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Wednesday, January 03, 2024
January '24 Newsletter
I finally landed on my Word of the Year...Peace. Most of the time, my words are for me to build a year around, but this year, I'm hoping the entire world embraces peace.
As always, thank you so much for all your support! Tallulah, Mabel and I wish you a wonderful 2024!
Monday, January 01, 2024
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.
2024's word is...
PEACE.
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!
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!!
Thursday, December 21, 2023
Being a Woman
I watched Barbie this weekend and loved it. Loved the message and loved the memories. Oh, how I loved my Barbies. I had two Malibu Barbies that I dubbed the twins. I had a Ken who couldn't keep his head on his shoulders. I had a black haired Barbie...who was my first one. And... Well there was a whole gang. Oh the adventures they had.
I'm going to confess, the movie got me thinking about my life and who I am. What sort of woman I am. I've spent most of my life working as a writer...working for myself. There was no man I answered to. I've worked some marvelous female editors (if you're one of them reading this...thank you!). I've been surrounded by a cadre of women writers who've supported me and over the years have become more than colleagues, but rather friends.
But I'm more than a writer. That comes second to my other main job. I'm a mother of four—three are daughters. Looking back, I know I wasn't a perfect mother. God knows, I wasn't perfect. But I did try to be perfect in my attempt. I apologized when I was wrong. I tried to be there for them. And I hoped they saw in me a strong woman who spent her life trying to do her best and loving them wholeheartedly.
Do you remember Caps for Sale? The peddler wore a stack of hats on his head and had to balance them carefully. That's what being a woman is. Balancing a stack of hats as you walk through life trying to avoid the monkeys. The things you expect of yourself. The things others expect of you. Every choice you make adds a hat to the pile you carry.
I raised four kids. I've cared for other kids. I was a kindergarten story lady (like Pip in Carry Her Heart). I was on the PTA (like my PTA Mom trilogy). I was on the school board. I volunteered in a Teen Parenting program. I planned the kids game for our school's Feather Party (like Once Upon a Thanksgiving). When I was young, I cared for three younger brothers after school. Then I cared for my kids. Then my grandmother as she got older. My mother-in-law when she got sick (like Briar Hill Road). I cared for my neighbor, Marge, who had no one. We made her family. Now I care for the Minions and an aunt and...caring. That's been my life's major calling.
Back to Caps for Sale...I've dropped hats. Over and over again, the monkeys have come along and I've lost all my hats. But after a moment, I stopped, picked them up and kept going.
That's what being a woman is for me. A series of dropping my hats and then picking them up and getting on with it.
I agree with Barbie...being a woman is hard. But it's a joy. I might juggle a lot of hats and I might not be perfect, but truly it's been my glee.
Holly
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!!
Exclusively available for Kindle and KU.
Around the Square
Book 1, 2 , 3 & 4 are out now.
Book 5 is available for preorder!
Tuesday, December 05, 2023
A Hometown Christmas
Happy Holidays...or should I say, HOLLYdays??!!
I know I've been talking about my new release, Slip and Fall: A Harry's Pottery Mystery, but today I'm talking about A Hometown Christmas...it's on sale for $.99 just in time for Christmas! Come join my hometown gang and celebrate with this very special holiday story!
One of my all time favorite reviews from a Hallmark Holiday movie friend, was, "This should be a Harllmark movie." I'll let you know if Hallmark calls! LOL In the meantime, I hope you'll give it a read!
I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, whatever holiday you celebrate!
Holly
PS. While you're shopping the sale, check out my most recent books and pre-order the what's-coming-next ones?
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!!
Exclusively available for Kindle and KU.
Around the Square
Book 1, 2 , 3 & 4 are out now.
Book 5 is available for preorder!
Wednesday, November 01, 2023
Holly's November Newsletter
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Saturday, October 14, 2023
Getting Older...is like a good piece of cast iron.
A new blog suggested by Liz...
We're all getting older.
I know, I know. Some people would like to ignore that, but I'll confess, I embrace my aging. I find myself just a bit happier and a bit more comfortable in my own skin as I get older. I love the life I've built with Himself. I love the family we've built. Well, I'm happy.
Maybe I don't mind getting older so much because I have a fondness for old things. My house is filled with antiques. I was talking about buying a Griswold pan for all my Minions. I want one to give each of them as they graduate. (I know, it's a few years off, but I like to be prepared.) I've been teaching them to cook...and a lot of my cooking is in my Griswold, so that's where they're learning. I would like all of them to be fully functioning humans when they are young adults. Learning to feed yourself and others is a part of that. Learning to care for your personal needs is another...which is why after a summer-of-cooking, next summer is going to be the summer-of-laundry. They're going to learn how to do their own laundry, fold it and put is away. (I do love summer-themes...a couple summers ago, we had a summer-of-rafting. We built a few with varying degrees of success and eventually came up with a working raft! And you can ask the Minions about their summer-of-salad...loving salad was not the result, but they can all eat a salad, I'll call that a win.)
Back to the Griswold. The cast iron pans were made here in Erie. (If you read my books, you know how much I love writing about my hometown. I love collecting things from Erie as well.) The pan I cook in almost daily is over 100 years old. It's old, but still functional. One of the pieces we picked up recently was rough. It was rusted and had some pitting. We've been working on it and it's once again functional. It's developing a nice finish. It might be a bit worse for wear, but it does it's job.
That's what I'm hoping for as I age. Maybe I'll be a bit rusty with some pitting, but I want to still get the job done. I want to be hanging with the kids as they learn to build rafts, learn to cook, and do their own laundry. And so many other things. I want to help them find the beauty in the outdoors. I want to make them ask questions and go looking for the answers. I want them to be fully functional humans.
I've always been a fan of the triple goddess. Maiden, Mother and Crone. I found my younger years uncomfortable, and truly felt I came into my own in those mid-years, raising kids and caring for the elderly in my life. And I look at the crone-years with a sense of potential. The kids don't need me the same way. The Minions still have a few things to learn from me, but they don't need me as intensely. I feel like I'm coming into my own. Like my Griswold, I might show my years, but I still have work to do and I can still get it done!
I can't wait to see what comes next!
Holly
PS. Speaking of what comes next, have you read my most recent books and pre-ordered the what's-coming-next ones?
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!!
Exclusively available for Kindle and KU.
Around the Square
Book 1, 2 , 3 are out now.
Book 5 is available for preorder!
Wednesday, October 04, 2023
Banned Books Week
It's banned books week again.
It breaks my heart to see the growing list of books being banned across this country. I grew up in books. Really. I read LOTR's so many time I feel quite accurate saying I grew up in Middle Earth. I solved mysteries with Trixie Belden (she gets a shout out in the Maid in LA series). I traveled the universe with Heinlein's Lazarus Long. This wasn't one of his juvenile fiction books. And there's a very good chance some of the themes were too adult for me when I first read them, but I loved Lazarus.
Books saved me in so many ways. They raised me. They made me think and question the world around me...and question my place in it. I walked in other shoes. I saw the world through other POV's. It's infuriating seeing books I loved on that list.
What I'd really like is to never have to have another week that warns about the dangers of banning books. But the amount of books being banned has picked up over the last year, so I don't think that's coming any time soon. Until then, I'll keep talking about books...especially the banned ones.
If you don't like a book...don't read it. If you don't think it's appropriate for your kids, don't let them read it. But don't take away my right to read it, or try to limit what my kids can read. I tell the Minions...if they ban it, read it. Figure out what that book is saying that people don't want you to know. For instance, I read about a teacher being fired for reading her class My Shadow is Purple. I bought it, loved the story, read it to the Minions then had a talk about inclusion and acceptance. They got the message of the story and couldn't understand why any adult wouldn't want them to read it.
I don't get it either.
Want to find out more? Check out BannedBooksWeek.org. Banned Books in the US. Heck, just Google banned books. Look up "libraries and banned books." Buy banned books. Read banned books. Really. If someone tells you not to read it...read it.
Holly
Sunday, August 13, 2023
Holly Jacobs' August Newsletter
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Tuesday, May 02, 2023
Getting Outside Leads to Looking Inside
When I had those two surgeries on my leg a few years back, my biggest question was, "When can I get out walking again?" The doctor quickly came to realize how much I enjoy walking (the day of the second surgery I scolded him because he was early and I hadn't finished my 10,000 steps yet LOL). When I finally got the go ahead to ditch the crutches and start walking, he put things in my terms. "Five hundred steps a day, Holly. You can added five hundred more steps every day." I was free!
Since then, I've tried to put those steps to good use. One of my daughters and I are trying to visit all 123 State Parks. Some are literally just a visit. There's no real hiking involved. Pennsylvania has a lot of little parks...it's a great way to preserve land and forests. But some are huge tracts of land with amazing trails and sights to behold.
We went to the northern, middle park of the state this weekend and, despite the rainy weather, we went on some lovely hikes! One was down to the bottom of the PA Grand Canyon. It was challenging, but so worth it!
I walked with the group a lot of the weekend, but Sunday morning I got up early, went out in the rain, and hiked up a mountain on my own. I took in the lovely views and found I was thankful the leaves hadn't fully popped because they wouldn't have hidden the broad vista. And as I thought of hidden things, I thought about the book I'm working on. I wanted to capture this quiet moment in the woods in it. I wanted to find a way to write the magic of a misty, spring morning. I weighed and measured words that might paint an accurate picture. I breathed deeply, listened to the springtime bird calls and let my thoughts chase after one another. They moved from one thing to another with no interruptions and no attempts on my part to reign them in.
I'll confess, I love walking with friends and family. We get to catch up and enjoy the world together. But on Sunday morning and here at home, my mornings are for me. I think about my family. I think about the world. I think about books I'm working on. I mull as I take in the sights. Walking has let me learn where I fit into the world. I read the seasons as if they're a book. And while it might seem to be a quiet, solitary walk, it is anything but. Stories ping pong, in amongst the thoughts and memories.
Yes, walking outside leads me to a lot of inner action. Some of those thoughts might enrich a book, some (I hope) will enrich me.
Wishing you some lovely walks this spring!
Holly
PS Sweet Success is Available today for Kindle and KU!
Secret Babies: Second Chances Anthology is. $.99
Something Perfect is one of the stories!
Something Perfect is one of the stories!
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