skip to Main Content

I Believe in Holly by Alyssa Petersel

I Believe in Holly

Nearly nine months ago, I scrolled through the wide and overwhelming Internet to find an editor for my book, Somehow I Am Different. My mouse hovered over Acorn Author Services & Publishing. “We are here to guide you,” said Acorn’s homepage. Caroline Mitchell, best-selling author of Paranormal Intruder, said, “Thank goodness for Holly and Shelly who built up my fragile confidence. My book went straight to No.1 in its category on Amazon!”

I cannot say that Acorn was the only editing service I submitted my manuscript to. That would have been foolish. I must admit, though, a warmth in my heart ignited at the thought of working with women who seemed to change so many lives of fellow writers.

In the mysterious way the universe works, Holly Kammier, one of two content editors at Acorn Author Services & Publishing, replied to my query. After a few back-and-forth emails, we struck a partnership and our work together began.

Holly helped me not only to see the light in my manuscript and mission, but also to see the light in myself and my work.

Beyond her professional capacity to turn manuscripts into best-sellers, Holly is an exceptional person with an exceptional story. Realistically, it is her story that empowers her to transform the stories of others.

Holly is a child from many homes. She was born in San Francisco in the mid-seventies. As many of us imagine San Francisco to be, Holly said, “My parents were hippies and I got to run around naked a whole lot and take yoga classes with my mom.”

She lived her first five years in SF before moving to Atlanta, Georgia. When Holly was ten, she moved again to San Diego. For the next decade, she lived with her family in three distinct neighborhoods in San Diego: Hillcrest, Mira Mesa, and Scripps Ranch.

Holly’s favorite memories are of nature walks with her father. She got lost for countless afternoons with her German Sheppard mix, Farmer, collecting river rocks and searching for the perfect walking stick. She made up stories in her head about being a princess or a member of an ancient Indian tribe.

When it was time for college, Holly moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA. “I graduated Cum Laude from UCLA. That’s it,” she said. “I am one of the lease educated members of my family.”

Upon graduation, Holly lived in Washington, D.C., Oregon, Orange County, Basel, Switzerland, and finally back to San Diego where she became pregnant with her first child.

Throughout her professional career, Holly worked a variety of jobs within broadcast news—including photographer, assignment editor, writer, video editor, field producer, weather anchor, morning anchor, and reporter—in stations as varied as CNN in D.C. to the NBC affiliate in small-town Medford, Oregon. For many years, she also worked as a publicist for authors and performed celebrity PR in L.A.

“Every job I’ve held since college has involved writing in one way or another,” she said. “That said, what led to me writing books was a desperate need to understand myself.”

In the past, Holly avoided emotional pain by burying it far beneath the surface. “I didn’t even realize it existed,” she said. “I overcame it by doing things to make myself feel valuable, like exercising so I had a better figure, or getting good grades, or pursuing an exciting career that I believed improved society and gave me the appearance of having my shit together.”

When Holly was diagnosed with a twenty-year-old anxiety disorder that caused daily panic attacks and much turmoil in her life, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t self-diagnosed earlier. Then, she turned to writing.

“I wrote about my own life to remember forgotten experiences and understand,” she said. “It wasn’t until I read my first book, a memoir, that I began to connect with and understand my own issues. Even when I was writing Could Have Been Hollywood, I didn’t really get it. I needed to write it, distance myself from it, and then read it from an adult’s perspective rather than from the age at which I had experienced it. It was a very eye-opening experience and I fell in love with long distance writing. Press releases and thirty-second news stories don’t give you that same connection to your deeper self.”

Holly’s new book, Kingston Court, celebrated its official birthday on September 10, 2015. On the surface a fun, gossipy book based on Holly’s feisty friends and neighbors, subconsciously, Holly’s own personal dynamics influenced the book. “I was writing about my own fears at the time,” she said, “and encouraging myself to believe in my own value and strength. Sometimes as mothers and wives we put so much focus on our loved ones, we lose necessary pieces of ourselves. Kingston Court is about finding that 20-year-old girl still kicking around inside of us and making some of her dreams come true, too.”

Holly defines purpose as doing something you feel passionate about that will help others. “I have found that in motherhood,” she said. “I love my children more than I love myself and I truly believe that I am raising them to be a positive influence in our world. Beyond that, if my writing touches people, well, that would make me feel so incredibly accomplished.”

First and foremost, Holly hopes that Kingston Court entertains. “Life is hard for all of us sometimes,” she said. “A fun escape is a wonderful treat.” Moreover, Holly hopes that Kingston Court inspires other women to tap back into their buried dreams for themselves.

These days, Holly overcomes trauma by feeling the pain and fear and forcing herself to keep going in spite of it. She doesn’t know what is next. “I have set myself on an uncharted path,” she said, “and I am not sure where it will lead.”

Her dream is to write books and content edit for a living while working as a full-time mom. So far, I’d say she is doing is a pretty good job at that.

Learn more about Kingston Court or purchase a paper or electronic copy on Amazon here. Reach out to Holly through her website to tell her just how great a job she is doing.

 

Read more stories by Alyssa @  beli3f.tumblr.com

Author Interview w/ Brinda Berry!

Be sure to check out Brinda’s blog directly here.

Please welcome Holly to the blog today. I’ve got info about her debut release Kingston Court. I also hit her up with a few questions. I’ve known Holly on social media for several years and am so thrilled for this book. So check out the blurb and buy links, get to know Holly with the interview, and connect with her on social media. You won’t be sorry.
~Brinda
BUY LINKS:
AMAZON   /   B & N   /   IBOOKS   /   KOBO   /   INKTERA   /   OYSTER


Picture

Brinda: Hi Holly! It’s great to have you here. I’m going to ask you some fun questions just to get to know you and the book better. Okay? Cool. Here we go! What kind of readers will love Kingston Court? Compare it to some other books I might know.
Holly: Sex and the City or The Real Housewives, mixed in with The Wizard of Oz, any Jonathan Tropper novel.Brinda: If you could cast anyone is the movie adaptations of Kingston Court, pick the actors for the leading roles.
Holly: Samantha – Sienna Miller
Natalie – Natalie Portman
Alic – Ryan GuzmanBrinda: Name five songs that fit the mood of scenes from this book.
Holly: Rachel Platten – Fight Song
John Mayer – Edge of Desire
The Fugees – Killing me softly
Ellie Goulding  – Love Me Like You Do
Beyoncé – Run The World (Girls)
Brinda: Now I’ll have these songs in my head for the rest of the day!Brinda: Best advice someone gave you about writing.
Holly: Write like a motherf*ck*r.” ~ author Cheryl Strayed at a writer’s retreat.

Brinda: Tell us a silly secret about yourself.
Holly: A lot of times I will sing my answer to my kids instead of just saying it. It drives them nuts. My son: “Can we invite Michael over today?” Me: “Yessssssss. I willllll texxxxxt his mother noooow.”

Brinda: Favorite book you read this year?
Holly:  Still Alice

Brinda: If you could hang out with any author for a day, who would it be? Where would you go?
Holly: Joan Didion. We would go to lunch and then shopping in NYC because that’s where she spends her time.
Brinda: I was hoping you’d say ME!! Oh, well. I’m pretty sure you’d hang out with me anyway. I loved all your answers and can’t wait to read Kingston Court. 🙂


Go check out Kingston Court and look up Holly at her website, www.hkammier.com, or on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Before We Were Authors By Jessica Therrien

Be sure to check out Jessica’s blog directly here.

Before we were authors we were just two girls at a writers conference in the same room with the same weird people. We sat around a table while those weird people read their weird manuscripts.

We found each other in the crowd, knowing almost instantly we were of the same breed. You know when you meet someone and it feels like you’ve been friends for years? I’m pretty sure our souls were buddies in a past life…

Holly has been a better friend to me than some of my “best” friends. She has heard me cry, read hundreds and hundreds of pages of my writing (something no one else on the planet has done for me *accept for my mom*), she’s given me advice on life, listened to my rants, laughed with me about our neurotic obsession with making everything perfect…

THANK YOU HOLLY for being there for me every step along the way 🙂 This has been one amazing journey. You’re the best writing partner a girl could ask for!! I’m SO SO SO happy for you!!

Okay, okay…all that mushy Holly-is-awesome mumbo jumbo leads me to the main reason for this post. It’s the release of her novel KINGSTON COURT!!! It’s an amazing book. I’ve read it many many times and it never gets old.

Think SEX & THE CITY meets DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES…oh…and this is NOT a YA book. It’s for the mamas out there.

GOODREADS | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

What happens when you take middle-aged, stay-at-home moms, and throw them back into the workforce and dating? 

A modern twist between Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives, Kingston Court follows the love, lies, and friendships of two wealthy Southern California women. 

Samantha and Natalie are at a crossroads. Gorgeous, over-the-top Samantha, hangs her status and her happiness on her “perfect” husband. That is until she learns his secret. 

But she’s not the only mother on the block struggling. Natalie, nurturing and careful, is thrust back into the workforce after her husband barely survives a horrifying car crash. However, it isn’t just her new job co-hosting a national morning news show that keeps her busy. Alik, the hot young production assistant, does everything in his power to seduce the woman he loves. 

Death and misfortune in the span of a single year force these two women to rediscover their inner strength and make life-changing choices. Kingston Court is full of scandal, temptation, and all of life’s juicy little secrets.

CONGRATS HOLLY!!! *LOOOOOOVE* 🙂

Blog Interview with K.T. Hanna

Be sure to check out K.T.’s blog directly at http://www.kthanna.com or click here.

KINGSTON COURT

is out in the world today!

51BSGOCAwyL._SX326_BO1,204,203,200_

I invited my friend Holly to come and answer some questions about her book!

Tell us about Kingston Court. What inspiration lead to writing this book?

I had just finished writing my first book, a memoir, and was eager to see if I could write pure fiction. Days after making the decision to try, I was sitting at a friend’s community pool and overheard a group of pre-teen girls gossiping about some “it” girl named Sophia Chase. I thought that was the perfect name for a main character and was inspired to write my first chapter. Sophia ended up being a minor character, but her name is what started it all. In a twist of fate, my good friend’s daughter is now best friends with the real Sophia Chase. Someday Sophia will be old enough to read the book she inspired.

That’s a really cool story! I love the cover – how did you go about deciding what to put front and center?

Thank you! I feel the same way. It was very much a collaborative effort with the cover designer. I told him the colors I wanted, the mood, the palm trees, possibly some sort of silhouette of the main characters. He came up with the actual picture and it was love at first sight. My favorite part is how he put the silhouettes of Samantha and Natalie clinking their wine glasses in the letter “O.” He nailed it.

Well, I think it works really well. What is one thing you wish people knew about Kingston Court before reading it?

This book includes lots of crazy gossip and drama. However, at its core, it’s about women regaining their strength and independence. It adheres to the theme of my mother’s all-time favorite movie when I was growing up, The Wizard Of Oz. Dorothy had the power all along. Sometimes as women we give so much to the people we love, we lose our footing. This story is a super fun reminder that we are a sisterhood, and we truly do have the power to conquer our world and make our dreams come true.

Which writers inspire you?

There are so many. A few of my favorites include: Joan Didion, Jonathan Tropper, Cheryl Strayed, and Augusten Burroughs. I love brutally honest books. If they’re funny, that’s even better.

Tell us a secret we don’t know about you.

I’m kind of a pain in the ass. Of course if you know me, this isn’t much of a secret.

How old were you when you first started writing stories?

Since I knew language. As a child, I would make up elaborate stories in my head each day. I see my youngest son, Alex, doing it now. He can spend hours in his room with his toys making up all sorts of exciting stories. I’m pretty sure he is going to be the great author of our family.

Are you obsessive about backing your work up? Any horror stories?

I’m not good at it at all, and as a result, I have lots of horror stories. I remember losing a full chapter about two years ago and stumbling over to my neighbor Robin’s house in tears. I told her I could never recapture what I wrote. NEVER. It was my most brilliant piece of work and I might as well slit my throat and end it all. I spent the entire day lamenting my loss. The next morning, I found the lost file. After doing a happy dance all over the over the living room floor, I decided the chapter wasn’t that great after all.

And now for the serious stuff ?

Astrology or Astronomy?

I lean toward Astronomy

Latin or Greek? (Languages)

Ummm, I know neither.

Rain or Shine?

Both :)

Cats or Dogs?

Dogs and then cats.

Thank you so much for stopping by Holly!

You can buy it on Amazon!

Author Interview by Shawna Romkey

Today is Kingston Court’s BIRTH day! Author Shawna Romkey kicks off this momentous occasion with the first author interview in our ten-day blog tour. Below is an excerpt from her interview:

Today I have Holly Kammier, author of the newly released Kingston Court with me. Check out this new release!
KingstonCourt_cover3-640x1024
Here are some questions I had for Holly…

Hi Shawna, thanks for having me on your blog.

1. Are you a reader? How many books a year do you read?
I am a huge fan of reading. Right now, being a single mom, promoting a new book, and content editing for other writers, I don’t get nearly enough time to read for pleasure. Not including work related manuscripts, I’d say I’m averaging about one to two books a month.

2. What is your favorite genre to read? To write?
My favorite genre is Memoir. When written well, and with honesty, you are getting the most intimate peek into another writer’s life. Wild by Cheryl Stayed is one of my absolute favorites. The movie doesn’t compare.

3. If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be and what would say to them?
Would it be horrible to say Hitler before he came to power, so I could shoot him dead? That’s the honest truth.

4. If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you take with you?
I’m going to assume this island has food and water. I would bring my family, music and books.

5. Paper or Plastic? (book or eReader)
Definitely books. I’m embarrassed to admit I still haven’t even tried an eReader. I’m so old school, it’s sad.

6. Plotter or Pantster?
I am a total Panster. It’s kind of the way I live most of my life. I make sure I have a strong foundation of characters and place and all the necessities, and from there I wait and see what happens.

7. What advice would you give someone who wanted to be a writer?
Write.

8. What are you reading now?
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. I’m in an online book club based out of the UK and the other members highly recommended it. It’s a fun read.

9. What is the significance of the title of your book?
Kingston Court is the name of the neighborhood where the main characters reside. I chose it as a working title with every intention to change it to something more sophisticated. It just stuck though. It’s fun to say and easy to remember.

10. What inspires you?
My life experiences, as well as family and friends inspire me. I write what I know and I’m so grateful for all the quirky, bold, beautiful people in my life. I constantly find myself writing down things they say and do.

11. What is your writing schedule like?
I’m not disciplined enough for a real schedule. I do have rules though. I come up with a word count for each day and stick to it. If I haven’t been inspired to pull over the car on my way to Costco, or interrupt a conversation with a friend to write something in the middle of the day, I will stay up late after my kids are in bed and get it done.

12. What is your writing space like?
My writing space varies. I do most of my writing in bed or on the couch. If I’m out and about and become inspired however, I can write just about anywhere. One time I wrote a full chapter in the principal’s office while I was waiting for a parent/teacher conference at my son’s school.

13. Why did you write this particular story?
I write out of order without much of a plan, as such, I didn’t know why I wrote this story until it was finished. I wrote Kingston Court to remind myself I am strong, that my dreams and needs matter, and that it’s okay to follow a new path.

18. Do you re-read books? If so, what book have you read the most?
I can only think of one grown-up book I’ve read more than once, that was The Great Gatsby. I love so many of the lines in that book. One of my favorite quotes from Fitzgerald is “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” Wait. I just thought of another book. The Lover by Marguerite Duras. Like so many books, it meant different things to me at different times in my life. There’s probably others I have forgotten. They’re inside me though, shaping my writing and perspective in ways I am not aware.

19. What is the closest book to you right now?
Kingston Court. I’ve edited that manuscript to the bone and I’m sure there are still typos lurking in the ink somewhere. Still, I think I could recite entire pages in my sleep by now.

Thanks for stopping by today Holly! For those of you interested in finding out more about Holly, you can do so at www.hkammier.com. And for those of you interested in picking up Kingston Court, you can do so here! Amazon

Be sure to check out Shawna’s blog directly at http://www.shawnaromkey.com or click here.

TV Interview w/California Life

ONE LAST DAY UNTIL BOOK RELEASE

We chatted about the power of girlfriends, as well as “special” massages. The lovely and talented Heather Dawson invited me onto her show California Life to talk about all things Kingston Court. I have to admit, I was so nervous I popped half a Xanax before the interview. Can you tell? I think I look pretty relaxed considering how nervous I was about the whole thing.

 

 

Kingston-Court-3D-ebookandregularKingston Court will be available in hard copy or e-readers at all of these places starting tonight: Amazon, Barnes&Noble.com, iTunes, kobo, All Romance, inktera, OYSTER,

 

Kingston Court Interviews

TWO MORE DAYS TILL BOOK RELEASE!!!!

Kingston Court Cover

In two more days, Kingston Court will be available just about everywhere online, including select bricks and mortar stores.To celebrate Kingston Court’s official release on September 1oth, several of my lovely writer friends are participating in the Kingston Court blog tour. Many of them conducted interviews with me and their questions were fun and surprising.

I’m so excited to share them all with you. I will post a link to each of their blogs on the day they post. In the meantime, the following in a list of the writers who will be participating starting tomorrow:

Rachel Morgan – will be hosting a Kingston Court giveaway on her Facebook. Tomorrow, September 9th.

Shawna Romkey – Author interview on September 10th

K.T. Hanna – Author interview on September 11th

Jessica Therrien – Author interview on September 12th

Kat Ross – Author interview on September 13th

Brinda Berry – Author interview on September 14th

Robert Yehling – Author interview on September 15th

Alyssa Petersel – Author article on September 16th

Debra Kristi – Article on Kingston Court on September 17th

Holly Kammier – Special raffle on September 21st

Christa Yelich-Koth – Author interview on September 22nd

Oppression – Children of the Gods

If you have teenagers or love a good YA Fantasy novel with a big splash of romance, you are in for such a treat!

When Jessica Therrien’s Oppression first hit the stores, it was an instant hit. She sold approximately 45,000 books in the first month alone. Oppression came in # 3 on Barnes & Noble best-selling YA books just behind The Hunger Games. Teens and young adult readers were buzzing all over the internet about this heroine-centered story of Greek Gods, secret powers, and true love.

That was back in 2011. Now my very good friend and writing bestie has written a brilliant pre-chapter for Oppression with an updated cover for a whole new generation of readers.

Oppression Second Edition Cover

Click here to order your copy on Amazon today. Jessica also has links on her website for more details. It’s a great gift for your daughters, nieces, girlfriends or for yourself.

Book 2 in her series, Uprising, comes out October 2.

Uprising Second Edition Cover

The final, and never before released, book in the series, Redemption, goes for sale November 2.

Redemption First Edition Cover

Congrats Jess! So proud of you!!!

Kingston Court Release Date

Kinston Court’s official release date is only two and half weeks away!!!  September 10th. I’m as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof and as excited as if it were my first Christmas. I’ll be adding buttons to this website between now and then that will link to some of the many places Kingston Court will be available for purchase including: Amazon, Kindle, Nook, Barnes & Noble.com, ITunes, Kobo, and more.

Kingston Court Cover

 

Thank you so much for all of your continued support in my book journey!!!

 

Back To Top