Christina Hollis

Here’s the lovely new book trailer made for “Lady...

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 08:38:00 +0100

Here’s the lovely new book trailer made for “Lady Rascal” by @thesunstar and Tzaremnya. I hope you enjoy it.

This is the pre-production artwork for my historical romance...

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 12:33:00 +0100

This is the pre-production artwork for my historical romance Lady Rascal, ISBN 978-1-909270-21-3 which will be available from Amazon and all other good online retailers from next week. To sign up for my newsletter and keep up to date with developments, visit http://www.christinahollis.com and click on the newsletter link. The first ten new subscribers get free bookmarks and pens!

The Dig Goes On…

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 11:47:51 +0100

The Dig Goes On…

A Lovely Present...

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 06:56:55 +0100

I’ve been so busy writing, I’ve only just had time to repot the lovely new lemon tree my daughter bought me to replace the one I lost during the big freeze last winter. Now I can’t wait to make lemon curd - when we get enough eggs!

Instagram

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:16:11 +0100

Instagram:

I love Mark McKellier’s beautiful photo. It looks like my bees, dark and industrious.

The Count's Challenge...

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 06:04:00 +0100

…is my July release for Harlequin Presents Extra.

I’ll be blogging about it on Sunday, 10th July at: http://www.authorsoundrelations.blogspot.com You can see more details of The Count’s Challenge on my website, http://www.christinahollis.com where I’m currently running a themed competition, and here - http://bit.ly/kSYcBQ where you can also buy online as well as on Amazon.com.

Happy reading!

Looking Forward To...

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 07:34:04 +0100

…lemon curd around Christmas time. It pays to plan ahead when you’re multitasking! My daughter bought me a beautiful lemon tree for Mother’s Day, to replace the venerable old plant I lost during our recent devastating winter. That’s growing well and has some embryo fruit on it. They won’t be ripe in time to make lemonade this summer, but they should be ready to make lemon tart or lemon curd to brighten up winter.

Setting the Scene.

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:00:07 +0100

So- my latest work in progress has a shipping magnate hero in Leo, a comfort eating heroine in Alexa - what better place to throw them together than on a ferry across the Thames? Luckily, they meet before Alexa gets her hands on the steak, fries and chocolate pudding Leo’s behaviour drives her to consume.

This is the view from the balcony of Leo’s suite at the Dockland’s Hilton. He very kindly lent it to me and my tribe for a holiday last year. The suite that is, and not just the balcony ;)

This lily smells as good as it looks...

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 10:00:06 +0100

…and it survived against all the odds. I sowed six seeds, nurtured them carefully and - nothing. After a year had gone by, I gave up and emptied the pot of ‘dud’ seeds and soil onto the greenhouse border. The following spring a single tuft of leaves appeared and this year, this single survivor flowered.

And the moral of this story is - when it comes to plants, never give up!

My Latest Release...

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:01:06 +0100

My Mills and Boon Modern Romance, The French Aristocrat’s Baby, has been released in the US as a Harlequin Presents Extra with the new title,The Count’s Challenge. Here’s the cover, and you can get more details from: http://www.eharlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=23974

Now It's Time To Give Leo A Girl...

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 10:00:06 +0100

Last time I wrote about my new WIP, I told you how I found my hero. It’ll take a strong woman to iron out Leo Cassini’s flaws. So step forward, Alexa Crane!

That’s her, hiding behind this comforting pile of pancakes.

On the outside, Alexa is a hard bitten business woman - but that’s only because she has become an expert at hiding her problems. Unknown to Leo, Alexa is leading a bizarre double life. Whenever things become too much to bear, she eats.

So it’s a good job Leo’s ex-wife has left him with a deep suspicion of scale-jockeys…

Inheritance

Tue, 31 May 2011 10:00:06 +0100

This is my grandmother, with my aunt and uncle. I don’t know the date of the photograph, but as my aunt is in her early eighties now it must have been taken in the late nineteen-twenties. It was sent to my grandfather, who was serving in the British Army in India at the time and had never seen his new little daughter. In those days air travel was an unimagined luxury. The journey from Delhi took weeks over land and sea, so Grampy only came back every few years. Living in the country, Gran had to do everything for herself, and that made her very resourceful. She had to abandon a very successful career as a cook when she married, but taught her children and grandchildren all she knew. I may not have inherited her organisational skills or her love of housework, but at least she made sure I can feed a family!

Men Make Me See Stars...

Fri, 27 May 2011 05:33:54 +0100

…in several different ways! For my birthday the other day my husband gave me the latest book on the Hubble space telescope, which helped with my new work in progress in an unexpected way.

I’ve been inventing a background for my new hero. I like to get the name first, then build up the character from there and as I was reading my new book, the word Cassini jumped out at me. The Cassini division is a gap in the rings of Saturn, named after the guy who discovered it. My new hero is Italian, but the idea of calling him ‘Galileo’ didn’t really appeal. So he’s Leo, which is actually short for Leonardo. That’s pretty fitting, given what the biographer Vasari said of Leonardo da Vinci being “marvellously endowed with beauty, grace and talent in abundance” although given the line that I write for, of course Leo Cassini going to be totally and absolutely heroine-centred!

Incidentally, the picture accompanying this blog is an image of the Tarantula Nebula, and it’s part of the GRIN (Great Images In Nasa) collection. It was taken by the Hubble telescope, and it’s been the wallpaper image on my computer since it was released. Isn’t it breathtaking?

Woke Up Feeling Like Snow White...

Tue, 24 May 2011 10:00:05 +0100

…Then Son #1 magically transformed me into The Wicked Queen.

He had wolfed down his breakfast, then asked to go on the computer. I said no. He said he had a sore throat. He looked all right. His temperature was normal. I made him go to school, but he cried all the way there. With his history of tonsilitis, I’m now waiting for a call from school for me to go and collect him - together with a big sign to hang around my neck: ‘The Terrible Mother Who Made Her Sick Child Go To School’.

Eeuw.

Another Great Birthday

Sun, 22 May 2011 12:00:06 +0100

It was my birthday while I was working hard on a Modern Romance/Presents WIP, so there wasn’t much time for partying. My DD came home from university especially for the big day, and my husband took the day off from work. We always open presents before the school run so that everyone can share the fun, so it was an early start, as usual. I got another three Lindsey Davies books, a cookery book, some clothes and an incredible device called a SkyScout, which you point at the night sky to identify any star or planet (unfortunately despite the drought, it’s been relentlessly cloudy ever since!).

Another great present was a new lemon tree, given to me by DD. I had productive lemons and limes in the greenhouse until this latest winter killed them off. Although they didn’t mind the cold so much, they couldn’t stand the damp. With luck, this means we’ll be eating home produced lemon curd again by Christmas!

Website: http://www.christinahollis.com

HARD AT WORK

Sat, 21 May 2011 12:00:06 +0100

I’ve just turned in my latest manuscript for Harlequin Mills and Boon, so now the waiting begins. To make the time pass a little more quickly I’m already working on my next Modern Romance/Presents/Extra title, and of course there’s always lots to do around the house and garden. The drought continues, so I have to be careful how much water I use. Any rain that falls drains into water butts, but that supply is dwindling fast. I only water newly established things, and developing fruit. There’s a lot of that this year, thanks to our seven colonies of bees. They collected pollen and nectar from the apple blossom, strawberry flowers and blueberries but they need water, too. This they use for cooling their hives, and producing wax. At first I put out dishes of nice clean, cold tap water. They won’t touch it, even when primed with peppermint extract, which is supposed to be a sure-fire attractant. Instead they prefer the muddy puddles I make to help the nesting house martins, or suck up any condensation that’s gathered overnight in the gutters. There’s just no pleasing some insects!

Visit http://www.christinahollis.com for more about me and my work, including details of my May Competition.

A Friend Indeed...

Sat, 21 May 2011 10:56:55 +0100

Writing is a mainly solitary business, but it helps to have a listening ear when you’re trying out ideas. This is my daughter’s cat: he lives under my feet while she is away at university. Jinks is a Norwegian Forest Cat, which some say is the ancestor of the Maine Coon. He takes his position as Head of Household very seriously, and also operates as Chief Pest Control Officer in my greenhouses!

Website:http://www.christinahollis.com

May Competition

Wed, 18 May 2011 21:29:56 +0100

There’s still time to enter my May competition - just email me at christinahollis@hotmail.co.uk with the words ‘May Competition’ in the subject line to be included in the draw for signed books. As an incentive, here’s the product shot -

Hot stuff!

Strawberries - But Where's The Cream?

Fri, 13 May 2011 10:11:00 +0100

It’s my birthday this month and I love strawberries, so I always try to have a few ready for the big day. This year, probably because of the exceptionally hard winter and subsequent beautiful spring, the plants I have in the greenhouse have excelled themselves. The smell of ripe fruit warmed by the sun is lovely. And they taste even better than they look!

New Week, New Wallpaper

Mon, 09 May 2011 08:36:14 +0100

What do you think of the new background? OH perfected it over the weekend. Now it’s back to work for us both. He’s returned to the city, DD’s at Uni and Son #1 is suffering SATS. That leaves me alone, but up to my ears in revisions so it’ll be quiet here for a while though I’d love you to drop in at http://www.christinahollis.blogspot.com, or Twitter, where I masquerade as @christinabooks or my website, http://www.christinahollis.com and tell me what you think of the new design.

Happy reading!

Christina x