Goals

 

I had two surgeries in 2019 on my leg and spent the first few months of 2020 with crutches and a wound-vac. Ugh.  I'd been using a FitBit since 2014 and had never missed a 10,000 step day until then. My surgeon got to know me over our months together and when I finally got the ok to start walking without crutches, he said, "One hundred steps a day, Holly. You can add 100 more steps every day." LOL I loved that he got me. (I think he had a clue when after my first surgery I scolded him that he started an hour early and I hadn't got to 10,000 yet. LOL)

Over the last year, I worked to get back to my pre-surgery walking. I walked my way through the pandemic lockdowns and found my way back to a 10-15,000 step daily average. This month, one of my daughters and I started a Fall Frenzy walking challenge. I set my goals at 300K by November 15. I think I got this.

I thought about setting my goal for 500 kilometers, but opted to set it lower. Something that was a challenge, but wasn't unattainable. I prefer setting realistic goals. Things that push me, but are attainable.

Every New Year I set a word of the year because so many people pick a New Year goal and never meet it. One word...I can build a year around that. 2021's word was Patience. That's not my strongest suit, but I've made inroads as I continue to try to strengthen my weak leg.  

I've been reading AWOL on the Appalachian Trail. I'm hoping to hike a few segments of the trail in the next few years. But it sounds like a long walk. And as much as I like walking a good chunk of the year on a trail might not be my gig. I did a long up-and-die trail at Ricketts Glen this spring. Up and down were tough on my leg but I did it.

I was excited to discover this weekend part that a new Erie to Pittsburgh trail  was dedicated here in Erie.  The trail's not complete yet, but when it's done it'll be 270 miles. I'm really thinking that a month (or under) on a trail is doable for me. Especially since I could do it in segments near my home  (Pittsburgh is only a couple hours from Erie). So that's a new goal.  It will be a challenge, but I think doable.  If you read my books, you might suspect how much I love my hometown and this region! I've set most of my books in the Erie area (like my Hometown Hearts series...the last book, A Hometown Christmas came out last week!) and Briar Hill Road was set in Pittsburgh. I'm really looking forward to exploring my area in a new way!!

This is a longterm goal, but I'm sure you'll hear about it as I go along! 

In the meantime, if you want to check out Erie, the links to my Hometown Hearts series are below! Each book stands alone, so you can pick one up and not worry about missing info. 

Holly

Here's the list of the entire Hometown Hearts series!

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

 

The Beauty of Broken Pieces

I unloaded the kiln today. It was like Christmas!! I had so many pieces turn out just the way I'd imaged they would. And some not so much. 

Two pieces I knew weren't going to be exactly the way I'd originally planned were my burdock leaves. They actual leaves grew at the end of the drive and were huge! I loved them. I've made a bunch of small tiles. I used some of the experiments to tile the slop sink in the studio. These were much bigger. Much bigger. I worried they would crack...and they did. The biggest leaf cracked clear through at the stem. I simply pushed the broken pieces together when I hung them and you can hardly tell. The smaller one had a partial crack there was no way to disguise. But I hung it anyway. I didn't try to disguise it. I thought it was beautiful despite the break...or maybe because of it. I am celebrating that break.

As I puttered around the studio examining the pieces and taking pics of all my new pieces, I mulled the two broken pieces. My first report in my college ceramics class was about Rob Barnard. He had a broken piece of pottery I loved.  You can read about it here.

I really think my two broken pieces are my favorites of the batch because they relate so much to what I do as a writer.

I can hear you thinking, "Really, Holly? Burdock leaves relate to writing?"

Yes. 

As a writer I've learned that everyone is a little broken. Some people's breaks are obvious. You can't disguise them. Some are hidden. Others who meet them might not notice. You might think they have it all together. And yet, there is a fine break right down their core and it impacts everything they do.

As a writer, those breaks in my characters are what makes them human...those breaks make them beautiful. And as a person, I realize the same applies to real people as well. There is such beauty in all our broken pieces.  I wish more people realized that.

Tomorrow's release, A Hometown Christmas, deals with two characters who have their broken pieces and ultimately the find that their breaks compliment each other. The heroine, Maeve, has a saying. "I can't save the world...but I can try." It's one of my favorite lines. One that I wrote without much thought and later realized how much I loved the sentiment.  I've tried to live that sentiment. This summer, the Minions practiced Random Acts of Kindness around the neighborhood. One of the neighbors collects frogs. They painted some and using ninja-like moves, secretly hid them in with the rest. They were so excited as they chatted about how surprised she'd be when she discovered the new frogs. I think Maeve would have approved.

Broken pieces. They make us beautiful. And random acts of kindness spreads that beauty. 

I hope you have a beautiful week! And if you have a moment, I hope you'll check out Maeve's story, A Hometown Christmas at Kindle, Nook, AppleBooks, Kobo.

Holly

PS There's a link to some of my pieces on my website, www.HollyJacobs.com The new pieces aren't up yet. I hope to have them loaded soon so check back often! 

PPS Here's the list of the entire Hometown Hearts series!

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

 

How Do You Miss What You've Never Known?

 I miss the mountains. 

I have never lived in the Appalachian mountains but I come from there. I come from a family with deep Appalachian roots. 

One of my ancestors, Martin Gambill, took a Paul Revere-esque ride through those mountains during the Revolutionary War and fought in The Battle of Kings Mountain. I come through his sibling's line.  Generation after generation. The family moved from Virginia to West Virginia to North Carolina. But most stayed near those mountains.

I grew up on the shore of Lake Erie without ever knowing about that family connection to the mountains. And yet, back in the eighties we bought land in the country and eventually built a cottage on the side of a hill within spitting distance of a creek and a spring-fed pond.  It felt like home.  It's a thousand feet higher than our home in Erie...and only a few thousand feet less than the mountains.  But it's hilly and filled with trees and wildlife.

So maybe I always knew I was missing something. Maybe, on some level, I always knew the mountains were part of my DNA. When I found the mountain part of my family I realized that I miss a place I never knew. 

Other than a couple visits, I get my mountain fix the same way I've done so many things...through books. And thankfully more than that, through podcasts and blogs. If you want to come visit my mountains here are a few ideas...

Podcast: The Mountain Traditions Podcast
Blog: Blind Pig and the Acorn

Books:
FoxFire, edited by Eliot Wigginton
Land of High Horizons, Elizabeth Skaggs Bowman
The Southern Highlander & His Home, John C. Campbell

"For me, the cravings for mountains is an incurable disease, compatible to the cravings for whiskey by an alcoholic..." Mountain Fever, Tom Alexander

Victuals, Ronni Lundy. "Victuals. Say it the way my people have for centuries: vidls. Maybe you've seen it spelled 'vittles' in a cartoon balloon...Maybe you thought saying it that was was wrong. But look up the word in your dictionary. It turns out my people, the people of southern Appalachian Mountains, have been right about victuals all along."

Maybe We All Remember Well, Volumes I & II, Edited by Robert S. Brunk
The first volume had a lovely piece on Sunset Mountain Pottery.
The second volume talked about The Nonconnah Pottery.

Ah, pottery. Yes, that's another reason I think there's a chance some part of me always understood my roots. 

My love of mountain pottery is vast! I met Burlon Craig his face jugs and it was loved at first...er, face! My pottery shelf is overflowing. These are the books I flip through over and over. I see ceramic artists like Craig and so many others. Kim Ellington. Charles Lisk. Face Jugs. Snake Jugs. Wig Stands. I love them all.

Interested? Check out:
Catawba Clay, Barry G. Huffman
Raised in Clay, Nancy Sweezy
The Potter's Eye, Mark Hewitt & Nancy Sweezy
Valley Ablaze, Jason Harpe & Brian Dedmond
North Carolina Pottery, edited by Barbara Stone Perry

I've built my own Pottery Studio in the woods. HollysWoods Studio. I'm a novice, but in my own way I'm hoping to add to this amazing Appalachian pottery tradition. 

My family tree search led me to a great-grandmother I never knew who played the autoharp. Thanks to an aunt, I have a recording of her and the family singing. It's amazing. That's led me to checking out Old Time Music. My favorite to date is Songs from the Mountain. 

How do you miss what you've never known? Maybe there are places that are so firmly engrained in our DNA that we remember them even if we've never been there.  Where is home? Who is your family? These are questions I've asked over and over again in my fiction...in books like Briar Hill Road, Carry Her Heart and its followup, Hold Her Heart.  And each book in my Hometown Hearts series really looks at both these questions. 

I am a Pennsylvania girl. I love my home. I love the cottage and my studio there. I love my woods (HollysWoods) and the wildlife. And I think it soothes a longing for a place I've never lived. A place I sometimes miss.

Holly

PS Come visit Hollywoods Studio!

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

Kindle, Kobo, Nook, iBooks

Something Blue: Hometown Hearts #6 

Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Apple Books

Something Perfect: Hometown Hearts #7 available 5/21

Apple Books, Nook, Kobo, Kindle

Preorder: Something Unexpected: A Hometown Hearts short story, available 7/21
Amazon

Preorder: A Hometown Christmas: Hometown Hearts #8, available 9/21
Kindle 
Nook
AppleBooks
Kobo

Deep Roots

 Working on my family tree has been so enlightening. I found my roots are deep in the Appalachian mountains. Even before I knew it, I had a collection of Foxfire books and loved reading the articles. My collection of Appalachian books has grown since then. But more than that, those roots have impacted my work in the studio. I collected antique pottery long before I threw my first pot. I knew that was the kind of look I wanted with my own work. Old. Folk Art. I did my first report in decades for my ceramics class on Burlon Craig, a Catawba pottery. Oh, how I loved his face jugs. I loved the history of them. Mine don't look anything like his, but he inspired me. And my FIL was a woodcarver...his Santas inspired me as well. I'm sure others will open doors for my work that I haven't even imagined yet. Inspiration is everywhere. 

As I opened a glaze kiln last week, I saw my past in the new pieces. Face jugs, for sure. But a face soup bowl. Face Planters. (I laugh every time I say that.) Even the glaze I use on these is inspired by the old time mountain potters. It's an ash glaze. You can see the runs on their faces. And those ashes? They came from the woodstove at the cottage. 

I wonder if my undiscovered roots inspired my love of Foxfire books? If they spoke to me because some deep DNA tie to those mountains? Maybe my love of kilts is because of my Celtic heritage? Or maybe it's just because men in kilts look good. LOL Either way, my heritage has become a part of what I do in the studio. 

We watched an episode of CB Strike last night. An author character was talking about how all writers put pieces of themselves in their books. I nodded. I do that and I recognize it. Himself and I were talking about it. I said so many of my books deal with family and kids. And my future love of pottery is there in Just One Thing.  My current love of pottery is going to be highlighted in a new series in '22. (Yes, that was a tease!)

Deep Roots.
I am so inspired by this Appalachian family I've never met. I've heard my grandmother's recording...she's singing with siblings and playing the autoharp. It led to more exploration. I bought an awesome CD of Old Time Music, Songs of the Mountain.  I've been playing it in the studio as I build my jugs and think of my grandmother and all the people I've never met.  I read a great piece, Mountain Traditions, which led me to their podcast. That podcast led me back to Old Time Music and pawpaws, which I'm growing at the cottage...anxiously waiting for my first fruit.

One thing leads to another. One discovery leads to the next. Most of them end up in a book or in my studio. All of them just become another layer in me. Like Shrek said, I'm an onion...with lots of layers.

Thanks everyone who's been following my writing, claying and family treeing! I hope you're finding your own layers!

Holly

PS. My Hometown Heart short story, Something Unexpected is out next week! I got my start with shorts and always love going back to the format. This one was inspired by and dedicated to two people who really helped me out!

HollysWoods Studio

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

Kindle, Kobo, Nook, iBooks

Something Blue: Hometown Hearts #6 

Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Apple Books

Something Perfect: Hometown Hearts #7 available 5/21

Apple Books, Nook, Kobo, Kindle

Preorder: Something Unexpected: A Hometown Hearts short story, available 7/21
Amazon

Preorder: A Hometown Christmas: Hometown Hearts #8, available 9/21
Kindle 
Nook
AppleBooks
Kobo