Category: Ebook

book, Ebook, Giveaway, Goodreads Giveaways, Heart Of A Hostage, Princes Of Kharova, Promotion, Review, The Wild Rose Press

Heart Of A Hostage—Three Chances Of Winning A Free Book!

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myBook.to/HeartOfAHostage
Find out more here 
How would you like to win a copy of my new book? The 4th December sees the launch of my next book, Heart Of A Hostage. To be in with a chance to win an advance copy of the ebook, or one of two signed paperbacks, read on…
Heart Of A Hostage is the third book in my Princes Of Kharova series for The Wild Rose Press. The ruling family of Kharova has already been rocked by abdication, riot and revolt in the first two romantic novels in the series. His Majesty’s Secret Passion was the story of how businesswoman Sara turned King Leo’s life upside down, while he changed her future. Her Royal Risk pitted perfect personal assistant Krisia against career soldier Prince Athan, while Heart Of A Hostage gives  Leo and Athan’s younger sister Princess Maia a chance to shine. You can find out more about all three books at http://bit.ly/1GEkZkJ.  

I’m running a Goodreads Giveaway for two signed paperback copies of Heart Of A Hostage right now, over at http://bit.ly/1T2SK0w. My previous book, Her Royal Risk, ended with rebels disrupting the King of Kharova’s coronation. Princess Maia is taken hostage after the celebrations. Hidden away in the rebel stronghold of Castle Dukagjini, she gets the better of her captor after discovering his terrible secret—and discovers a lot about the nature of independence, too.


You can find out more from The Wild Rose Press.

Meanwhile, here’s a little taster..

She couldn’t pull back. Mihail was crossing more lines than she could count, and his deadly smile was a reminder of exactly how much trouble she was in…

…and there’s a longer extract from Heart Of A Hostage here.
I’m also running a separate draw for readers of this blog. The prize is a pdf copy of Heart Of A Hostage. Just post a comment here, and I’ll announce the winner next Friday, 27th November. 

Good luck!
Christina Hollis author, Ebook, historical romance, Lady Rascal

Writing The Next Big Thing…

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Gwen Kirkwood, who you can meet at http://www.gwenkirkwood.blogspot.co.uk is the author of Another Home, Another Love and has kindly invited me to take part in a blog event entitled THE NEXT BIG THING – a series of questions and answers about what is happening in my writing life.

What is the title of your book? 
My current release is called Lady Rascal, because my starving heroine Madeleine makes the most of being mistaken for someone – and something!- she’s not.

How did you come by the idea? 
At the time I was studying The Age of Enlightenment with the Open University, and to be honest I was finding the work a bit dry. I wrote Lady Rascal as a welcome escape from philosophy, and into romance. 

What genre does your book fall under? 
It’s an historical romance, set in France and England just before the Regency period. 

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Madeleine’s new happiness is threatened by a terrible secret that torments her dashing rescuer, Philip.

Is your book self-published or traditional? Lady Rascal originally appeared in both hardback and paperback versions for the Harlequin Mills and Boon Masquerade line. I’m releasing it now as an ebook on all platforms, so it’s available everywhere – from Amazon, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, and Waterstones, etc.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? About five months on and off, as I was working full-time in journalism at the time.

Who or What inspired you to write this book? 
I wanted to invent opportunities for my poverty-stricken heroine Madeleine in a period when anything seemed possible, before the Reign of Terror took hold in her native country.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
You can watch a book trailer for Lady Rascal here: http://bit.ly/STCfUy which gives a glimpse of the images behind the story. Hero Phillip thinks he is whisking Madeleine off to the safety of the English countryside, but soon discovers first impressions can be deceptive.

I hope you enjoy Lady Rascal, and my thanks go to Gwen Kirkwood for giving me the chance to take part in “The Next Big Thing”. There’s a signed book from my backlist on offer to a comment here picked at random.

Margaret Mayo has kindly agreed to pick up THE NEXT BIG THING baton at http://www.margaret-mayo.com/blog/ next Tuesday, 4th December. Thank you, Margaret!
Christina Hollis, Ebook, historical romance, Lady Rascal, Spirit

A Touch of Historical Romance…

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The extract from my current Work In Progress, Spirit, provoked such a lot of interest I thought I’d follow it up with a snippet from my most recent ebook, Lady Rascal. This book originally appeared as a hardback and paperback, but it was sold only in the UK. Now it’s available worldwide, downloadable from Amazon (Kindle), iTunes, Barnes and Noble (Nook) and loads of other ebook suppliers, too.
Lady Rascal is set in the summer of 1789, at the beginning of the French Revolution. As Paris descends into chaos, poverty-stricken Madeleine finds herself in a deserted Parisian dressmaker’s shop. She grabs the chance to dress up in the glamorous accessories and impractical shoes she has only been able to dream about until now…

 Madeleine suddenly saw something she couldn’t live without a moment longer. Picking up one of the candles, she took three wobbling steps out from behind the safety of the counter. Balancing precariously in front of a long mirror, she took down the wisp of gossamer that hung beside it.

It was a shift of some description, needing only the hem to be finished. But what a shift! Almost transparent, the fine fabric rippled through Madeleine’s gloved fingers like water. It was all she needed to complete her outfit.
In a moment her work dress of coarse brown stuff had been cast aside. It took her a few minutes to work out how to get into the shift, which had no fastenings but pulled on over her head. At last she managed, arranging the folds of fabric about her painfully thin body.
It clung to her like pale mist, flowing with every movement and making graceful her stumbling steps in the borrowed shoes. She was entranced, and so beguiled that the running footsteps outside went unnoticed. Only when a foreign voice called out very close at hand did she jump out of her dream.
Then panic turned her to water. To be found here, dressed like this would be certain death. Like an idiot she had not thought to douse the candles, and now it was too late.
The door flew and a large shadow rippled through the shop towards her.
With a scream Madeleine dropped the candle she held…

Spirit and Lady Rascal are very different in both content and style. If you’ve read both, I’d love to know what you think of the contrast!
Christina Hollis, Ebook, Mark Coker, Publishing, Smashwords

Smashwords: The Future of Ebook Publishing at RWA 2012

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Here’s a fascinating insight into the present and future of publishing by Mark Coker of Smashwords: Smashwords: The Future of Ebook Publishing at RWA 2012
At first glance, there’s no limit to how much the self-published ebook author gains from this bright new dawn. The route to conventional publication is tough, and prone to detours and roadblocks. Cut out the middle men (and women), publish your own work and you’ll bypass a lot of heartbreak.

On the other hand there is an unpleasant truth that must be faced. Conventional publishers have many reasons for turning down books, and one of them is quality control. Russell Lynes, one time editor of Harper’s Magazine said: “Every journalist has a novel inside him, which is an excellent place for it.” The rush to publish isn’t necessarily good, or advisable. Victoria Beckham or Prince William could easily become million sellers overnight with self pubbed editions of “What I Did On My Holidays”, but it would be an awful lot harder to shift many copies with that title if the author didn’t have either a glamourous media image, a title, or both.

And another thing. Despite the explosion in titles on the market surely the number of readers worldwide must remain pretty constant. Once the initial thrill of the new technology has worn off and everyone who’s likely to buy an ereader has one, maybe the market will settle down – and that’s before we get around to pricing. There’s an old saying: “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?” There are thousands of books on the internet downloadable for free, whether legally or illegally. The relentless driving down of prices is good for the reader, but not so good for the author and disastrous for small independent booksellers.

It’s good to see authors taking the initiative, but how long can these trends continue?