Jump ahead to...Fun FAQs , Interviews, Workshops and about my new tagline.

Hi, we met briefly on my main page - I'm Holly Jacobs, romance author. I am first, and foremost, the mother of four of the most fantastic kids you've ever met. They keep me busy, make me crazy and add more joy to my life than I could ever have imagined (and they're working on adding some grey hair). My husband is my strongest supporter, my best friend and, well, just a great guy! I've yet to write a hero who is half the man he is.

I absolutely love ice cream, seagulls and thunderstorms. Living in Erie means I'm on the shore of one of the great lakes...there's nothing like a summer sunset! My love of Lake Erie is probably why you'll find so many beaches in my books...it's also why I went with a beach theme for my website! There's just nothing better!

I've been in love with books, with words, ever since I can remember. I read JRR Tolkien's Hobbit in third grade. How much I understood, I don't know, but I fell in love with Middle Earth and visited often. Heinlein, Lewis and Bach all soon joined him on my list of must read authors. Trixie Belden, The Black Stallion, Little House on the Prairie . . . the list goes on and on. It was rare not to find me with a book in hand!

From that love of reading I seemed to naturally progress to writing. I've toyed with a little of everything, but I must confess, though I "found" romance a little later in life, I fell head over heels for the genre. When I began writing, it seemed like the right place for me to be.

Why? Because it's a genre about people, about relationships. I can add in the sci fi, the fantasy, the suspense, the mystery. I can add in any plot, but it all boils down to the people and that is why I fell for it. Watching two characters overcome the odds, overcome themselves . . . what could be more satisfying?

"What's new?" you ask.

I had my second official SuperRomance released in February 2010, A One-of-a-Kind Family, and I'll have another released in December...Homecoming Days!

 

Want to know more about me? 
Read some online Interviews at:
Erie Times News Interview
Avalon Interview
Kelley St. John's Interview
Mage Pages Interview
Round Table Review Interview
A Romance Review
RomanceEverAfter
Terescia's Blog
Kelley's Interview 

 

A bit of an explanation...my tagline on the website used to be..."Where Love is a Laughing Matter." It fit my books, from the straight up comedies, to the lighter ones.. But I've recently had a few books published that aren't laughing matters at all! So, just to keep things honest, I've added, "Except when it's not" to my tagline. Keep an eye on the website!

Thanks for visiting! I found a t-shirt that says "I live in my own little world, but it's okay, they know me here." People tease me about Hollyworld...it's a place where smiles and fun abound. I hope you come in for a visit and enjoy yourself as much as I do. As an author I'd like to leave a smile on your face and a soft spot in your heart. Please feel free to drop me a line.

 

Fun FAQs

Okay, here's something a little different...I'll be adding to this from time to time. If you have a question you're just dying to have answered, send it to me at HollyJacobs1 (at) gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer it.

Your Name?
Holly...it's my real first name. And you'd think, with a name like Holly, I'd have a December birthday. That would make sense. But in actuality, Mom liked the name and the fact it didn't have a nickname. She didn't like nicknames. Which explains why I've spent an awful lot of my life being, Hall. LOL

Your Age?
Mumble, mumble, mumble. Which translates to an extremely youthful forty-something.

Where do you live?
Most days I’m just a bit left of center, and a skip and a hop from pure bedlam. Seriously, I’ve lived in Erie County Pennsylvania all of my life, and because I love it here, a number of my books have been set in Erie. Even more specifically, my husband and I bought his parents home four years agp, and in a fit of insanity inspired by Bob Vila, Trading Spaces and HGTV, we've been redoing the whole thing. Last year new driveway, this year siding and windows.This year's new project was gutting a bathroom to studs and redoing it. Try as I might to deny my insanity, all this renovating and adding on is the proof of it. It’s also why I’m never, never, never moving again!

Your writing history?
I knew I wanted to write, and I did. I knew I'd have to be serious about the goal, so from the start, I treated my writing like a career...even before I made a cent at it. I sold to Kensington Precious Gems, the line died. Moved to Harlequin Duets...the line died. Then onto Harlequin Flipside...yep, killed that one, too. Silhouette Romance? Dead. And Harlequin's Signature line is gone as well. then Harlequin’s Everlasting Love Line folded into SuperRomance. So now I'm writing for Harlequin SuperRomance and Avalon Books-- those publishers/lines are doing just fine...so far.

A Day in a Writer’s Life...what’s it like?
I lead a life full of romance and adventure. From skydiving to jet-setting around Europe, from snorkeling in coral reefs to writing while wearing beautiful silk peignoir sets and popping chocolate bonbons, my life is the epitome of romance. Uh, see the whole Name FAQ...the four kids part. Add to that two dogs (Ethel Mermanand Ella Fitgerald) and a cop husband...well, that’s more my life. Crazy.

In all seriousness, writing is my fulltime job. In the summer, I try to write very early, before the kids get up. During the school year, I write while they're gone. Uh, guess which is my favorite schedule?

Four Kids...didn’t anyone ever tell you about birth control?
Yes. But once we had one, she pushed us to the brink of insanity and we forgot.

Where do you get your Ideas?
Aliens. Yes, you heard me, aliens. They beam them into my head at night. Okay, so not really. Ideas are everywhere. A song, an overheard conversation (not that I actively eavesdrop or anything <g>), friends, family stories (it helps to come from a long line of sanity challenged individuals), kids, pets...anything and everything is fuel for the creative fire. For instance, Pearly Gates, my readers all time favorite secondary character (she’s gotten her own fan mail), came into existence while I was listening to the radio. The song used the phrase, Gates of Heaven, from there I thought Pearly Gates, and on the heels of that came the thought, wow, what a great character name. Seconds later I could almost here her soft Southern lilted voice say, "When I was born my mama said she was looking at a piece of heaven, so she named me Pearly Gates. Years later she said it became obvious that the devil had his two cents in my creation."

But really, Holly, four kids?
Yes. Four. Hey, the upside is, my best friend–my childless best friend-has always sworn my house was her birth control. I’m pretty sure a few other friends think the same thing, but are just too polite to tell me. So, in my own way I’ve contributed to zero-population growth. (Comment from Lori, Holly's childless friend..."I am still chuckling at your conclusion that your tribe has actually contributed to zero population growth.. haha...although when it comes to me, I suppose I can't deny that it had some influence on my current childless status. But let's spin it like this....Your kids added so much enrichment to my life that I never felt an empty spot that needed to be filled with any of my own!! There, that sounds so much better than the idea that they spawned terror and dread in my heart at the prospect of recreating something in their image!!") (From Holly..."See, isn't she a lovely friend? So full of tact and sweet...but possibly prone to fibbing. I think it was more terror and dread no matter what she says! <g>")

What’s your favorite of your books?
As a mom, you learn early there’s no good way to answer who’s your favorite kid. I just say you dear, on any given day. Same thing with my books. Whatever I’m working on tends to be that day’s favorite.

How do you find time to write?
I’m mean. Very mean when interrupted. The kids are scared when they hear the sound of fingers on keyboards because if they interrupt me, I growl. I fully expect all of them to find keyboardless jobs in their adult lives. <g> Seriously, I simply write during the day when they’re gone. During the summer, I get up very early and work quick. We have a rule...no one comes into mom’s office unless there’s blood...lots of blood. Any other crisis, solve it yourself.

Other FAQs you think we might like to know?

~Let’s see, I’m a Broadway fan...I started writing because I heard a rumor that most publishers were located in NYC which would mean I could visit, see shows and write it off!

~I finally traded in my van on a car. My first new car ever. An orange Pontiac Vibe. I love my car. A rather grumpy friend hates the color and included an orange Vibe in her book...and wasn’t very nice to it. (Susan Gable...check out her books!)

~I’d like to say I garden, it sounds so refined. Alas, gardening involves dirt, sun and bugs...I don’t do any of those, so I don’t garden. My husband does. I assist. But mainly I make a listof things I'd like him to grow!

~In addition to being married to a cop, I have two brothers who are cops. It scares me. I grew up with them. They were doofuses. And now they protect and serve the general population? Run and hide!

~I have a thing for neatness and organization. I know, it’s scary. I try not to inflict the need on others, but sometimes I slip.

~I’m an optimist. Yes, I know, it’s sick. Friends call my rose-colored-glasses, glass-half-full world Hollyworld and frequently come visit. That’s fine. The more the merrier.

~Okay, last tidbit. I love my life. Oh, I have bad days just like everyone else, but truly, I’m so lucky. I’ve got a great family, a cool car, weird pets, a job that allows me to spend most days in my office laughing myself silly and readers who assure me my writing makes them laugh as well. What’s not to love?

Jump ahead to...Fun FAQs , Interviews, Workshops and about my new tagline

Workshops

I've done more than forty workshops from coast to coast since my first writing workshop in Houston in 1998. Is your group interested in a speaker? A few of my topics have been:

What's Your Excuse Today? (Making time in a busy life to write) ,

So You Think You're Funny? (Writing Comedy)

The Agonies and Ectasy of Writing (an open forum discussion on the business of writing)

High Concept and Category (Incorporating High Concepts into your pitches and your writing)

The Three Secrets of Writing Romance

We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Rules (myth busting some of the so called "rules" of writing)

Confessions of a Serial Killer (Surviving the death of a category line and other bumps in your career).

If you have a specific workshop/talk in mind and don't see it on the list, ask. My mother said I started talking at nine months and never stopped!

If you're interested in having me speak at your next meeting or conference, please contact me at HollyJacobs1 (at) gmail.com.