Come back to school this Thanksgiving with Once Upon a Thanksgiving!

In celebration of my new PTA Mom trilogy, 

let's play a Jeff Foxworthy-esque game:

You Might Be A PTA Mom if...

Here are a few to get you started...

10. ...when you appear in the teacher's workroom all the teachers rush over to see what you brought them to eat. ~Ellen Too

9. ...you know the location of every public washroom in town—field trips help that along. ~Kaelee

8. ...you've dressed up in a grass skirt, aloha shirt, and carried around a pink, plastic, blowup dolphin as volunteer reader for the annual Scholastic book fair . . . in a snowstorm. ~Shelley

7. ... your kids' friends call you "Mom." ~Patti

6. You might be a PTA mom if you can sing "Found a Peanut" in your sleep. ~Jody

5. ...you take every school fundraiser to work and then end up having to carry in 100 tubs of frozen cookie dough ~Tammy

4. ...you've popped so much popcorn to sell on Fridays that when you go to the grocery store later that day, you notice people around you sniffing the air and saying, "Do you smell popcorn?" ~JV

3. ...the students wave in the hall and say, "HI Laminating Lady!" rather than "Mrs. ____" ~Donna

2. ...you're so busy with PTA stuff that your husband has to dress out of the dryer in the mornings. ~JV

1. ... if you've ever forged another mom's name on a volunteer sheet. ~Ellen 

So add your own You Might Be a PTA Mom if, or share a story about your time as a PTA Mom! 

And Check Out the PTA Mom Trilogy...they're available for Kindle and as a paperback!  Once Upon a Thanksgiving is on sale today! 

Holly

PS Get out the popcorn...

Once Upon a Thanksgiving

Once Upon a Christmas

Coming in January, available for pre-order,
the final chapter in the PTA Mom Trilogy
Once Upon a Valentine's

Back to School with Holly Jacobs

I mentioned here before that I've gone back to school.  I'm taking a ceramics class at a local university.  When I go in to my 8 am class, I try to tone down my glee because the kids I'm in class with look more sleepy than gleeful.  I said something to that effect the other day and one of the girls laughed and said I didn't do a very good job at it.  Alas, I have leaky glee!  LOL

Really, no one should have this much fun for a grade!  I am not a pottery prodigy, but I'm learning a lot!

When you're done going back to school with me in the video, go back to school with my three PTA Moms,
Samantha in Once Upon a Thanksgiving,

Michelle in Once Upon a Christmas, 

and Carly in Once Upon a Valentine's!

I won't talk to you all over here until after Halloween! Hope you have a great one!  I talked about pottery in Just One Thing (even when I was writing it, I knew I wanted to take a ceramics class!) and my heroine, a potter, went to a Halloween party with crazy hair (which I sympathize with) round glasses and carrying a clay pot.  Yes, she was a HAIRY Potter!  (I know, I knew, leaky glee!)

Holly

Back to School

Like the post header says, I've gone back to school!!  I'm taking a pottery class at a local university and I'm having a blast!  I know, I'm not a pottery prodigy, but really I'm learning so much!  We had to make a kiln god...I went for a kiln goddess instead.  You can see she has the basic shape of a beehive kiln.  LOL The flowers in her hair came out a bit funky, but otherwise, I'm pleased with her.  And I've made cups.  One had to be asymmetrical...I went for a heart shape. I love the other two.

Not only am I going back to school, but my books are, too!  My PTA Mom trilogy comes out in time for the holiday season!  What happens when three PTA moms miss the first meeting and get stuck on the worst committee the organization has?  Did I mention they were three SINGLE moms?  Hm, so what happens as Samantha, Michelle and Carly plan the Thanksgiving Pageant, Christmas Fair and Valentine's Dance?  Laughter, Friendship...and of course, love.

This was such a fun series to write because frankly...I've been a PTA Mom.  I planned a Thanksgiving kids' zone for years.  And yes, it's a crazy life, but I wouldn't have done it any other way.  Neither would my three moms!  Hope you'll come join them this holiday season!

Holly

Once Upon a Thanksgiving

Once Upon a Christmas

Once Upon a Valentine's

There's Something in a Name!

Every author knows there's something in a name.  We agonize over what to name a character.  Looking for the right name to convey something we want to say about the character…something that fits them.  I was thinking about names for a new book and I wondered what a name like Holly said about me.  And hopefully it speaks of the holiday glee!  But here's the thing, my mother named my Holly not because my birthday was near the holidays (it's not…it's in August), but because she didn't think anyone could find a nickname for Holly.  And that is why I've gone by Hall most of my life! So maybe it speaks a bit about me bucking expectation and trying to chart my own path…I think I like that as well.

And as I thought about my name, I realized that despite the fact I was born in August, my name connection to the holidays shows in my work.  Turns out I've written a lot of holiday books. I have two new Christmas books out this year, and a number of backlist Christmas (and one Thanksgiving) books available as eBooks.  I think a lot of my heroines buck expectations and chart their own paths as well.  From Quincy, a maid who discovers that she's not only good at solving mysteries, but she also has a talent for writing, to Maeve, who came from humble beginnings and despite that has lived her life believing one person can make a difference.

Yes, there's something in a name.  And here are a few of my holiday books that are either new releases, or older books that are still available for eReaders.

New Releases in December:

Quincy's Back for Christmas in a in 

Spruced Up: A Maid in LA Holiday Novella.

Quincy Mac has faced a murder and an art thief. She's dealt with three teenaged boys on her own. She's even braved a brand new romance. But nothing she'd done in the past has prepared Quincy for this...she's heading home for Christmas! She's planning a quiet week with her family, but finds herself with another mystery to solve! 

Join Quincy as she celebrates with her family and solves a mystery in a way that's in keeping with the Christmas season!

Review:
"I fell in love with Quincy Mac when I learned she was once almost the spokeswoman for Dazzling Smile toothpaste.  I have a fondness for great stories, for toothpaste...and for teeth."  ~Hermey, Dentist to the North Pole

Available for Kindle

A Valley Ridge Christmas

...the name says it all.  It's stand alone, but if you've read the previous Valley Ridge Wedding trilogy, you'll meet up with old friends in this Christmas story.  Take one Pollyanna-ish librarian who lives by the mantra, I can't save the world, but I can try, and one Scrooge-ish man who is not thrilled by the idea of a white Christmas, add in a homeless family and you a new holiday story!

Reviews:

"A generous heroine who shares everything but herself and a smart but wary hero who needs to make peace with his past find friendship, love, and belonging in this sweet confection that channels It's a Wonderful Life and has links to Jacobs's earlier Valley Ridge books."
~Library Journal, 10-15-14

"...quick witted dialogue and spark." ~RT Bookreviews

Available in December at your local bookstore, for Kindle and Nook.  It's also available as part of a special 3 eBook bundle on Kindle and Nook.

   Other Holiday books:

Take meddling Nana Vancy who wants to play matchmaker along with her two best friends, known as The Silver Bells (Isabel and Annabelle) and set a romance two the tune ofThe 12 Days of Christmas and you have a fun Christmas romance!  Kindle and B&N.

Last year's holiday short story (also featuring Nana Vancy) is finally available for Nook!  Nana Vancy thinks she's out of the matchmaking business...at least for people.  She's better with pets.  But her Hungarian magic still has some kick.  Kindle and Nook



For Thanksgiving, Once Upon a Thanksgiving.  This was the first in my American Romance American Dad series.  Kindle and Nook.  The second American Dad book was Once Upon a Christmas.  Kindle and Nook.

Three moms miss the first PTA meeting of the year and get stuck on the worst committee…where they find friendship and maybe love!

Unexpected Gifts.  A woman who teaches teen parents finds her own personal journey echoing her girls' when she finds herself unexpectedly pregnant and jilted by the baby's dad.  Then just as unexpectedly a special man enters her life. Kindle and Nook

Laura Watson suffered the most unimaginable pain.  She meets a man who's also gone through a horrible loss of his own.  Can these two damage people find the strength to love again?  Kindle and Nook.

PTA Mommisms

I have a new series starting in October at Harlequin American Romance. These are my first books for the line, and I have to confess, I'm quite excited. The research was...well, easy. You see, this American Dad trilogy centers around three PTA Moms who miss the first meeting of the year and get "volunteered" to head the Social Planning Committee. These three single moms all have enough on their plate, but the pitch in to plan the Thanksgiving Pageant, the Christmas Fair and the Valentine's Dance for the school.

What they find is not only true friendships, but love.

The great thing about this series is I've been talking to other PTA Moms, running a Jeff Foxworthy-esque contest, YOU MIGHT BE A PTA MOM IF____________. We'll be voting on the top ten this week. And I thought maybe you all might like to join in the discussion. Are you a PTA Mom? Have you ever volunteered? Any fun stories??

Holly

ONCE UPON A THANKSGIVING, 10/08

ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS, 12/08

ONCE UPON A VALENTINE'S, 2/09