Take a Journey...

Last week, on International Women's Day, I posted this video and talked about who I am.  I think all of us should spend time thinking about who we are.  It's hard to decide where you want to go if you don't know where you are. 

Welcome to #ThisIsMe...the Holly edition.

           I am a Woman.

I am part of an amazing family.

I am a friend.

I've been bruised, but I have healed.

I am all the books I've ever read...or written.

I believe in something greater than myself.
I am Gleeful.
I am Clay-Happy.
I am a Solitude Loving Camp Lover.
I am a Wood Splitter.
I'm a shower singer.

I am a Baker.

I am a Cook.

I am Weird.
I'm a brewer.

I am a lover of odd science facts (Schrodinger, Pi Day...).
I am a lover of Buffalo Plaid.
I am curious, inventive, self-motivated and introspective.
Despite what people think, at heart I'm an introvert.
I believe in justice.
I try to see people for who they are, not how they're packaged.
I am so much more than all this...

Man, I love the line, "I'm not scared to be seen...I make no apologies.  This is me."

Still, I'm more than those things...I'm all the people who came before me.  And just as I don't think you can decide where you're going until you know where you are...I don't think you can know where you're going until you know where you're from.

I've been working on my family tree off and on for a few years.  On my mom's side, I come from pre-revolution New England.  My father's side has just as deep history, but from down south.  His family came from the mountains in Virginia, down to North Carolina, then back up to West Virginia.  I am a northern girl through and through, and find this deep southern part of my history fascinating.  One of my favorite books last year was Victuals.  I tend to read cookbooks like novels, and this book had a mini novel in amongst the recipes...stories from the mountains my family came from.  I read about sorghum in that book and a lovely friend, Tami, sent me some. I so enjoyed trying it out...it became one of my Cooks and Books videos.  You can watch it here.  

I was doing some research for my family tree and stumbled across a documentary by NC State called Mountain Talk and watched it last week. I was fascinated by the stories about their speech and the music.  This is my heritage.  These are my people.  I think I miss the mountains, even if I've never lived there. 

One of the words that really struck me in the documentary was poke. A shopping bag.  I love that.  And of course, watching the documentary, made me do a bit more research (the trap of every writer...I can get lost in this stuff) and found a fun blog, Blind Pig and an Acorn.  I read an article about pokes there, and am now subscribed.  Yes, I'm falling down the rabbit hole...again.

Before I knew about my heritage, I loved mountain stories.  Do you remember Foxfire Books?  I've got more than a few.  I love to pull one out and read a story about someone's life.

Maybe this is part of why I write.  I get to explore other people's lives and pasts and the pieces of themselves that are there This Is Me definitions.  Because yes, I am part of my wonderful family, a friend, a writer, an amateur potter, a... so many other things.  I am all of them.  But I am my parents' daughter, and their parents' granddaughter...right on down the line. 

I come from a wide rich heritage and that is part of who I am.  And that's what I try to give each character I write.  That kind of history.  Briar Hill Road is a story that deals with more than a couple falling in love...it's about their lifetime of love.  Their ups and downs.  And it's about their history. 
Yes, this is where one documentary led me today!  Down the rabbit hole again.  LOL

I hope you'll join me and take a journey down Briar Hill Road! And maybe give some thought to who you are.  We'd love to have you post your own #ThisIsMe list!

Holly

And while you're thinking about This is Me, here's a mash-up of it with Dear Evan Hansen's You Will Be Found...amazing!

Spring Forward

 Happy spring!!

Even though spring's a week away, in most of the US, we're springing forward today.  I feel like I've gone back in time when I lose that hour.

Speaking of going back in time....

I'm going back to some of my earliest writing this week.  A Day Late and a Bride Short, my first Silhouette Romance, is finally available as an eBook!!  Thirteen years ago, when I sent this proposal to my editor, she sent me back a note from the Senior Editor saying that with that title, she'd expected a marriage of convenience story.  My original idea wasn't that at all, but as a very newish author, I said, "That's exactly what it will be."

My editor bought the proposal.  It wasn't quite the story I intended to tell and to be honest, I wasn't sure how to write a contemporary marriage of convenience.  As someone who's been married for many years—someone who is still wildly in love with her husband—I have to confess, marriage isn't always convenient!  But I fell in love with the story and the characters!

I had so much fun going back in time with this story!  My house was loud and crazy back then...wait, it's still loud and crazy.  Maybe that just goes to show that as much as times change, they stay the same!

Oh and you can have a chance to win  a copy of A Day Late and a Bride Short (Kindle Edition) in an Amazon Giveaway!. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.See Official Rules.  

Reviews:

More than Magic Award Winning Book

"... a beautiful, and sweet, love story."  ~Romantic Times Bookclub 4 1/2 Stars Top Pick
"Ms. Jacobs has done it again!" ~Kelley Hartsell, Love Romances
"My favorite Holly Jacobs book yet!" ~Cheryl St.John, Author of MARRY ME...AGAIN


Speaking of fun...I've been playing with videos again.  There's a new Cooks and Books...definitely on the book side of things this time!  And the first of my "Ask the Author" videos.

My kids would tell you that I amuse myself a little too easily!  LOL

I hope you're reading for spring! I'm heading to Barbara Vey's Readers' Luncheon in May!!  Maybe I'll see some of you there??  I'm so itching to get out to the garden again!  I'm sure there will be more Cooks and Books videos when all the fresh produce starts coming in! Do you have any fun spring plans??

Holly

I Waxed My Legs for This? 6/16

A Simple Heart, 5/16

Lights, Camera, Action...

It turns out I spend a lot of time on social media talking about books...and food.  So many people have asked for recipes that I've decided to make some cooking videos.

I made my first Cooks and Books video in December.  My holiday Christmas Candy.  And in January, I made one for dinner rolls, then remembered how I make cinnamon rolls out of the dough and did a second video.

In the 2.5 I also gave a quick tour of my kitchen because so many people asked.  Yes, we have a lot of antiques...a lot of them relating to my hometown, Erie, PA.  I set most of my books here because...well, because I love Erie.

Hope you enjoy the videos.  There are more on their way!

BTW, Happy New Year! Hope you all had a great holiday and the new year has started with a lot of glee!!

Holly