Holly grew up in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC, during the fifties and sixties. All the houses in the neighborhood were identical, reminiscent of Pete Seeger’s song, ‘Little Boxes’. Kids ran wild like the dogs, unconstrained by fences or supervision. On weekends parents traveled from house to house, teetering with cocktails in hand.
After twenty-seven years on the East Coast, Harrison left her librarian job at an Advertising Agency, packed up her VW Bus, and headed for New Mexico to attend graduate school. Soon she became enamored with the Land of Enchantment. Harrison taught English and Art for several years in rural New Mexico where classes regularly were canceled for county fairs, religious holidays, and pueblo feasts. On weekends she traveled the state, exploring the back roads to better appreciate the landscape of her adopted home.
As a university research scientist, Holly studied self-regulation, the ability to control emotions and behavior and act in socially appropriate ways. It’s something many people struggle with today and useful in developing characters for her novels. The high desert will always be her home.
When Harrison is not writing, she is riding her Swedish Warmblood, Soleil, in the Bosque near the Rio Grande.
