Author: Christina Hollis

I've written six historical novels, eighteen contemporary novels, sold nearly three million books, and my work has been translated into twenty different languages. When I'm not writing, I enjoy cooking, gardening, and walking my dog (the famous Alex!). You can find a list of my published books at christinahollis.com My current release, Heart Of A Hostage, is published by The Wild Rose Press and available at myBook.to/HeartOfAHostage worldwide.
Fountain pen lying on a page of calligraphy
Blog, Wellbeing, Writing

Bleeding Ink

Christina Hollis

Writing As Therapy

Pencil and paper has always been my literary weapon of choice. If I’m stressed, I pick up a pencil and freewrite. Scribbling away my feelings for ten minutes is really good for my mental health.

When I’m finished, I read through what I’ve written. Sometimes it shows me a way out of my current problem, but finding solutions isn’t the point of the exercise. It’s the process which matters-and what happens next.

I tear up the sheet of paper, sprinkle it onto the compost heap, and mix it in well. That makes sure all my soul-baring becomes useful compost, rather than a life-long curse.

Woe Is Me

Earlier this century, the Misery Memoir genre created a tsunami of trauma-related writing. More recently, there’s been controversy over details within Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path and Harry Mountbatten-Windsor’s Spare. This blog isn’t about literary content, so the phrase ‘recollections may vary’ must cover any concerns raised by these books. I’m more concerned with the way the mental health of writers (and others), can suffer because of overexposure.

Photo of a mobile phone on a keyboard by Gerd Altmann, via Pixabay.

There is a world of difference between honesty, and over-sharing. Once something is published, whether in book form or as a social media post, its author has to assume it is out there forever.

Unfortunately, there are people who delight in sharing ancient and obscure tweets in order to stir up trouble.

A lie has always been able to travel round the world before the truth gets out of bed. It’s a million times worse now that everyone is online.

When I was at school, we were all convinced that that one of our teachers was – ahem – ‘dating’ a sixth-former. Luckily, that was before social media took off because it was, of course, only a rumour.

Think really hard before sharing something online. It’s never worth the stress of wondering whether it will come back to bite you.

A Conscious Choice

Make a conscious choice about how much of yourself you are willing to share, both in your work and for publicity purposes. Decide where your boundaries will be. When it comes to public appearances and promotions, never forget you are the talent. Don’t let yourself be pressured into doing, saying, or writing anything which might be used against you in the future.

Writing is the best job in the world. As I said here, it’s the work which is important. That is stressful enough. Writers are often shy and reticent. The added pressure of being under public scrutiny because of an unguarded comment made in print or online is the last thing they need.

A Case In Point

Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird has been one of modern literature’s most famous books from the moment it was first published in 1960. Yet from its publication until her death in 2016, Lee gave hardly any interviews or public appearances. A very private person, she let her work speak for itself. This hasn’t stopped To Kill A Mockingbird selling well over 40 million copies.

Harper Lee made a conscious choice to restrict how much of herself she shared with the world. Be more like her, and less like shallow ‘celebrities’ who share every second of their lives online. Those who live by publicity are usually attacked by it in the end. Bleed talent, not ink or keystrokes.

It’s outstanding craft rather than direct suffering which creates memorable writing. Use boundaries to protect your wellbeing, and never share more than you can bear to see thrown back at you in spite. Modern media is cruel, and the vulnerable are the least able to defend themselves.

A notebook, pencil and pencil sharpener
Blog

Your Voice Matters

Christina Hollis


Writers live with the constant fear that there’s no such thing as originality anymore. How can there be anything left to say?

When I was first asked to write Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol for Pen and Sword Books, I wondered if there was anything novel to say on the subject of women fighting for the vote.

A Case Study

The subject has been covered in many ways, from the first-hand experience of E. Sylvia Pankhurst to a novel by Ken Follett. What could I add?

Front cover of Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol by Christina Hollis

The answer was my individual voice. I was born and brought up not far from the city of Bristol, and knew the area well. This made the research particularly meaningful.

Local friends and relatives had grandparents and great-grandparents who had passed down anecdotes. I spoke to people who had been helped by Ada Vachell’s Guild of the Brave Poor Things.

Although I was retelling stories that had been told before, I was using my unique voice. This is where human authors have the edge over AI. We can fill our work with real-life experience. Our voice gives perspective to emotions and scenes. Insight and first-hand experience makes a more satisfying read than shallow novelty.

The Old, Old Story

It’s widely agreed that there are only a limited number of plot lines. Christopher Booker’s Seven Basic Plots is one of the best illustrations of this. He lists Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, The Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth. I’ve never managed to find a story that doesn’t fall into at least one of those categories.

A story can be retold any number of times without growing old. Look at the basic plot of Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai. It’s been retold many times and in many different ways, most memorably as The Magnificent Seven and A Bug’s Life. There’s nothing new under the sun, as they say!

An Author’s Perk

In case you need some extra excitement in your life today, here’s a film clip to illustrate my point. It’s Seiji Miyaguchi playing Kyūzō, one of The Seven Samurai. This character (the best-dressed one in this clip) was based on real-life, unbeatable samurai Miyamoto Musashi. Fun fact: the equivalent character in The Magnificent Seven was played by James Coburn.

You really need to watch the whole of The Seven Samurai as the duel scene is beautifully set up over some minutes, and this clip doesn’t do it justice. Basically Kyūzō – a man of very few words – has repeatedly made it clear he won’t fight, because there’s no point.

Some people just can’t take a hint…

The moral is, always trust your talent as a writer. Believe that you have a unique story to tell. Never compare yourself to other writers, and don’t try to write like them.

Above all, don’t be distracted by what other writers say on social media. It’s a wonderful time-suck, but some of it is fibs, exaggeration, or window-dressing. It’s only the writing that matters.

Here at Tottering Towers there are lots of catkins dancing in the breeze, and the apricot will soon be in flower. While catkins and flowers are lovely, it’s the hazelnuts and apricots that I’m interested in. Fruit is more important than flowers, in the same way that I find producing a piece of writing more satisfying than scheduling the social media posts to publicise it.

Apricot flowers in greenhouse

You owe it to yourself to tell your story. Make 2026 the year you pour your creativity into something that only you can write.

Sleeping tabby and white kitten
Blog, Wellbeing

Rest And Be Thankful

Christina Hollis
Beautiful Scottish mountain landscape from https://www.seelochlomond.co.uk/discover/rest-and-be-thankful.

There is a viewpoint on a high mountain pass in Scotland called Rest And Be Thankful.

Generations of people on foot have done exactly that, although the long haul uphill is now more likely to be made by car or tourist coach.

Only locals and dedicated walkers are likely to make the trip on foot. For them, this resting place really deserves its name.

It’s easy to feel down in the dumps during the first weeks of January. Nights are long, and the days are still short. There’s an old saying: as the days lengthen, so the cold strengthens. I’m tempted into comfort eating warming stews (and the remaining Christmas chocolate!), which doesn’t help my perpetual resolution to lose weight. If that wasn’t bad enough, the house looks so bare now the Christmas decorations have been packed away.

Under Pressure

The pressure is on us all to be productive. We’re supposed to make more widgets, grow more food, fill in more forms, and the list of household chores is on an endless loop. Not even the media’s beloved influencers are free from pressure and stress. If they aren’t online day and night, somebody else will be stealing their followers. If one of their own fans goes rogue, they’ll be seen as a bad influencer. They can’t win.

As a full-time writer, I’ve got the perfect job but burnout is a problem. Living in the heads of my characters while I write their stories is an all-consuming passion. When a book is finished, there’s the pressure to turn in edits, check proofs, and hit deadlines. This creates a different kind of stress.

When publication day arrives and the book has to be promoted and marketed, I realise writing fiction is the easy part.

Refilling the Well

Much as I love going to events and posting on social media, there comes a point when I have to call a halt. My poor brain won’t take any more. That’s when I need to spend time “refilling the well”. I get outside and walk, or choose books to read for enjoyment rather than research. During winter one of my favourite relaxations is sitting in front of the fire, watching the logs burn and the embers glow. It’s downtime for my brain, and it costs nothing.

Rest, and Be Thankful

Kitten sleeping, photo by Image by Jon Pauling via Pixabay
Sleeping Kitten by Jon Pauling, via Pixabay

We’re around half-way through January. Struggling through two weeks of winter weather while trying to keep our resolutions is hard work. I vote we allow ourselves one guilt-free session of rest and recuperation!

No pedometers or to-do lists are allowed – instead, let’s all spend at least ten minutes doing nothing. Cat-napping, daydreaming, or reading something simply for pleasure. Opening a window or going outside to take five slow, steady breaths of fresh air can be enough. Feel your shoulders drop and your neck muscles soften.

Rest, and be thankful this week – if only for a few moments.

cyclamen hederifolium flowers
Motivation

Small Things Can Change The World

Christina Hollis

If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room – Anita Roddick

Early One Morning…

At four am today, I found out how right Anita Roddick was. Small things really can change my world. I woke up to hear the unmistakeable sound of a dripping tap.

The bathroom is a good seven metres away. I was due to get up in under an hour, as I had bread to bake. Nothing terrible would happen if I didn’t turn that tap off, so I tried to get back to sleep.

Ten minutes later, I got up. I had to, because I was wide awake. That quiet drip-drip-dripping hammered on my eardrums until I couldn’t stand it any more. My rude awakening made me stomp round the house like a bear with….sore ears, but it didn’t take me long to decide my extra-early alarm call had some advantages.

The bread was baked early, and made the house smell amazing. It’s going to be eaten with soup for tea this evening, which is something to look forward to. We’re all told to eat minimally- processed food, and this bread is made from only four ingredients. They are sourdough starter, organic flour, water, and a pinch of salt.

Small things…

There were other advantages to The Affair of the Dripping Tap. All my chores were done nearly an hour early. It meant there was time on the first dog-walk of the day for litter-picking. That will make walking in the woods a more pleasant experience for other dog-walkers, and tourists, today.

Baking the bread saved me driving all the way to the shops (which nearly always tempts me into impulse buying, and its excess packaging). This sourdough should also be better for us than commercially-produced white sliced bread-depending on how much butter and jam goes on top!

Making my own bread has an impact on my life out of all proportion to the time it takes, or its cost. When we look at the state of the world it’s only too easy to feel downhearted. We’re tiny cogs circulating inside the enormous machine called daily life. It’s easy to think our individual New Year Resolutions mean nothing in the grand scheme of things, but that is confusing scale with impact.

…Can Change The World

The world isn’t only shaped by grand gestures. The effects of many small acts added together makes a difference, too.

Making bread has been great for my mental health. Kneading dough lets me take out any frustrations while giving my arm-muscles a workout. There’s plenty of time for reflection, too (you can read about some of my bread-making exploits here and here).

cyclamen hederifolium flowers

A few years ago I sowed six hardy cyclamen seed. They grew, flowered and set seeds, which are spread by ants who love their sticky covering. Descendants of those plants now crop up all over the place. They produce hundreds of beautiful flowers in autumn, and sheets of decorative leaves through the winter – and it all started with six small seeds.

…And if everyone was to pick up just one piece of litter, the world would soon be tidy. It would happen even faster if we all vowed to never to drop another piece of garbage…

Action for Happiness is a charity promoting a happier, more caring society. Here are their ideas for January – let me know how many you’d like to try!