What to say about Holli?

Just a few things. 

To begin, within the first week of meeting her boyfriend, she informed him that the gift at the very top of her wish-list for Christmas and her birthday was either a hand and a half blade or a katana. She later informed him that she had decided to forego the wakizashi (to help her parents with finances, some.) Over Christmas 2008, she decided to style her handwriting after that of J.R.R. Tolkien, and when a friend discovered a font almost identical to said handwriting, tweaked her new hand ever so slightly to match that.

Other tidbits:

Born in Southern California, from the ages of two to ten she lived on a ranch in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, after which Microsoft carried her family to the Evergreen State, famed for Starbucks Coffee and “Sleepless in Seattle”—a title she most ardently disagrees with, due to the fact that nearly everyone there suffers from depression and/or a lack of energy, on account of the monotonous grey days. (Though, to any of PAN’s readers who dwell within Washington’s borders, she will begrudgingly agree that the green expanses of Western Washington, matched against the startling blue skies and Cascade Mountains, are exquisite.) However, those long years of purgatory have finally come to an end, and she now finds herself living in Southern California once more. As a result, she can finally live up to the title of “Beach baby” that she was christened by a close friend.

Holli has a fascination that sometimes borders on an  obsession with the fantastic, the otherworldly, and a strong dislike of the mundane. Yet, at the same time, she’s happiest when life is drama free and simple: full of family, friends, God, laughter, smiles, and books. Over the past year, He’s taught her the truth of verses such as Romans 8:28 and Jeremiah 29:11; she’s intrigued to see what He’ll have in store for her in 2010, other than graduation and college. 

Finally, Holli is a fantasy novelist, and an avid reader—an occupation encouraged by her unnatural reading speed. Her favorite authors are J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Jordan, Ted Dekker (His Circle Trilogy stands among those works of literature that have most highly influenced her), Steven James, Alexandre Dumas, Jane Austin, Shakespeare (Yes, she knows he’s technically a playwright, not an author), and Stephen Lawhead. If you’re ever in town, she’d love to show you around SoCal and her personal library. But, for now, she simply wishes to bid you all adieu.