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Pick up a Pen! by Holly Bush (with a giveaway)

I’ve been writing for about thirty years on and off and before that I wrote a little for pleasure in high school and college when I wasn’t writing papers for classes. I’ve written some long stories, like my new historical romance For Her Honor, a few essays on mostly political subjects, and an occasional family story or recollection. I have found writing to be rewarding and as much a part of my life as friends and family.

I’ve talked to lots of writers over the years, some who wrote lengthy pieces and were trying to get published, and many, many more who wrote memoirs or short stories, and universally all have said how satisfying writing can be. There are days, quite a few sometimes, when I want to break my laptop into a million pieces when I’m in the middle of writing a novel and I just can’t see what the next scene is, or I’ve been away from writing and have trouble getting back in the mood of the book. It is a uniquely irritating dilemma when the words just won’t come. But when I’m writing short pieces, two or three pages, or when I’m really in a groove writing a novel and things are really working, that mojo is an unbeatable feeling.

We don’t write lengthy letters or keep diaries or journals so much anymore mostly I think because of the internet. But does a blog piece get to the real emotions that a diary entry would or recount a family meal or holiday as a letter to a relative could? I don’t think so. Writing can be very personal. The intent of a blog is for the entire world to see what you’ve written, making us second guess our feelings and reactions and filter them for public consumption. Writing freely and privately can be good for us. Sometimes anger and hurt and misery can lessen as we describe whatever agony we’re in.

If writing isn’t something you do often or at all, take a chance on it. Write about how you feel when your daughter gets on the school bus for the very first time. Describe Christmas dinner including whatever terrible vegetable Aunt Mildred brought or if Cousin Filbert had a little too much wine. Record a particularly wonderful day spent with your husband or wife or a friend. Write down what you were thinking as you stood at a graveside. Maybe a paragraph is all there is to write, or maybe ten pages aren’t enough. It doesn’t matter if the grammar’s correct or if everything is spelled perfectly. You’ll know what you meant. Print out what you wrote and stick it in a file. What a treat it will be to find in a month or a year. Take a chance and write.

 

Holly is giving away a signed copy of For Her Honor to one lucky US reader. To be entered in this drawing, please make a comment below.


Holly Bush books are set during the turbulent and transformative years of the late 1800’s. The first two books in her newest series, The Gentrys of Paradise, released in the spring of 2017 and began with the novella Into the Evermore where readers meet Virginia horse breeders, Eleanor and Beauregard Gentry. The following books feature their children, Adam, Matthew, and Olivia. For the Brave is Matthew’s story and is the first full length book of the series. Olivia’s book, For This Moment, released in the spring of 2018. The final book, For Her Honor, is now available for preorder and will release January 8, 2019.

The Crawford Family Series following the fortunes of the three Boston born Crawford sisters and includes Train Station Bride, Contract to Wed, Her Safe Harbor, and companion novella, The Maid’s Quarters. Cross the Ocean and Charming the Duke are both British set Victorian romances. Fan favorites stand-alone historical romance novels include Romancing Olive and Reconstructing Jackson. Holly’s books are described as ‘emotional, with heartfelt, sexy romance.’

Holly makes her home with her husband, one happy Labrador Retriever and a clever Jack Russell rescued from the pound, and two difficult cats in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Connect with Holly at www.hollybushbooks.com, on Twitter @hollybushbooks, and on Facebook at Holly Bush. Follow Holly on her Amazon author page to receive new release updates and sale information.

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