saying, "Don't die.") She mentioned a book, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer in one of her videos. I picked it up and loved the lyrical sense of wonder about the beauty of science in nature. Today's chapter reminded me of summers in the woods when I was growing up. Eating wild strawberries, hiking the creek, hiding with a book in a small clearing I dubbed Lothlorien (I was/am a Tolkien nerd). Kimmerer's  stories of Skywoman spoke to me. "On one side of the world were people whose relationship with the living world was shaped by Skywoman, who created a garden for the well-being of all. On the other side was another woman with a garden and a tree. But for tasting its fruit, she was banished from the garden and the gates clanged shut behind her. That mother of men was made to wander in the wilderness and earn her bread by the sweat of her brow, not by filling her mouth with the sweet juicy fruits that bend the brands low. In order to eat, she was instructed to subdue the wilderness into which she was cast." 

As I read, I remembered another book that I hadn't picked up in years. Women Who Run With the Wolves—Clarissa Pinkola Estes. So I picked it up, thinking I'd read about Skywoman there. It wasn't there (or I didn't find it skimming) but I did re-find Baba Yaga's tale again and Estes' assessment, "Baba Yaga, the Wild Mother...instructs the ordering of the house of the soul. She imbues an alternate order to the ego, one where magic can happen, joy can be done, appetite is intact, things are accomplished with gusto." 

There. Magic.

A tangent led me to what I didn't even know I was looking for.

Magic has been in my mind. I caught that picture at the cottage one evening recently. Perhaps it's a fairy? It's easy to believe in fairies out there.

We spent a cold snowy night at the cottage. I got up a bit later than normal, but still was out in the woods just after sunrise, and breathed in the silence in the trees.  In the snowy morning woods, it's easy to believe in magic and in the power  to create it.

As a writer, I believe in magic because my stories start as a glimmer of an idea and a blank page and grow into something that's alive in its own right. When I read the opening of Hold Her Heart, I tear up EVERY time. It's a sequel to Carry Her Heart and I knew from the beginning how it ends. I know that even when I run my characters through the wringer, they get a happily ever after, and yet, I tear up. Because my character doesn't know it yet. And he's so very real to me. That's magic.

I started walking miles every day, not in a gym, but outside. I've found it makes me more in tune with the world around me. The rhythm of the day. The rhythm of the year. As I walk I notice grass that's almost painfully green in the spring, that fades to a duller green in the summer and finally is covered with brilliantly white snow in the winter. It's magic. The circular essence of nature echoes the circular journey of being a woman.  Skywoman who fell to earth and became an element of creation and dies giving birth (creating), Baba Yaga, who is ambiguous...sometimes portrayed as good, sometimes not so much. That duality seems truthful to me. She inspires magic.

We start out as a child who believes in magic, reach the busy years of career and family responsibilities—time when we forget magic exists—then reach a place where the world slows a bit and we can see the magic of a fairy in the woods, or the magic of watching a child we gave birth to grow into an amazing adult. We have time to notice the magic that surrounds us again. That's a gift.

And there you go. That's how my circular sense of tangents works. I start reading one book, remember something in another and pretty soon I'm surrounded by new and old books, reflecting that life is a series of tangents and if we're smart, we'll take a second to enjoy the magic in those moments!

I think I hear a Minion asking if their favorite forager has a new video! That's magic, too! 

Holly

Looking for something to read? Check out:

Surprises in All Sizes anthology.

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

HerStory

 

I love my little house in the big woods. (Yep, that was a shout out to one of my favorite books growing up!) I married a city boy, but I grew up in the county and missed it so much he bought me some acreage years ago. It's only a bit more than a half hour from home, which makes it easy to head out whenever I need a country fix. Since I put my pottery studio in our barn out there, I've been going out even more often.

I feel connected to that land. I have since we found it. We've spent years building/renovating our cottage out there. Thirty years after we built it, it finally got indoor plumbing. I know. I'm so fancy! We added the barn and my studio a couple years ago. Small project after small project. Then these last few big projects.

 Most of my decor is house-sale-yard-sale finds. One of my recent treasures for the cottage was a map of our township. I am not good with maps, but himself pointed our our place.  A few miles to the north was part of my family's homestead...I knew about that one. But imagine my delight as I studied the map and found another branch of my tree... a third great-grandfather. His name's on the map just a couple miles from our place. I've walked by where his house was. It's so cool finding my feeling of connection might have been my very deep roots in the area.

I've been working on my family tree for a few years. For someone who didn't have any clue on more than half of her tree for most of her life, my discoveries give me such glee. My maternal family comes from pre-revolution New England. My paternal family comes from the pre-revolution south...the Appalachian Mountains.  After years of not quite knowing where I was from, I've traced my family back to the 1700s. A few of the more famous branches, even further.

Where I come from...how I ended up here. It's a never-ending source of fascination for me. That looking for family—for where we belong—is a theme that occurs often in my books.

My whole Hometown Heart series asked that question over and over again in each book.  The first book in my Harry's Pottery series, A View to a Kiln, asks the question. Should Harry (the heroine) follow a well plotted path, or follow her passion?

I'll confess, I love Erie. I write about Erie a lot. Erie has big city amenities and a small town feel.  If you haven't checked out the first book in my Around the Square series, Signs of the Times, you'll find yourself in the heart of Erie...and hopefully the Christmasy story will touch your heart. 

I love both our town house and little house in the big woods, but truly where I belong is with my family. I was so excited that everyone was home for Thanksgiving. There are a lot of us now, so the house was packed, but the chaos was part of the fun!  Chaos and family...that does describe most of my books. LOL

And yes, all of them ask Where do I belong? in one way or another...and every person should ask that question as well. I've asked and answered it over and over...I belong wherever my family is. In the woods, in the city...where they are is my true home. My history (HerStory?!) brought me to right where I am...and where I am is pretty darn perfect.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season!

Holly

If you have a moment, pick out a Holly Jacobs book for your Christmas reading!

Very cool news...

I'm in a new anthology with some of my (your) favorite authors!! 

When I was asked to take part in a book with some of my favorite authors, I jumped at the chance! It's out today! Yep, 8 books by bestselling authors for just $.99!! Draco’s Marriage Pact - Day Leclaire When a one night stand results in a secret baby, can enemies become lovers by creating a marriage pact? A Daddy for Nate - Karen Sandler When Jameson leaves Folsom Prison, he returns to Hart Valley, the one place he'd ever considered home. Within minutes, Nina blows up his world when she reveals their one night of passion brought a beautiful little boy into the world. Jameson insists on being part of Nate and Nina’s lives despite the years of tragedy and personal sacrifice that separated them. Can their pint-sized miracle somehow unite them in love? Never Say Never - Debra Salonen Lisa loved Joe once upon a time. They had a moment. But Lisa chose to marry Joe’s brother, her son’s father. Or did she pick the wrong twin? The Daughter He Never Knew - Linda Barrett Jason loved her but left her after his twin brother died on the night of their senior prom. “Tell Lila not to wait…” Nine years later, when Lila is ready to marry someone else and give her daughter a family, a new message arrives. “Tell Lila I’m coming home.” Something Perfect - Holly Jacobs They were the perfect couple…Until they weren’t. Maybe true love can bring them back together. The Unforgettable Sheikh - Barbara McMahon Three thousand miles away and ten years ago was the last time Chloe saw the man. Now Sheikh Karif bin Shakirah is face to face with her and all she can think of is the daughter he know nothing about. Can they ever overcome the past or will heartbreak and betrayal be too strong to surmount? Sweet Montana Secrets - Lisa Mondello They say time heals all wounds, but time doesn't make you forget who you were. Ten years ago, Hunter Williams' life was a mess. Even so, he hadn't expected to be completely taken by Julie Samuel, a beautiful young woman who took riding lessons at the ranch he worked at. But their love hadn't been enough to conquer his demons or the secret she carried. Ten years later, can their love survive the truth and be rekindled to the blaze it once was? Texas Bad Boy - Jean Brashear Everyone thinks Lacey DeMille is the next thing to royalty, a society girl with beauty, brains and money—but sexy Texas bad boy Devlin Marlowe knows better. Twenty years after being exiled in disgrace for daring to want her, the boy from the wrong side of the tracks has sweet revenge in his grasp...for only he knows that her whole life is built on a lie. And revenge may be more costly than either of them can imagine. I hope you'll check it out!! It's available for your Kindle and for Kindle Unlimited for just $.99!!!

Start Shopping While you're shopping, please check out my '22 releases!

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

The HOLLYdays are Here!

 

For years I volunteered at my kids' schools. My longest stint was as the Kindergarten Story Lady. (I wrote about it in Carry Her Heart/Hold Her Heart...everything is fodder for my books! LOL) My second longest stint was as a PTA Mom. For years, I was in charge of the annual Feather Party's kids' games.  It was utter chaos...and utter fun. When I started writing my PTA Mom Holiday books, I knew there'd be a similar Thanksgiving event (there aren't many Thanksgiving books!). The heroine is a single mom with way too much on her plate, but she still finds time to volunteer...and maybe fall in love? 

My premise for the series was three PTA Moms miss the first meeting of the year and get assigned to the worst PTA Committee. They'll be in charge of the PTA holiday events. I'll confess, I'm very proud of the Thanksgiving play in Once Upon a Thanksgiving...I wrote it. Well, I didn't write a whole play, which is a shame because I've had school teachers reach out about it. One of these days, I may finish it.

The second book has a Christmas poem that was inspired by one of my favorite high school teachers. (Remember I said, everything is fodder!) She gave me a pipe cleaner spider for my tree and every year it's the first ornament I put up!  The heroine of Once Upon a Christmas is a single woman, raising her sister's child...a child who's father shows up on her doorstep.

Writing the third book, Once Upon a Valentine's, was...well a treat. In the first two books, I talk about the heroine being an accidental arsonist.  Her husband cheated on her...on a couch she bought. She asked for the couch in the divorce...but didn't want to sit on it. I mean, who would? She wanted to burn it...and took out a neighbor's shed along with it, by accident. In the third book, she is serving her community service and planning the most romantic event of the school year...the Valentine's Dance. She's not in a very romantic mood! LOL But sometimes love happens in its own time

The book bundle includes a short story featuring the PTA president as well!

The PTA Moms Collection is on sale for Thanksgiving. Just $.99 for the whole series!  If you've read them before, I hope you'll share the sale with friends! (And thank you!) If you haven't read them, I hope you'll give them a try!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Holly

PS Check out this year's releases while you're shopping!

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

October 2022 Newsletter

Come home to stories of love and laughter.

The next two years will bring an Kindle-only (also available with Amazon Unlimited) ebook series, Around the Square! The first book, Signs of the Times is out today!! Listen With Your Heart Libby has one great love in her life…her daughter. As a business owner and the mother of a hearing impaired daughter, her life is busy. She doesn’t have time or any interest in romance. But when she’s teamed up with a new business neighbor, Josh Gardner, to plan a Christmas party, she finds herself reconsidering. Can a woman who doesn’t believe in happily-ever-after and a man who’s given up on love listen to their hearts? Shop Now for Signs of the Times. I'm so very excited about Around the Square! But there's a lot in my life that's exciting. This year's A View to a Kiln: A Harry's Pottery Mystery got a shout out on Jeopardy!! I didn't know that was a goal until a friend gave me the heads up! You can check out the video here.  And for all of you who follow me on social media, the cottage addition is almost done! When it's finished, I'll make a final tour video, but in the meantime, here's a video of the almost-done renovations!   I  know. Indoor plumbing. I'm soooo fancy! It's been a crazy summer and I don't think things will be slowing down anytime soon! You can check out this year's releases: A View to a Kiln: A Harry's Pottery Mystery Kindle iBooks Kobo Barnes & Noble Chances Amazon  BN  Kobo Apple Books And then check out my Upcoming books: Surprises in All Sizes: Secret Babies Bundle (I'm so thrilled to be included with all these amazing writers!) By Design: Around the Square #2 That's it for now! I hope you all are safe (my friends in Puerto Rico and Florida have been in my thoughts) and healthy. Wishing you all a wonderful fall. Holly