Jean Holloway, author

I was born October 10, 19… in good ole Queens, New York. I had a difficult childhood, though it’s not your usual abuse story. I developed severe eczema and was shunned by most of my schoolmates until high school. Books became my friend. Early in life, I found myself fascinated by the macabre. I would actually set my alarm if one of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock, Rod Serling or my favorite show, One Step Beyond, was coming on late at night. These kept me up ‘til the wee hours of the morning. Being raised in Amityville was like the icing on the cake. My obsessive compulsive biological mother died when I was thirteen, the age where puberty reared its ugly head. Needless to say I was a wife and mother by the time I was seventeen, divorced at twenty. I then met Fred, my second, current and final husband. We’ve been together 34 years. He helped me become an adult although I was fighting and kicking the whole way. Together we raised six children.I have to say reading was my education. I can’t list my degrees or college affiliations, there are none. I learned from the masters; Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Jean Auel, even Sidney Sheldon. I love you all.I got into writing late in life and I have to be honest, I wrote “Ace of Hearts” on a dare. My sister, Lori, knowing the avid reader I was, said “I bet you could write a book” and I thought “I bet I could!” and began “Ace” in 1980. I did all the things they say doesn’t work, like sending my unsolicited manuscript to New York publishers. Guess what? It doesn’t work!! While looking for a publisher, I realized I don’t do rejection well. I shelved “Ace” and went on with the business of life. But Lori wouldn’t let it end there, thank God, and we dusted it off, went through it with family and friends and decided to try one more time. And here I am!!People ask where my ideas come from and I guess it was stress. When I started “Ace” I was working at a very taxing, though well known, ice skating company, putting in twelve hours, six days a week. I was tired and angry. I started the book visualizing how I would get rid of my boss and several coworkers. It was therapy!