GROWING REAL

My guest today is Holly Jacobs. Holly is a successful romance author who started writing category romance. Not as easy to break into as some may think and not an easy career track given how quickly the writing market changes. Still, despite the many changes, Holly persevered in her dream, learned her craft and now there are 2.5 million Holly Jacobs books sold worldwide. Not bad at all.

What has she learned from this? I'll let her tell you about that.

I started writing in the late 90’s.  My goal was writing for Harlequin’s comedy line, Duets.  When they picked up I Waxed My Legs for This? I thought, here I am…writing comedy, which I love.  Then a book got picked up by Silhouette romance and I started writing sweet humorous stories.  It was just a short jump from comedy and I loved writing about real women in sweet, fairy tale-ish stories. 

Then Harlequin Duets folded, but I got picked up by their new more chick lit comedy line, Flipside.  It was a bit of a stretch, writing younger, more sassy heroines, but I enjoyed stretching. It took my storytelling up a notch. And I sold a single title book to Harlequin’s new line, Signature Select.  It was the same comedy, just longer.  Writing longer books was a bigger stretch, but it was fun adding extra bits to the story.  In the midst of all that, I did one trilogy for Harlequin Romance that I loved, but they wanted me to write cowboys.  Now, Erie is a great place, but we don’t have many cowboys...and by then I got picked up by Harlequin Everlasting love.  I loved those books.  They gave me an opportunity to tell a story that wasn’t a traditional romance.  The characters did more than meet, overcome an obstacle and get a happily-ever-after.  The books looked at the evolution of the relationship, but also looked at what comes next.  The ups and downs that comes with any relationship.

Then…I know, I know, you can hear it coming.  Then Everlasting folded and I moved into Harlequin’s SuperRomance, which is their most single title-ish line.  There is a wide diversity in the books they publish.  Mine center around family dramas.  Super was a line that let me explore cancer, Alzheimer’s, homelessness…  I wrote bigger issues against the backdrop of a family and romance.

I gave you the abbreviated tour of the evolution of my writing for a reason. 

First, to illustrate how quickly the industry can change.  One minute, comedy’s hot, then it’s not and chick lit is the cat’s meow.  Sweet romances are in, or hot sexy ones.  Here’s the thing…with all those different lines, the framework of my stories altered.  From humor, to sweet, to serious… 

But here’s the thing…my voice didn’t change.  I still tell stories about characters I believe in…characters who are sometimes more real to me than my neighbors.  (One of the biggest compliments I get is when someone tells me that they feel that ‘realness’ in my characters, too.)

And maybe, all those bumps in the road, all those times the industry forced me to stretch my writing, it helped me become more of a real writer I want to be.  Rather like The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.

'It doesn't happen all at once,' said the Skin Horse. 'You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.’

I’ve been working at my writing for more than a decade and a half.  Recently, I digitalized some of my first books because readers asked.  In the Dear Reader letters, I remind them that these are my earliest works…I think my writing’s improved since them.  I feel as if each book I write is a bit better than the last, and maybe that I’m a bit more of a “real” write with each.

Each time a line folded, I had to learn to look at a story from a different angle.  From comedy, to sweet, to drama.  And from that I realized in my writing what I’ve always known…life is never all one thing or another.  It’s glee, it’s sadness, it’s hard work and finding your niche.  I also learned that no matter what direction a story took, it needed characters who were…well, real.

My writing journey has been a bumpy one with unexpected twists and turns.  As each line died, I worried that this might be it…that maybe my publishing career had ended.  And each time, in hindsight, those twist and turns forced me to stretch my writing and expand what I do.  Each made me a little more real and I think my writing more real.

Maybe that’s a good life lesson as well.  Life throws all of us curves, forcing us to move in a new direction. 

We can grumble, or wail about it. 

Or we can pick ourselves up and see what gifts that new direction brings us.  Maybe those detours are how life helps us grow more real…at least I like to think so.

 Where love is a laughing matter...except when it's not

Holly's Website

Holly at FaceBook, 

Holly at Twitter,  

Holly at Pinterest, 

Holly's Blog

MEET QUINCY MAC--A MAID IN LA

My guest is Holly Jacobs who has written a fun story in new series she has decided to self-publish. Holly tells some heartwarming stories and usually employing a good sense of humor. I haven’t read one of her stories I haven’t enjoyed. This one, though, with a reoccurring central character who finds all sorts of trouble and mysteries to solve, well, I’m really going to enjoy reading this series.

I have written for a lot of publisher and a lot of lines, but all my books have had one commonality...they were romances. Some were comedies, some just humorous, and some very serious. But they all centered on two characters meeting, falling in love and overcoming obstacles in order to be together.

For me, things changed when I met Quincy Mac.  She is a divorced, thirty-eight year old mother of three teens.  She moved from Erie, PA (come on, if you've read my books, you knew I had to tie Erie into it) to LA, hoping to become the next big star.  Instead…she became a maid.

It might not be what she expected, 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 also the murder weapon, would sit back and let the cops figure out who the real murderer is.  But not Quincy Mac. You see, she has an uncle who was wrongly accused of a crime and 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 sets out to find the real killer.  As she does, she finds a potential romance with the cop who’s trying to send her to death row…talk about obstacles that need to be overcome!

Right now, Quincy’s story only available for Kindle.  (I hope to have it on other platforms sometime in the future.  And there are two more Maid in LA Mysteries…Dusted, which should be out this fall.  (This time Quincy’s not solving a mystery to keep herself out of jail, but to save her business’s reputation!) and Spruced Up (a Christmas novella—Quincy heads home to Erie, PA for Christmas and finds another mystery to solve!). 

 PS. Here are a few unbiased reviews:

“Hey, at least it’s not a romance.” ~Holly’s son.  

 
“Dear God, not another cop character.  Any police procedural inaccuracies are all Holly’s.  They are not the fault of her personal police models.  Of course, the fact that she portrays cops as hunks is totally accurate.” ~Holly’s husband and two brothers (aka...the cops)  

 *“Holly is a fantastic writing talent…not that I’m biased.”   ~Holly’s favorite daughter* 

 *“Holly Jacobs is an auto-buy for me.  Not that I buy her books…she gives them to me.”  ~Holly’s favorite daughter* 

 *“Holly makes me laugh…so do her books.”  ~Holly’s favorite daughter*  

 *DISCLAIMER: Holly has three daughters…she has no favorites.

                                                                                                                                                                                        

BUY; AMAZON

STEAMED-A Maid in LA Mystery

Cleaning is Murder on the Manicure

Quincy Mac went to Hollywood with stars in her eyes.  Twenty years later, she's not a star, but she's built a good life.  She's got friends, three boys she loves and a thriving cleaning business. That's right, she's a co-owner of Mac'Cleaners, LA's premiere maid service.

Her ex and his newest wife take the boys on summer vacation and Quincy's imagining a quiet night with ice cream and a chick flick.  She just has one last cleaning job to finish first.  But there's a problem...a dead body in the bedroom.

Turns out, she's steamed and cleaned a murder scene.  Quincy's a suspect.  She sets out to find the real killer before she ends up in prison for a murder she didn't commit. Excerpt 

                                                                                                                                            

FROM A DREAM OF SELLING ONE TO 2.5 MILLION

That's a big leap, isn't it? What I appreciate about my guest, Holly Jacobs, is not only does she tell a good story, rich in family and friendship, but she worked hard to see her dream a reality. It wasn't without rejections. No overnight success, just plain hard work and the love of telling stories. I'll let her tell you all about it.

                                                                                                                               

“There’s the world the way you want it—maybe even need it to be. And there’s the world the way it is. It’s hard to rectify the two. Sometimes it feels almost impossible. But in the world the way it is right now, you've got to figure out a way to cope with that."  ~April Showers, Holly Jacobs, 5/13

That’s a quote from this month’s release, April Showers.  It’s the second book in my A Valley Ridge Wedding trilogy and that paragraph was one of the first things I wrote for the story.  That small snippet became the foundation I built the story around. The quote hints at the fact that these characters live in a hard reality.  Granted, their reality is one I created, but they are not living their dream at the beginning of the book…but don’t worry, they are by the end! 

The fact that I get to create stories and characters is my reality, but more than that, it’s my dream.

I’ve always been a reader.  I mean, I can’t remember a time didn't have a book I was reading.  And like most readers, occasionally I’d find myself wishing I’d wrote a particular book. One day, that wishing became something more.  I was wishing I could write a new book…a story I’d created.

More than a decade ago, I finally said the words out loud.  “I’d like to write.”  My husband didn't laugh.  He didn't scoff.  He didn't tell me to get my head of the clouds.  He said, “Sure, do that.”  I played around with my writing at first.  I sold a poem ($4…uh, I decided poetry wasn't for me).  I sold some literary fiction.  I’d always been a science fiction/fantasy reader, and thought my stories might go in that direction, but what I kept noticing is that they skewed towards relationships. I was fascinated by exploring how one person relates to another.  I found myself gravitating toward romance.

I’d found my niche.

Uh, but I hadn't found my publisher.  I focused on Harlequin’s comedy line, Duets.  I’d send Duets a book, they’d reject it.  I’d send another.  They’d reject it.  And yet another…then, you guessed it, they’d reject it.  My dream was getting a bit battered and I thought about facing the reality that my being a writer wasn't going to happen for me.  But luckily, my husband had an entirely different reality in mind.  He kept encouraging me and telling me that he was sure I’d make it.  I’d make noises about earning real money, he ignore them and said, “Write.”

In March of 2000 I got a call from a Harlequin editor (who’s still my editor) and she bought that first book, I Waxed My Legs for This?  My December 2013 book, A Valley Ridge Christmas, will be my 35^th for Harlequin and my 50^th over all.

Over the years, many of the Harlequin lines I wrote for closed.  Duets, Silhouette Romance, Flipside, Signature, Everlasting Love.  Each time a line closed, I had to reinvent myself a bit and stretch my writing in order to sell to a new line.  I think learning to be flexible in how I tell a story has made my writing stronger.  I still write light romantic humor for Montlake Romance (which bought out Avalon and republished all my old Avalons, along with December’s new, Everything But a Dog) and I’m writing these bigger, more serious dramas for Harlequin’s SuperRomance. 

But mainly, I’m living my dream. I've sold two and a half million books in more than twenty-five countries.  I've written comedy, sweet humor and drama.  This August my first cozy mystery will be released (and my family was just a bit nervous when I talked so happily about someone being murdered). 

I've been so lucky that my family and friends have supported that dream, and that readers around the world have as well!  And I’m very lucky that with a lot of hard work the world the way I wanted it to be has aligned with the world the way it is! That’s a precious gift…and it’s one I pass on to the characters in April Showers!

BUY: AMAZON, B&N, eHARELEQUIN

APRIL SHOWERS~Holly Jacobs 

(A VALLEY RIDGE WEDDING series #2)   

Rainbows don't come without rain

The world you want isn't always how the world is. Former marine Sebastian Bennington discovers that upon his return to Valley Ridge for a friend's wedding. Even his grandfather's health isn't what he's expecting. Nor is the interference from his grandfather's young business partner, Lily Paul.

Even more aggravating, Lily seems to know everything about Sebastian, thanks to his grandfather. But Sebastian can't get her to open up about anything. Is she using all that merry sunshine to hide something deeper and darker? He's determined to find out, as long as their crazy attraction for each other doesn't get in the way….EXCERPT

-Available in audio book format-



Holly Jacobs' books have made Walden’s Bestseller List and won numerous awards such as the National Readers' Choice Award, the Holt Medallion Award and the Bookseller’s Best. In 2004 Holly won Romantic Times’s prestigious Career Achievement Award for Series Love and Laughter.  Holly is currently writing for Harlequin Superromance.  Find Holly: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest,  Website, Holly's Blog 

BASKETS, BOOKS, AND BAKING...A Writer’s Collection Of Hats.

My guest is the award winning romance author, Holly Jacobs. She shares her thoughts on her daily *water cooler* chat breaks and the various hats we tend to wear.


Like all women, I wear a lot of hats. I’m a wife, mother, daughter, granddaughter, friend, sister-in-law, aunt... I’m also a splitter of wood, a dogwalker, and a basketweaver. I’m a writer, an off-key kitchen singer, and speaking of kitchen’s, I’m a baker and a cook. I’m a sci fi geek. I’m a... Okay, you get the point, I’m a lot of different things to a lot of different people.



Available September 2011

Until Facebook and Twitter, most people knew me by a handful of titles, but certainly not by all. Most of my readers might have realized I had kids since kids are so prominent in many of my books, but they might not have known I bake bread. Some people might have known that I have a slight (stop laughing, slight is accurate, I mean, the water in a swimming pool seems slight when measured against an ocean) coffee addiction, but might not have realized how much I enjoy home improvement projects.


Here’s the thing, writing is a solitary occupation, and Facebook/Twitter have become my daily water cooler. I love to go hang out with friends there. And while I love talking about my books and do tweet about new releases (tweet...tweet...A Father’s Name is out in September!!), and awards (A One-of-a-Kind Family just won RomCon’s Readers’ Crown, a Golden Quill Award and Write Touch Readers’ Award) even I can’t manage to talk about my books daily. And really, even if someone enjoys my books (and I hope many do) I can’t imagine they’d want to read tweets on them daily. So I do a lot of water cooler talk. Some are simple observations...garden talk, travel talk. Some is even more inane...today’s tweetable insight? I had homemade granola for breakfast. Not the most scintillating thing! LOL But it’s oh-so good. I’ve been making granola the last few months, and love that I can make it to taste. Not exactly a book related tweet, is it? But I do enjoy talking about things I enjoy. I bought a new artisan bread book and until summer’s heat dissuaded me, was making bread daily. And when I bought Beverly Lewis’s cookbook and fell in love with the Golden Angel food cake in it (yes, you can use egg yolks in an angel food cake!), I had fun talking to friends about the recipes.

And then there’s the basketmaking. I started taking classes a year ago, and I make a few baskets a month. I love the creativity of it. If you get good enough at it, it’s an artform. I’m still a novice, and my baskets are the fingerpainting of basketweaving, but I really enjoy the process. And so far, my Facebook/Twitter friends don’t seem to mind when I tweet my basket joy.


I have a lot of fun sharing glimpses of all the hats I wear with friends. And I love learning about them as well. I love getting glimpses of other people’s lives. I enjoy looking at pics of grandkids and sunsets. And I enjoy hearing who baked what, and who loves Mondays as much as I do. (My Monday Glee isn’t shared with everyone...I know, who knew?? LOL) And I love hearing about other people’s pets. I have two dogs, Ethel Merman and Ella Fitzgerald, and frequently puppysit my daughter’s two dogs, Boogers and Cosmo. I love dogs. And without FB, I might not have realized how many other people adore their pets, and I might not have read about how committed Catherine Mann is to fostering dogs. And I’d always loved Cathy’s books, and Cathy herself, but getting introduced to this particular “hat” she wears made me respect her even more!

That’s the things, watercoolers and Facebook/Twitter–they are places where you can learn more about people than just their work. I think they’re a great way to discover the many hats writers wear. My many and varied interests are reflected in my books. In the series I just sold, I have a character that works at/owns a coffeeshop, one who is a partner in a café, and one who owns a vineyard and is starting a winery. Yes, my love of coffee, food and wine is showing! And my Facebook and Twitter friends aren’t shocked! LOL


I’m sure as that September release date for A Father’s Name draws closer, I’ll talk about the book. I might reveal that because of my husband’s affinity for the Teutul’s motorcycle show, American Choppers I was inspired to make my heroine, Tucker, a graphic artist who does specialty painting on motorcycles and other vehicles. (And speaking of the Teutul’s, I’d really love to sit down with Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. wearing my Mom-hat and tell them both to get over it and make up!)


Now, everyone reading this blog wears multiple hats. Most you wear without really thinking about them.

But come on over the watercooler and share a “hat” that your friends might not know you wear.

Holly is a happily married mother of four. She and her family live in Erie County Pennsylvania. She writes for Harlequin, Silhouette and Avalon Books and has sold over 2 million copies of her books worldwide. You can visit Holly at http://www.hollyjacobs.com/, at Facebook or on Twitter

Confessions Of A Romance Author--WHY I Write Romance

My guest is, Holly Jacobs, award winning Romance author writing for Harlequin and Avalon.

Have you ever wondered: What draws an author to a certain genre? Holly talks about why she loves to write Romance.

I’m going to make a confession here...I love science fiction and fantasy. Love it. Battlestar Galactica was one of my favorite shows, and I’m hoping Caprica lives up to its predecessor’s reputation...oh, there is a good chance some of you are zoning out right about now. And you’re asking why a sci-fi geek is here to talk about romance. I’ll confess, I love science fiction, but I write romance.

• Why?
  

Because it’s all about the people. And as a writer, that’s what I want to explore. Frankly, I could spend a lifetime trying to figure out love. And no dissing of science fiction here–but I think that understanding love is so much harder than understanding aliens.

Why do two people fall in love? Why will they work so hard to overcome obstacles? It’s a mystery. One I try to unravel for two characters at a time. No more. No less. Because each relationship has it’s own magic. Two people who are so similar they belong together. Two people who are so dissimilar, and yet the belong together. People who have to overcome horrendous obstacles to be together. People who are together so easily as friends only to discover they are more than that...and that discovery tends to beget new problems they never faced as friends. People who make love work despite crazy families, despite kids in the mix, despite...

Okay, you get the pictures. Love is inexplicable. It’s hard. It’s never the same.

• That’s why I write romance!

Think about your friends. People you swore would be together for life and aren’t. People who had everything stacked against them and do make it. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. And that’s what I love to explore as an author.

This month’s release, A ONE-OF-A-KIND FAMILY features Liam, who’s shouldered the burden of caring for a very special brother, Colm. He’s created a comfortable life for them both–a safe life for them. Then Anna Chapel enters their lives and encourages Colm to expand his horizons.

Can Liam expand his horizons, too? Expand them far enough to include Anna?

Happy Valentine’s!

Confession time: What draws you to romance?

PS. I do love science fiction, but I do love reading romance, too! I wanted to be clear about that! LOL

Since selling her first book in 1997, Holly Jacobs has sold more than thirty books. Her first sale to Harlequin was a 2001 Duets book, I Waxed My Legs for This? and she's gone on to write for Silhouette Romance, Harlequin Flipside, Signature Select and Harlequin's new Everlasting Love line. Her category romances have made Waldenbooks' Bestseller List and won numerous awards, such as the Holt Medallion, Booksellers' Best, Golden Quill, Golden Leaf and Madcap Awards. Her 2004 book, Found and Lost, won Romantic Times BOOKreviews' award for Best Harlequin Flipside of 2004, and that year Holly received the same journal's prestigious Career Achievement Award for Series Love and Laughter. She's presented more than thirty workshops on a variety of writing related subjects ranging from topics like writing romantic comedy to time management across the U.S.

http://www.hollyjacobs.com/

My Biggest Hurdle—Worry

My guest is, Holly Jacobs, award winning Romance author writing for Harlequin and Avalon.

As a new writer, we worry about many things; will we get an agent, will our book sell, will readers or agents/editors like my second book. You don’t think about published authors, with many books to their credit, as being worriers. What have they got to worry about, right? Wrong.

Regardless of where we are in the food chain, writers worry about their stories. Holly discusses her worries as a writer.

Ah, the holidays! I love this time of year. Maybe that’s why a great percentage of my books have been set during one holiday or another. The second book I sold to Harlequin/Silhouette was Do You Hear What I Hear? It was a Christmas book and the heroine was the mother of a hearing impaired child. I agonized about getting the daughter’s ASL (American Sign Language) right. It’s got an entirely different structure, so if I wrote it as the character actually signed it, it might have pulled readers from the story (the last thing any writer wants to do). Yet, if I wrote it as straight English, I felt I was not doing justice to a visually beautiful language. In the end, I tried to split the difference...and I worried. Worried that hearing impaired readers would be upset. Then I got a letter from a woman who worked at a school for the Hearing Impaired, and she loved it. Phew. I felt as if I’d got an A in class!

When Sia said she wanted to talk about the laughter and tears, the glitches and triumphs, authors face in the pursuit of their ambition to write I knew immediately what my biggest hurdle in writing is...the worry.

You see, in addition to writing a lot of holiday books, I really try to present characters from different walks of life, with different obstacles to overcome, and every time I do, I worry that someone will think I didn’t quite hit the mark. And still I write these characters because I think it’s important to point out that everyone’s different. This November’s SuperRomance, UNEXPECTED GIFTS, deals with a teacher who works with teen moms. Her best friend was a teen mom, and one of the major secondary characters is a teen mom. I was very nervous about this one. I’ve volunteered (in a very minimal way) with the Erie Teen Parenting program for years and am friends with the woman who was in charge of it until last year. She got one of the early copies and I fretted as she read it. What if she felt I didn’t have enough empathy for the girls? What if she thought I glossed over how hard being a teen parent is? What if... Hey, I’m a writer, asking what-if is second nature to me. :-) Of course, it leads to a lot of angst! When she finished the book she called me, and was happy with the way I’d portrayed the teen moms. Phew.

Worry. It’s something I do well. I have four kids and they trained me well! LOL In February, I have another SuperRomance release, A ONE-OF-A-KIND FAMILY. The hero’s brother is special needs. And I’m already worrying that someone will think I didn’t hit the mark. LOL

So, why? Why do I keep writing about things that make me worry? Because part of the reason I write is because it allows me to walk in someone else’s shoes. If every character was my clone...well, where would be the fun in that? (My kids would assure there was no fun at all in that! LOL) I don’t want to make it sound like worries are all there is to my writing. It’s my biggest hurdle. My biggest glee about writing...is well, the glee! Seriously, I feel blessed every day to do what I’m doing!

So, this holiday, I feel a sense of relief that so far, UNEXPECTED GIFTS, seems to have worked for readers and I feel a giant does of glee that I wrote a book of my heart and so far readers are liking it! And I also feel glee that the holidays are here!

• As a writer, what is satisfying to you about writing characters with special needs?
  

I don't always have special characters, but I like to include them when I can. One of my readers recently sent me a note and said she loved that my books felt so real, that the characters felt so real. I think part of that realism is presenting people from all walks of life. And presenting characters with flaws. Eli's ex is selfish. He doesn't want to be. He wants to think of himself as a nice guy, but in the end... Well, I don't want to give up the end! LOL All the characters I write have baggage. I think what makes a hero or heroine is how they deal with their particular baggage, whether is some sort of special needs, or a tragic past, or....

• Tell me, what did you like about your heroine? What makes her special or what makes her interesting?

I loved Eli's dedication. I loved that she'd worked so hard for 'her' girls, and didn't see anything special in that, but they did. Everyone around her did. And though the opening scene of the book had it's moments of humor, I thought there was something touching about her reaction. I especially loved her line about how she couldn't be pregnant because she drove a Mini Cooper! All in all, Eli and I could be friends...that's how I feel about all my heroines.

• You mention another book, One of A Kind Family, to be released in February. Is this one a Valentine story?

No, it's not a Valentine's story, but it is a story I think fits the holiday perfectly. It really is all heart. I didn't just fall in love with the hero and heroine, Liam and Anna. I fell in love with Colm, Liam's special needs brother. He's so open, so willing to love everyone, so willing to forgive everyone. He's truly all heart.

• You have some booksignings coming up with this book in your area, don't you?

I have a big signing around Valentine's at a local Borders. I'll have copies of both the November and February book there. It should be fun. I've been very fortunate that so many people in Erie have supported me and my writing. If anyone wants to keep up with my travels, there's a list of where I'll be at the bottom of the main page.

• You've written how many books now? Do you worry over each one?

I've written forty-two books. That seems like such a big number, but I wrote them one book at a time, so it didn't seem so overwhelming as I did it! And yes, I do worry. I want to make each book the best I can. I want to make each character true to themselves. I want readers to enjoy the books. Yep, worry! But like I said, with four kids, I'm good at it! LOL And to be honest, while that's my biggest hurdle, each of those books has given me so much joy. The glee so beats out the worry!

• Holly, as usual, I love chatting with you and having you visit Over Coffee. I appreciate you taking time out of your writing and family time to be here.

Thanks so much for inviting me over today, Sia!

So, how about you? Are you ready for the holidays?

• What are your favorite worries and even more importantly, what gives you the most holiday glee?
  
  

Since selling her first book in 1997, Holly Jacobs has sold more than thirty books. Her first sale to Harlequin was a 2001 Duets book, I Waxed My Legs for This? and she's gone on to write for Silhouette Romance, Harlequin Flipside, Signature Select and Harlequin's new Everlasting Love line. Her category romances have made Waldenbooks' Bestseller List and won numerous awards, such as the Holt Medallion, Booksellers' Best, Golden Quill, Golden Leaf and Madcap Awards. Her 2004 book, Found and Lost, won Romantic Times BOOKreviews' award for Best Harlequin Flipside of 2004, and that year Holly received the same journal's prestigious Career Achievement Award for Series Love and Laughter. She's presented more than thirty workshops on a variety of writing related subjects ranging from topics like writing romantic comedy to time management across the U.S.

http://www.hollyjacobs.com/

• UNEXPECTED GIFTS, Harlequin SuperRomance, 11/09
• EVERYTHING BUT A CHRISTMAS EVE, Avalon, 12/09
• A ONE-OF-A-KIND FAMILY, SuperRomance, 2/10

(Photo courtesy of Holly Jacobs, Christmas photos, courtesy of Christmas Graphics Plus)