Category: Romance

Heart Of A Hostage, My Dream Guy, newsletter, Princes Of Kharova, Romance, short stories, The Wild Rose Press, Writing

This Writing Life—Cover Reveal for My Dream Guy…

Christina Hollis
myBook.to/MyDreamGuy
myBook.to/MyDreamGuy 
In my summer newsletter, I held a competition for readers to choose between potential covers for my next short story, My Dream Guy. The names of everyone who voted went into a draw to win a preview copy of my next short romance, My Dream Guy, and Emma’s name was first out of the hat. Here’s the cover my subscribers chose. What do you think? 

My Dream Guy is based on a holiday OH booked as a surprise when we hadn’t been together long. I really did not want to go. I was too busy at work, the weather had been foul for weeks and wasn’t forecast to get any better, while to cap it all, this was an outdoor activity holiday. I’d much rather sit in a wood than fly through it on a zip wire, but when you’re first in love, you don’t always say things like that out loud! I was all ready to be a martyr, but I got a big shock when I discovered my own dream guy had hidden depths… 

Emily gets a wake-up call too in my new story, My Dream Guy. The sparkle’s gone out of her relationship with Jack. She’s started hankering after the guy who was her first crush. Back then, Harri was a bronzed, twenty-something farmer who hardly paid any attention to the tongue-tied kid camping in his field with her family. Now Emily’s older, she’s thinks Harri the Hunk’s going to be the best thing about her dreaded holiday to a Welsh campsite, during the wettest summer on record. 
She’s in for an enormous shock—and then her boyfriend Jack springs an even bigger surprise. 
Can Emily’s holiday from hell ever have a happy ending?
There’ll be more about My Dream Guy in my autumn newsletter. That will have all sorts of news about life here at Tottering Towers, including the latest on Heart of A Hostage, the next book in my Princes Of Kharova series for The Wild Rose Press, an update on my bees and the kitchen garden harvest, together with a seasonal recipe, and a competition for subscribers only.
 My next newsletter will be out in the autumn. To get a copy, you can join my mailing list here: http://bit.ly/1eKihHg 

books, fiction, Heart Of A Hostage, Princes Of Kharova, Romance, The Wild Rose Press

This Writing Life—Heart Of A Hostage

Christina Hollis
Coming soon!

Here’s the newly-produced cover of my twentieth published novel. What do you think? Heart Of A Hostage is the third book in my Princes of Kharova series for the Wild Rose Press.

Mihail inherits a fearsome reputation as Public Enemy Number One. His family lost the throne of Kharova four generations ago—but in the small European country of Kharova, blood feuds last for centuries.

A car breaks down near his rebel headquarters, stranding its beautiful royal passenger. Mihail seizes the chance to take Princess Maia hostage. It’s his perfect short-cut to the throne—or so he thinks.

Maia turns out to be the house guest from hell, and Mihail is a man with dark secrets locked away in his ruined castle hideaway. When Maia discovers what they are, the stakes rise and an already dangerous situation becomes lethal…

There’s a big secret at the centre of Heart Of A Hostage, but I’m only revealing that to readers of my newsletter! The autumn edition will be coming out in October.  As well as a revelation about Heart Of A Hostage, my newsletter will  also contain details of my latest short story, My Dream Guy, together with a seasonal recipe, news about the harvest here at Tottering Towers, an update on my bees after their recent scare, and a competition. Sign up to my mailing list here to get a copy delivered straight to your inbox!

Ann Ankers, Christina Courtenay, Creative Writing, Fay Wentworth, Georgia Hill, Joanne Maitland, Marcher Chapter, Marilyn Rodwell, RNA, Romance, Top Tips

RNA Creative Writing Study Day, Hereford, 31st March 2014

Christina Hollis
Hard At Work…

In 2013, The Romantic Novelists’ Association announced a generous donation toward  all its local groups. I’m a member of the RNA’s Marcher Chapter, and we decided to put the money toward the hire of a room at The Courtyard, Hereford. The intention was to have a critique session. As it would be held so close to April 1st, the day was called  “Be A Fool For Love”.

The prospect of spending a whole day with like-minded people talking about writing was irresistible, but we wanted to show we’d taken the RNA’s  aims of promoting romantic fiction and encouraging good writing to heart. One month before the workshop, everyone emailed a ten-page sample of their current work in progress to organizer Ann Ankers. Ann collated them into a document which was then circulated among the group. The extracts were anonymous and we did a critique of every one, including our own. That way, we could make our comments without prejudice and still remain anonymous on the day.

Marilyn and Ann

Nobody likes the idea that their precious literary baby might be torn to shreds in a gladiatorial arena, so Historical novelist Joanna Maitland provided some invaluable advice beforehand. She advised that each critique should contain “three stars and a wish”–that is, highlight plenty of good points for every query or suggestion for improvement you make. This worked really well.

On the day, there were seven of us: Fay Wentworth, Georgia Hill, Christina Courtenay (fresh from winning the RNA’s Historical Novel of the Year Award for The Gilded Fan), Joanna Maitland, Marilyn Rodwell, me and organizer Ann Ankers. Ann also acted as our chairwoman and did an excellent job. She  kept the discussions moving, and made sure the day ran to schedule.

Fay, Georgia, Christina and Joanna

We were treated like royalty by the hardworking staff of The Courtyard. Regular refreshments (including delicious home-made biscuits) and a fantastic lunch was included in the price, and we worked so hard the time flew by. A photographer from Herefordshire and Wye Valley Life came to record the event. This was organised byChristina Courtenay. That gave me pause for thought. As I’d played an April Fool joke on my DD that morning, when a guy tapped at the door and asked for “Christina” I thought for an awful moment  DD had sent a male stripper  to our meeting as revenge. Thank goodness I was wrong!

We all had an amazing day. I learned a lot, and can’t wait until we can do it all again.

Have you attended a workshop? What was the most useful thing you learned?

Constantinople, Crusades, Harlequin Masquerade, Jewel Under Siege, Robert Curthose, Romance, The First Crusade

Work In Progress – Jewel Under Siege

Christina Hollis
Sunset Over The Golden Horn By Bertil Videt

Jewel Under Siege is a revised and updated ebook edition of a physical book I wrote for the Harlequin Masquerade line some time ago. At the time it was released as both a hardback and paperback under my pen name of Polly Forrester, but this is the first ebook edition. 

I’d done a lot of research for a non-fiction project on Robert Curthose, the eldest son of William the Conqueror. Robert was a charming, real-life hero. He never got to be king of England, but the major flaws in his character meant that was the best thing for all concerned! He went on the First Crusade in 1097, and I loved reading about the exotic settings. They sounded ideal as the backdrop to a romance. 

Constantinople (now known as Istanbul) grew up on the junction of the great trade routes between Europe, Asia and the Near East. In those days, anyone who travelled long distances went through it, particularly pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land. In a parallel with modern-day tourism, pilgrims and traders alike stopped off in the city and spent money. Trading links and networks were created, and gossip swapped (along with various exotic pests and diseases, of course). When roaming bands of Seljuk targeted the surrounding areas Alexius, the emperor of Constantinople, appealed to Pope Urban II for help. The Pope took the idea and ran with it, calling for all good Christians to go and secure Jerusalem. In no time at all the message turned into “Go abroad and kill foreigners” with the definition of the word “foreigner” being a pretty liquid concept. When waves of rag-tag travellers spoiling for a fight homed in on Constantinople, Emperor Alexius took fright and slammed the city gates in the faces of the people who supposed to be helping him. The people inside the city were scared, while the band of Crusaders were affronted at the horrible ingratitude of the people they had come to help. 

Imagine travelling thousands of miles on foot, in terrible conditions and subject to highway robbery every inch of the way, then discovering you’re not welcome. The Crusaders weren’t happy, and by the time Jewel Under Siege starts, they’re starving and dying, too.

Emil Selest hasn’t travelled half way across Europe to die outside some foreign city. He’s determined to get food, and help for little boy he’s rescued from the mob. But then an accident brings him face to face with a beautiful, wilful enemy…

Creative Writing, fiction, Heroines, Romance, Saga

Three Top Tips For Writing Heroines

Christina Hollis
Page URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AStipula_fountain_pen.jpgFile
By Antonio Litterio
The heroine of a romance or saga is a singular woman. She has to face conflicts and setbacks on the way to fulfilment without being ground down, or coming across as sickeningly perfect. When readers are asked why they love books, escapism always features highly. We all know how good it can be to get really wrapped up in a story. If your readers like your heroine, they’ll turn page after page to find out what happens to her. To make your heroine as irresistible to your readers as she is to your hero, keep these three points in mind…
LIKE HER: Half the fun of reading romance is in imagining yourself in the heroine’s shoes. Whether those are the clumpy brogues of a downtrodden Cinderella or the Manolo Blahniks of a top PA, we’ll love the woman who’s wearing them if we can recognise something of us within her. Put your heart into your heroine. Give her dreams that we can share – does she want to keep her family together and happy, despite disaster? Or does her cool sophistication hide her fear of rejection? Make her real, make her three-dimensional, and your readers will like her too, and want to find out more.
AGE MATTERS: It’s an inescapable fact that the majority of romance heroines are in their twenties. The reason for this is that as readers, it’s quite hard to “think ourselves older”. Many people start to read romances in their early teens. At that age, it’s not easy to imagine your way into the head of a middle-aged divorcee with five children. You’re more attracted to heroines who are at the start of their romantic adventures. As we grow older, we enjoy thinking back to what it was like to be innocent and in love for the first time, so the twenty-something heroine wins again.  
LET HER GROW: The most engaging heroines are those who develop during the course of their story. That doesn’t mean to say the love of a good hero has to change your central character from CEO of a multinational to a devoted housewife overnight (or vice versa). The realisation that forging a relationship doesn’t mean sacrificing your individuality is an equally valid character development. For decades, real-life women have been told they can have it all but it isn’t always easy to see how this can be made to happen. Fictional heroines can give their real-life counterparts insight into their own dilemmas – and of course everyone wants to believe in their own happy ever after.
Who is your favourite heroine?