Category: Blog

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.

Blog, Facebook

Fed Up With Facebook

Christina Hollis

I’m fed up with Facebook – or at least, with the enormous number of spam messages I’m receiving on my Author page.

I used to love posting on both my Personal and my Author pages. I was linked with lots of other writers and small business, both in my local area and beyond. Then a while ago, everything changed.

My posts began to attract a huge number of comments, and it wasn’t only the most recent posts. Comments were being made on items that were many years old.

Normally a flood of interest is a great thing, and I love hearing from readers. Sadly, these comments were different. Almost all were almost impossible to understand – as though English was not simply the the poster’s second language, but their fourth or fifth. Of the comments I could understand, many were pornographic. The rest were offering to post a review my work, which they said they loved reading – although they wanted me to tell them what the title of the book was, together with my name!

Fed Up With Facebook

I investigated my settings, and altered them as best I could. I can hardly block the country which generates 90% of the torrent, as some of my genuine readers would be excluded. These rogue accounts are all in different names, so if I blocked each one I would do nothing else for 168 hours per week, every week.

I tried to find a way to complain to Facebook (with no luck). In the end, I altered my out of office message from: I’m away from my desk at the moment. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can to: I have had so much disturbing spam on this account, I no longer check this inbox. If you are a decent person, please contact me through my other online channels. Thank you.

That has cut the flow down to only about a dozen unwanted messages a day–which is an improvement, believe me. I purposely didn’t include my email address or other page links in this new out of office message. That way, only people who are interested enough in me and my work to search out my details will get in contact.

So far, I’ve not had one single person contact me to say I’m emailing you because I saw your message on Facebook.

As I said earlier, I used to love making contact with people on Facebook. Now I rarely visit my personal page, and really have to steel myself to face all the unwanted messages to my Author Page. I really regret the loss of contact.

Have you had a similar problem? If you managed to fix it, please let me know in the comments below!

To Find Out More…

…about me, click here. To buy my latest book, Royal Hostage, click here, and to receive my monthly newsletter, click here.

white ceramic teacup with saucer near two books above gray floral textile
Blog, Happiness

Romance and Reading Resolutions

Christina Hollis

I’m combining romance and reading resolutions in this week’s blog.

Have you tried the Action for Happiness project I wrote about here? Their suggestion for Monday the sixth worked well for me. It was a dismal day weather-wise, and if that wasn’t bad enough the house had that particularly bare look that comes when the Christmas decorations have been taken down.

Then I checked the Action for Happiness Calendar (you can find it here). It said take five minutes to sit still and just breathe.  That in itself was really relaxing, and it made me happy in another way, too. Every year, I plant bowls of hyacinth bulbs for forcing into flower over the holiday season. Every year in the past, they have either flowered in early December or early January – never on the intended days.

A Holiday Double

In 2024, for the first time ever, we had a bowl of pink hyacinths in bloom on Christmas Day. In a stunning double, a bowl of yellow hyacinths were just coming into flower for New Year’s Day, and there were five spikes looking like this last Monday. It was a real pleasure to spend those five minutes looking at this, and breathing in the lovely fragrance of hyacinths

This week, I’m using the Action for Happiness calendar as a springboard to find other ways of brightening up my life. My first four suggestions are below. I’m including a suitable book with each of them, because reading is an affordable route to happiness everyone can take.

Make The Most Of Every Day

It can’t be a coincidence that the word present means both a gift, and the period of time that separates the past from the future. Each morning offers us a fresh start, so take a moment to learn from yesterday, and then leave tomorrow to worry about itself for a while. Try and concentrate on the here and now.

I wrote here about wanting to read more books which showcase older heroines, and One Day in Summer by Shari Low fits the bill perfectly.  For years, Agnetha devoted herself to caring first for her children and later, her ageing parents. At forty-five, she is now finally free to concentrate on herself.  This story takes place over the course of a day, and shows how life can change in an instant. Shari Low brings a great collection of characters to life, and spins a tale where grief and the lasting pain of betrayal is contrasted with love and joy.

Book cover of Shari Low's book One Day In Summer. Pale blue background with summer flowers, strawberries and butterflies.

Make Time For Yourself

When the weather is good, I love working in the garden. That’s my “me” time. Seeing my family eat the fruit and vegetables I grow gives me a real sense of achievement, as well as pleasure. I also try and meditate every day. It’s something I’ve been doing since lockdown, with mixed success. It definitely helps me unwind, but my mind often feels like a box full of butterflies.

I have mixed feelings about the book Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s a fascinating read, and there’s no doubt her journey of self-discovery inspires strong feelings. It offers a glimpse of what an American woman is supposed to view as success. Liz Gilbert took making time for herself to the ultimate level. She walked away from her marriage and travelled the world to try and fill the emptiness she felt inside. This book is literary Marmite – in other words, you’ll either love it, or hate it. There is no middle way, but it does show that healing comes in many forms. The rainbow of escape stretches all the way from the innocuous taking time out for five minutes, to a self-indulgent crock of something – but is it gold? 

Book cover of Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray Love, with the title made from pasta, beads and flower petals

Escape With Romance

Reading is the perfect escape from winter. It’s even better if you can lose yourself in a book while curled up beside a lovely log fire, cat on lap, tea and cake to hand (Thinks: I wonder if this is why I haven’t lost any weight yet, despite my New Year’s Resolution?)

One Day in December by Josie Silver  is a romantic tale spanning years. Heroine Laurie doesn’t believe in love at first sight – until it hits her straight between the eyes. She spends months looking out for a man she spotted through a misty bus window. When they finally meet face-to-face, it’s when Laurie’s best friend introduces the mystery man as Jack, her new boyfriend. Laurie has just missed the bus, you might say. What follows is years of friendship, and missed opportunities woven into a moving love story.

Cartoon of couple kissing in a snow flurry, beneath a streetlamp.

Take A Mini Break

Obviously, if you’re one of the lucky few who can drop everything and fly off on an exotic holiday at  moment’s notice, that’s the perfect way to recharge your batteries. For the rest of us, a change in our routine can make all the difference. Pack a lunch to eat in the park instead of at home, or in your workplace. It makes a huge difference. I didn’t realise how close I was to burnout until I ate my sandwiches in the park one day, instead of at my desk. I felt so much better after spending my lunch break out in the open air, I decided to do it as often as I could.

If you are short of time or money, reading is the perfect escape. My own book, Royal Passion, whisks readers away to a glorious Greek island where a troubled king is trying to hide his identity, and an executive with burnout is about to discover she hasn’t been given the promotion she deserves. Both Leo and Sara are damaged and disillusioned, but love, as we all know, makes everything better. Drawn together despite their different circumstances, Leo and Sara face being torn apart by disaster. Will their story end in tragedy? You can find out here.

Book Cover, Christina Hollis's Royal Passion. Romantic couple superimposed on a beautiful Grecian beach scene https://amzn.to/40s4IvN

Let me know what you think of these ideas, and my book choices. How are you getting on with the Action for Happiness Challenge?

To Find Out More…

…about me, click here. To buy my latest book, Royal Hostage, click here, and to receive my monthly newsletter, click here.