A Holiday Motto

I love the holidays! I love that so many people seem willing to not only find the glee that's all around them, but actively try to give glee to others as well!

So when I set out to write a story for Maeve, who was a solitary secondary character in my A Valley Ridge Wedding trilogy (You Are Invited, April Showers and A Walk Down the Aisle), I knew that it had to be special, and that I wanted to find a very special way for her to find her glee by giving it in A Valley Ridge Christmas!

I'd already established she had a giving heart…she reopened the community's small library almost single handedly.  So when a homeless family shows up literally on her doorstep she jumps right in.  What I love about Maeve is she lives her life by the words, "I can't save the world, but I can try."  That willingness to jump in…well, I knew she needed a very special man.  Oh, I wrapped him in a bit of a Scrooge-ish exterior.  He lives life by the motto…everyone's got an angle.  I loved pitting an optimist against a pessimist.

Now that I know that Maeve's got the right man, I'm busy getting ready for the holidays here.  I made my first batch of cutout cookies earlier this week…and they're almost gone.  There's a certain Cookie Monster who's taking finals and she says they help.  So, I'll be making more cookies and I still have some hard candy to make!  I make a number of flavors, but the kids' favorite is one we call Death by Cinnamon.  They're pretty sure that any candy

that makes your eyes water is good!

I hope your holiday prep is going well!  And I'm wishing you a wonderful holiday season.  I hope you're surrounded by friends and family.  And if you have a chance to try out Maeve's personal motto this holiday season, I hope you give it a try!

Holly


PS My other Christmas release, Spruced Up: A Maid in LA Holiday Novella is on sale for 99 cents for Kindle until December 15th!

A New Kind of Mystery—Fluffy

After more than fifty romances, I'm writing a new series...a mystery series.  I went to a conference yesterday and a group of us were talking about it. Let's face it, my writing is on the sweeter side of things.  Some of my romance is drama, some just sweet romance and some falls on the comedy side of things.  My mysteries fall in that sweet-comedy category.  The Pennwriters decided my funny, sweet mysteries weren't exactly cozy mysteries...they were fluffy.  Yes, I write Fluffy Mysteries.  I'm starting a new trend!

It was a fun day. I mean, any time you get a bunch of writers together there tends to be a lot of fun!  And I found out I write a whole new type of mystery!

So, Holly, what makes a Fluffy Mystery, you ask?

They center around Quincy Mac.  She's the single mother of three who went to Hollywood with stars in her eyes and instead of stardom, she became maid.  In STEAMED; A MAID IN LA MYSTERY she accidentally cleaned...a murder scene.  She needs to find out who dunnit so she doesn't end up in jail for a crime she didn't commit...only cleaned. 

The second book, DUSTED: A MAID IN LA MYSTERY came out in September.  Quincy Mac is at it again.  This time she's got to find out who's been replacing her clients' works of art with forgeries in order to save her business...and she has to survive wearing a pumpkin orange dress to Tiny's wedding!

SPRUCED UP: A Maid in LA Christmas Novella will be out in November.  Quincy's heading home to Erie, PA for Christmas...and her mom has an early present for her.  A third mystery!

I love writing Quincy.  I can identify with her.  She has three boys who eat all the food and rarely pick up after themselves.  She has to deal with a very different family (not that I'm saying my family is different...uh, I might not be saying that but that doesn't mean they're normal!).  She's a good friend.  She's independent and successful.  She has a good sense of humor about life.  I think she's a perfect first heroine for the Fluffy Mystery genre.

So, with Quincy, I've got those Fluffy Mysteries off to a three book start.  They are so much fun to write.  I hope readers enjoy reading them as much!

Oh, I still write heavier books.  My December release, A Valley Ridge Christmas, deals with the topic of homelessness.  And while I think it's a very feel-good story, but it's probably not overly fluffy.  

Happy Columbus Day here in the US and Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian friends!

Holly

Steamed: A Maid in LA Mystery

Steamed: A Maid in LA Mystery

I've written more than 50 romances for Harlequin, Avalon and now Montlake Romance.  I've written straight up comedies, light humor and heavy emotional stories.  And this month, I've written something that's not quite any of those things.

Steamed isn't really a romance.  It isn't really a mystery.  It's Quincy Mac's story.  Who is Quincy?  She's a mother first and foremost.  She came to LA from Erie, PA (where else? LOL) with dreams of fortune and fame.  Instead she got married and had three sons, all one year apart.  Then she got divorced and she started a cleaning service with her best friend, Tiny.  Yes, being a maid might not be as glamorous as an award winning actress, but Quincy's built a wonderful life.  

Until... (Come on, you know there had to be an until!)
 the day she accidentally cleans a murder scene and a particularly hunky cop questions her.  Now, most people, even if they accidentally cleaned not only the murder scene, but the murder weapon, would sit back and let the cops figure out who the real murderer is.  But not Quincy. You see, she has an uncle who was wrongly accused of a crime and he spent two years in jail before the cops figured out he was innocent.

Quincy can't go to jail.  She has three boys to raise. She's going to be maid-of-honor in her best friend's wedding. And she's absolutely sure she's not someone who's meant to have a tattoo.  

So, she's on the scene.

I'm fortunate...I tend to sell a book, then write it.  But Quincy's story I wrote just for me, because the idea nagged at me.  I wrote her story on weekends around other contract and I'm thrilled to finally send her out in the world.  And I'm thrilled that the first reviews have been so good.  I hope you'll check out her story!  It's available on Amazon right now, and will hopefully be out sometime soon on other eBook platforms!

Holly