Christina Hollis

Looking Forward To Those Long Hot Summer Days...

2012-02-05T03:33:00.000-08:00

Cheers!

...well, we can live in hope!
A while ago, I wondered aloud - or rather on line - about Limoncello. Julie Newberry heard my plea, and had been kind enough to send me this recipe. Here it is:

You'll need:
5 Unwaxed lemons
1 lire bottle of vodka
1lb 10oz caster sugar
1.5 pints boiling water

Use a potato peeler to thinly peel the lemons, trying not to include any pith. Put all the zest in a large jar and pour over the vodka, covering with a tightly done up lid. Now for the waiting game. You must put it in the fridge for a week, shaking the jar every day. After the week is over, put the sugar into a heatproof pan or bowl and pour over the boiling water, stirring until all the sugar is dissolved. Now add all the vodka & zest to the sugar water, stir in and when cool pour it into the jar again. Do up the lid. Now more waiting. Put it in the fridge for a further week, shaking it every day. After the week is up, strain the liquid into bottles, adding a few strips of lemon zest to each.
When completed, it will keep in the fridge for up to 3 months.

I'm currently trying this out, and wonder if it would work with orange or lime zest? I'll let you know how I get on!

Technology - How Do You Like Yours?

2012-01-27T23:44:00.000-08:00

My lovely NEO

Not many years ago, a writer's only real hopes of getting an audience outside their own little corner of the world was to either get their book taken up by a big publisher, win a competition or have their work accepted or reviewed by national magazines or newspapers.Things changed in a big way with the arrival of home computers. Now everyone can self-publish, and the Internet has opened up world-wide possibilities for getting your name and work in front of the public. There are all sorts of temptations, too. Who hasn't looked at the clock and gulped at the amount of time they've spent surfing on line? With everything from The Times to Lolcats just waiting to be explored, it's like having a whole sweetshop of treats at our fingertips. One of my New year Resolutions was to cut down on my non-work related computing time, but that's proved difficult to keep. It's so interesting to discover what other people are working on, or reading. Then I feel guilty for not taking part, so for example I've just loaded a few of my favourite books up onto my Goodreads page http://bit.ly/zGpWE9. Unfortunately as I'm not very computer savvy and resent toiling over inputting information when I could be writing, my online presence is rather patchy. I love Twitter, where I tweet as @christinabooks, but I'm not keen when sites want to burgle my email inbox for links. Call me suspicious, but I don't like the idea of a site keeping in contact with my computer even when I've logged out. That's why I use my Neo such a lot - all the benefits of a typewriter none of the distractions of a computer and work is easily transferred to my main computer. Then when the work's uploaded, it's back to Twitter and Skype for me!
What are your favourite ways of keeping in touch with your friends, indulging your interests and keeping up to speed with developments in your workplace?

Something Warm For A Cold Day

2012-01-23T11:06:00.000-08:00

Sourdough Starter

Proving Basket (Bakery Bits)

It's been a very mild start to the year. That's both a relief after last January's relentless snow, and a reminder that, for whatever reason, our seasons aren't as predictable as they once were. The weekend was grey and gritty, with ferocious winds. It was a good excuse to make soup, and that always cries out for something crisp and home-made to go with it. I decided on sourdough bread. The name isn't very attractive, but it's delicious and very filling. Making it is an easy, although longwinded, process. I have a sourdough culture of wild yeast I've kept going since last year, which gives the bread a unique flavour. To make two big loaves, last thing at night I put about a pound of bread-making flour in a big bowl, add a ladleful of my sourdough starter and about a pint of warm water. After stirring this together I cover the bowl with cling film and leave it overnight in the kitchen to start fermenting. Next morning it will have bubbled up, ready to have another one and a quarter pounds of bread making flour added, together with a couple of teaspoons of salt. My amounts are bit vague as all flours absorb different amounts of liquid. If you've made bread yourself, you'll know it's difficult to be precise! You want quite a soft, sticky dough to begin with. Knead it well for ten minutes (this is a good point to work off all those work-in-progress frustrations). Then persuade the dough back into the bowl, cover and leave it to rise for an hour. Tip it out, and using the minimum amount of flour that will stop the dough sticking to the table, knead it for a few more minutes. Cover and leave it to rise for another hour. Repeat this brief kneading and hour-long rising cycle twice more, then gently deflate the risen dough a final time and shape it into two or more loaves. These will be too soft to support their own weight so I put them in proving baskets (Bakery Bits online shop http://bit.ly/xGE5UJ will be the ruin of me!) for two or three hours, until the loaves have doubled in size. To cook the bread, I heat a heavy metal tray in the oven at maximum heat then, as fast as possible, ease the dough out of the baskets and onto the hot baking tray, give it quick spray of water, slash the tops and bake for ten minutes. Then I have a quick look at them - if they're still pale I turn the temperature down to 200 degrees Centigrade(170 degrees fan). If brown, the heat's reduced to 180 degrees Centigrade (160 degrees fan) and they're cooked for another 30 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the base. This bread has got enough character and flavour to be enjoyed as it is, but goes perfectly with soup and is even better spread with butter. Enjoy!

Today, Tomorrow, Next Week...

2012-01-15T21:59:00.000-08:00

Sixteen days into the New Year - how are you doing with those resolutions? They say if you can only keep up an improvement for forty days it becomes a habit, so we're nearly halfway to that milestone! I'm hoping it'll turn out to be true. Most of my good intentions have fallen by the wayside (how is it that every time I start dieting, I put on weight? It's so dispiriting, it sends me straight back to the chocolate). However, I have managed to keep two of them - to cut down on online surfing, and to try out a new recipe at least once a week.

My main time-suck online was dipping into the newspapers. That was taking up a lot of my valuable writing time each day, so ditching them has been really helpful. The only way I've managed to do it is to work mainly on my Neo, which is literally just a keyboard with a memory and no Internet access. I upload my work at the end of each day, and it's really gratifying to see how my work in progress is growing.

As for the recipes, that's going well too. Orsotto (risotto made with barley instead of rice) has become a new family favourite, and the new Christmas pudding recipe which uses crystallised ginger and pineapple was delicious - so much lighter than the normal stodgy pud, it deserves to be made more often than once a year. I love making jams, jellies and other preserves, so this week's novelty might be a new variation on the theme of marmalade.

How are you getting on?

Happy New Year Cake!

2011-12-31T01:02:00.000-08:00

I hope you are still enjoying the Holiday Season, and that you aren't completely worn out by it all yet. Just in case, here's a simple treat.

I've used the past couple of weeks to try out lots of new recipes on my family. The star of the show was undoubtedly this Chocolate Fruitcake, which I made to replace our traditional iced Christmas cake this year. It was originally a Women's Institute recipe, and I must admit I had my doubts before making it (chocolate and mincemeat?) but it's delicious. It is really easy to make, too, and doesn't need to be made in advance and matured so it would be good at any time. In fact, it was so popular we're having it again for our New Year celebrations! Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
5 oz (150g) soft margarine
5 oz (150g) soft brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
6.5 oz (185g) self-raising flour
1.5 oz (40g) cocoa powder
1lb jar (or 400g of home-made) top quality mincemeat
3 oz (80g) sultanas
3 oz (80g) raisins
2 oz (50g) blanched, chopped almonds
4 oz (100g) packet of chocolate dots

Line an 8-inch (20cm) cake tin with two layers of greaseproof paper/baking parchment and pre-heat the oven to GasMark 3/Electric 160 degrees C or equivalent fan temperature (generally around 145 degrees C)

Put the first five ingredients in a big mixing bowl and beat together for a couple of minutes until they're completely mixed. Then fold in the mincemeat, dried fruit, almonds and chocolate dots.

Spoon into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for around an hour and three quarters, or until a skewer pushed into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Check after it's been in the oven for about an hour, and if the top's browning too much, cover it with some foil.

When the cake is cooked, take it out of the oven and let it cool in its tin for a few minutes before turning it out on a wire rack to cool completely (if you can wait). You can ice it like a traditional Christmas cake or give it a simple chocolate icing, but the family verdict was that might make it a bit too rich.

Thanks to everyone who has commented on my blogs and blog tour, or written to me over the past year. I hope 2012 will be happy, healthy and very productive for you all!

The Party Starts Here!

2011-12-15T04:07:00.000-08:00

Long, long ago or so it seems, I started a Big Blog Tour to celebrate the release of my latest Modern Romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon Ltd - Weight of the Crown. A lot of sand has blown across the desert kingdom of Rosara since then, and I'd like to thank Nas Dean of Romance Book Paradise (http://nas-dean.blogspot.com/), all the kind hosts who have published my blogs and interviews, and everyone who has been kind enough to read and comment on my work, whether on my blog, by emailing me direct or by entering the competition on my website. Today's the day it all wraps up: everything closed at 12 noon GMT, so while you enjoy a virtual feast of Cyber champagne and mince pies around my Internet Christmas Tree and toast your toes at the roaring webcam log fire, I'm going to collate all the names and come up with the names of some winners.
Watch this space...
(Much mince pie munching later....Congratulations to Sonali, who won first prize and LibraryPat, whose name was second out of the hat. If you could both email me at christinahollis at hotmail.co.uk (removing the gaps and replacing 'at' with @) with your snail mail addresses, I'll get your prizes in the post asap.
Thanks again to Nas for organising everything, to everyone who said such lovely things about Weight of the Crown, and to all of you who commented on my Big Blog Tour, whether online or privately. Happy Holidays, everyone!

H.E. BATES - MY KIND OF WRITER...

2011-12-12T08:34:00.000-08:00

I’ve been writing all my life, and my inspiration comes from many different sources. My father was a great countryman, and he introduced me to the descriptive prose of H.E.Bates. There was always a book or two of his about the place. As Dad was a great one for reading aloud, over the years our family must have heard almost everything Bates ever wrote. He was writing fifty years or so ago, and his use of language can feel a bit dated now but his themes are constant. His short stories are often bittersweet, focussing on ordinary people whose futures seem bleak and limited. A common theme is someone’s silent dilemma: they are worrying while all around them life goes on cheerfully. The First Day of Christmas, for example, focusses on a man who has taken refuge in a pub after a lovers’ quarrel, and faces up to some hard thinking while his companions are dabbling in celebrations.

Thanks to film and TV adaptations, the five novels H.E.Bates wrote about the Larkin family are some of his best known work. The Darling Buds Of May, A Breath of French Air, When the Greenwoods Laugh, Oh! To Be In England and A Little of What You Fancy are set in the years after the Second World War but with Pa to duck and dive and Ma to cook, they are full of fun and feasts. Now foreign holidays and fast food have taken the place of fruit picking and home cooking, that way of life has practically disappeared. I can just about remember country living being as the Larkins knew it, but my children look on those stories as something from a different world!

My favourite work by H.E. Bates isn’t actually fiction at all, but his garden writing. A Fountain of Flowers and A Love of Flowers in particular are two wonderful books, full of his keen observation and humour. His writing makes plants interesting in a way few others can. I could never see the attraction of one particular tree until I read his description of it in flower. He thought its white bracts looked like a flock of white doves - what’s not to love about that? And he’s dead right when he says tulips are always doomed to be “Very expensive mouse food”! I tried to collect all the plants H. E. Bates recommended in my own garden, but I suffered from the same problem he had - the dead hand that steals away treasures the moment your back is turned. “I had them all,” he sighs after listing a lovely range of plants, “but I do not have them now.” Celebrity horticulturalists on TV never own up to their failures, but every keen gardener recognises the resignation behind the words of H.E.Bates!

"A garden should be in a constant state of fluid change, expansion, experiment, adventure; above all it should be an inquisitive, loving, but self-critical journey on the part of its owner."

This could equally apply to writing. A writer can put anything down as a first draft, simply to disrupt the cruel white plane of an empty page. The care taken to design, mould and perfect a piece of work through many drafts can be seen as similar toil to building a garden. Writers and gardeners enjoy the same sense of satisfaction - a job well done is always worth celebrating.

Have Yourself a Berry Little Christmas...

2011-12-05T03:13:00.000-08:00

This may be the only holly we will have to decorate our house this year, as the birds in our garden have been eating all those juicy berries as fast as they ripen. Unusually, they stripped our yellow-berried holly tree first. Normally, the traditional red berries go first. The yellow ones must have been tastier!
I've had some very welcome news this week. My latest book for Harlequin Mills and Boon has been accepted, and it will be published in the summer of 2012. I'll let you have all the details as soon as I can, but for the moment I can tell you that it will be called The Count's Prize.
My Big Blog Tour for Weight of the Crown has given me a great chance to chat to readers and writers alike. Everyone who has posted a comment will be included in the wrap party draw on December 15th, so drop by to share a virtual mince pie. If you haven't had a chance to call in on any of the various blogs yet, you can catch up on the remaining few dates: see http://rbpp-ch.blogspot.com/

Some Good News on A Dark Day...

2011-11-20T09:40:00.000-08:00

It's been a real, old fashioned November day today, murky and damp. I'm still struggling to shake off a horrible virus, and was in two minds whether or not to go to church today. I compromised and took the car (which I hate) instead of walking (which I love). I've missed the past couple of weeks, so I didn't realise that today we had a baptism. It was lovely - the church was packed, and there were lots of children, which makes a welcome change. The little boy who was Christened was very good, considering how strange it must have been for a two-year-old. His extended family seemed to enjoy themselves - fingers crossed we see some of them again, sometime!
My other bit of good news is that I've had another story accepted by Harlequin Mills and Boon. Details still need to be finalised, but Dario and Josie's story will be appearing in 2012. Watch this space for details!
Finally, news of my Big Blog Tour. I'm blogging here at the moment http://nas-dean.blogspot.com/ and for details of my next appearances with the free book offers etc, check here http://rbpp-ch.blogspot.com/

The Nights Are Drawing In...

2011-11-02T07:39:00.000-07:00

The clocks went back last weekend. That means everyone in the UK got an extra hour in bed on Sunday morning, which was good news. The bad news is that it now gets dark just after tea, and there's a definite nip in the air. That's a good reason to stock up with plenty of nibbles and settle down to some quality reading and writing time. I was snowed in for days on end during the early part of this year, and that's when I worked on my latest release for Harlequin Mills and Boon. Weight of the Crown is set in a hot, exotic fictional country. It was wonderful to have the best of both worlds while the weather was bad. I could enjoy the snow with my family until it got too cold and wet, then scurry inside to curl up beside the fire with either my trusty Neo or good old pencil and paper. It was a lovely indulgence to spend time writing about a land where the air was perfumed with roses and the sun was warm.You can read more about Weight of the Crown on my website, http://www.christinahollis.com and check on the progress of my Big Blog Tour here: http://rbpp-ch.blogspot.com/

BUSY AS A BEE...

2011-10-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

It's been a hectic few days. I've hardly had time to catch my breath since my latest Modern Romance for Mills and Boon, Weight of the Crown, was released in the UK. Thank you to everyone who has sent lovely comments to me via my website, http://www.christinahollis.com, direct by emailing me at christinahollis@hotmail.co.uk, or by commenting on one of the blogs I've posted as part of my Big Blog Tour. This has been my first experience of serial blogging, and it's been great. I've learned so much from people who have been kind enough to leave comments: from scrummy recipes to being directed toward some wonderful crafting sites on the Internet.

If you'd like to take part in the fun, you can catch up by checking the sidebar on my dedicated Weight of the Crown blog tour site, http://rbpp-ch.blogspot.com/ where you'll see all the dates and venues.

To whet your appetite, over the next few days I'm appearing with Kylie Griffin at http://kyliegriffinromance.blogspot.com/ on Monday 24th, then I'm being interviewed by Zana at LoveCats DownUnder http://lovecatsdownunder.blogspot.com/ on Wednesday 26th (because of time differences that'll appear a day earlier for those of us Up North) and I'm there to on Sunday 30th October for the deliciously named LoveCats Sunday Smooch! There, I'll be talking about - among other things - Lysander and Alyssa's first kiss in Weight of the Crown. I'd love you to drop by all of these sites and have your say - there'll be signed copies from my backlist for a comment picked at random from each one.

Focus on...Rachel Leigh

2011-10-07T01:41:00.000-07:00

Today I'm delighted to welcome UK author Rachel Leigh, who is giving us the low-down on her latest release Coming Back.

The story behind the story…

When people ask writers where they get their ideas from, more often than not we have no clue – or is that just me? Having said that, I know where the idea for my latest release started at least. “Coming Back” came from a snippet of dialogue I heard in my head while ironing – I kid you not.

I was watching the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy when I heard someone say “I am going celibate until I find love. End of.” I knew whoever said it was young from the phrasing and I knew from her tone of voice she was struggling to be heard. Someone was either making fun of her or at least taking her claim with a note of derision.

That’s how a lot of stories start for me. I usually get to hear a character’s voice in my head either telling me their problem, or what they want or, like the character who eventually became Kelly Hampton, wanting to start a new phase in their lives.

Storytelling is about a journey, a protagonist’s change as they work through problems and obstacles, and in romance, finding a love that will last the rest of their lives. I love my job and hope I can do it forever.

Excerpt from “Coming Back”

Kelly Hampton looked along the line of faces sitting at her bar, her body humming with frustration. “What? I mean it.”

Silence.

Narrowing her eyes, she planted her fists on her hips and waited. So she’d lived in Jessop Hill, a sleepy town in rural England, all her life. So these men looking at her with such reservation might have known her since she was an eight-year-old kid running around the fields, climbing trees with muddy knees and scraped elbows…didn’t mean they knew her, right? Twenty years on, Kelly owned the bar they needed more than their beds, so they better listen up before she kicked them out on their asses.

“No more sex,” she said. “Nada. I will be celibate for the foreseeable future and that’s final.”

Another long moment passed, the only sound in the bar was Bryan Adams rasping about heaven and wanting nothing else but his baby - before Len, Kelly’s surrogate father and general all-round protector, picked up his pint of beer and sniffed.

“Yeah, right.”

Like the ‘joined-at-the hip’ drinking buddies they were, the four regulars looked at each other before emitting a barrage of dismissive male laughter.

“Fine.” Kelly slapped a cloth up and down a two feet space of the bar. “I’ll show you. I’ll show all of you. I’ve had enough with the wasters and idiots who want nothing more than to cop a feel. From now on, it’s commitment or nothin. Either they want a lasting relationship or they’re out. No negotiation.”

http://www.wilderroses.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=86&products_id=837

Bio

Rachel Leigh lives in the UK and is married to her own sexy hero. With two erotic romance novellas published and numerous short stories in UK national magazines, Rachel loves her job. Her next novella is about two Brits living in Greece…where things get hot, hot, hot!

When she isn’t writing, you can find her reading, watching American TV dramas. running around after her two daughters….or playing with her husband.

Thanks for blogging today, Rachel, and best of luck with Coming Back.

Congratulations!

2011-09-25T00:51:00.000-07:00

...to Lorraine Nelson, who won a copy of my latest release Weight of the Crown on Ju Dimello's delightful Of Dreams and Realities website.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my interview, it was great as always to hear from you. The next spot on my blog tour is on 28th September, when I'll be at http://christinenolfibooks.blogspot.com/.I'm looking forward to meeting you all there, and don't forget - comment on every one of the remaining blogs on my tour, and you'll be entered in the draw for my Grand Christmas Stocking Prize. You can find a list of dates on my Romance Book Paradise author page http://rbpp-ch.blogspot.com/ or click on the Blog Tour link on my archive in the right hand sidebar of this page.

Focus On...Patricia Fry

2011-09-15T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today's guest is dedicated writer, publishing guru, and Executive Director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) Patricia Fry. Welcome, Patricia!

I’ve been hanging out in the world of writing and publishing since 1973 when I submitted my first magazine article. That article was accepted as was the first book I wrote, “Hints for the Backyard Rider.”

I wrote for publication for many years before ever meeting another career writer or author. Now just about everyone I know writes to be published. I separate authors into two categories: those who, like me, can’t not write (I call us Writing Fools) and those who simply have one concept, story or theme they want to share. I consider them One Book Blasters. Those who write for the love of writing may produce books in many genres and categories, which was my mode of operation for many years. Of course, I wrote on subjects that were close to my heart—horse care, long-distance grandparenting, youth mentoring, cats, how to present a Hawaiian luau, the history of my home town and journal-keeping for teens, for example. I also penned a situational memoir during the late 1980s. And I established my own publishing company in 1983, before it was fashionable or even convenient to do so.

I’ve observed many changes over the years. I wrote my first book on a manual typewriter. Those of you who were born post 1975/80 have no idea how cumbersome the process of writing was. You would handwrite and then type your manuscript. Then you would make corrections by hand and retype it again and again and again. And when you submitted something, you did it by regular mail after which you waited and waited and waited for a response. Now you might receive an acceptance or a rejection within minutes of typing “send.” And if there are any revisions needed, you can complete them with relative ease.

About twenty years ago, I finally caved in and accepted my first client. I set my own writing projects aside in order to work with an author whose book needed editing and who needed guidance in how to proceed through the publishing maze. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with many, many authors since. And one way I contribute to the success of other authors is through my books on publishing and book promotion. It’s obvious that some aspects of writing and publishing are definitely simplified compared to the earlier models. However, the fact that it’s easier to produce manuscripts has created challenges of a different kind. The competition for a publisher as well as for readers is more fierce than ever before. The options for authors are more numerous than ever. And the responsibilities of published authors are greater. As a result, publishing just isn’t as straightforward as it once was.

The thing is, without an understanding of the publishing industry, your options, the possible consequences of your choices and your responsibilities as a published author, you will not survive in this business. My goal is to educate authors and provide the information and resources they need in order to make the best decisions on behalf of their particular books.

Allworth Press recently released my latest book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. This book is designed to help the new, the struggling and the veteran author to devise a more sensible, workable marketing plan for his or her book. It pleases me to come to the point in my career where I can give back. Heaven knows that I have been blessed to be able to establish a career doing what I love most and rely on it to support me for all of these years.

Patricia Fry is the executive director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) http://www.spawn.org. She is also the author of 34 books, most of them related to publishing and book promotion. Learn more about Patricia and her work at http://www.patriciafry.com and http://www.matilijapress.com. Check out “Promote Your Book” at http://amzn.to/oe56Ia

Thank you for such an interesting blog, and for so kindly re-scheduling your blog, Patricia!

The Weight of the Crown Blog Tour Starts Here!

2011-09-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

This is a very exciting week for me. My latest Modern Romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon, Weight of the Crown, is released in the UK. To celebrate, I'm starting a blog tour on 13th September. Lots of kind hosts have agreed to let me blog on their websites, and I'm really looking forward to it. If you'd like to follow me as I surf the cloud, here's a list of dates and places:

The Words Behind the Writer	14th	Sep
Ju Dimello-of Deams & Realities	19th	Sep
Christine Nolfi	28th	Sep
Seven Sassy Sisters	6th	Oct
Totes Bags 'n' Blogs	9th	Oct
The Character Depot	10th	Oct
Writing PlayGround	13th	Oct
Minxes of Romance	19th	Oct
Guest Post	20th	Oct
Kylie Griffin	24th	Oct
Sunday Smooch LoveCats	30th	Oct
The Book Bordello	8th	Nov
Totes Bags 'n' Blogs	13th	Nov
RomCon	14th	Nov
Romance University	18th	Nov
Romance Book Paradise	21st	Nov
Fresh Fiction	23rd	Nov
Bird's Eye View	29th	Nov
Author Interview	8th	Dec
Totes Bags 'n' Blogs	11th	Dec
Seven Sassy Sisters	14th	Dec
Winner Announcement and Wrap-Up Party!	15th	Dec

Those dates and places are correct at the time of posting this blog, but to be absolutely sure you can check an up-to-date listing anytime at http://www.rbpp-ch.blogspot.com/. The Weight of the Crown blog is masterminded by the incredible Nas Dean of Romance Book Paradise, who has done a wonderful job co-ordinating all the dates for me.

I love writing, and working on Weight of the Crown was a particular joy. It gave me a chance to do something a bit different. By setting Lysander and Alyssa's story in the fictional country of Rosara, I was able to escape the gloomy English climate by imagining scenes like this...

The rising sun was already staining the Eastern sky with colours of pomegranate and peach. down in the gardens, nightingales still sang. Their music was a grace note for Alyssa's perfect fantasy, and she relaxed into Lysander's embrace. No woman had ever felt so adored. As she felt his kisses on her hair and looked out over the ageless scene she allowed herself to imagine being this happy forever...

Copyright Harlequin Mills and Boon Ltd, 2011

I hope you'll be able to follow me over the course of my blog tour. There will be giveaways and spot prizes
at various sites and if you've got the stamina to comment on every single one of my guest blogs, your name will go into the final draw for my special Christmas stocking surprise, announced on 15th December. For further details, and the chance to enter my first competition in the series visit my website, http://www.christinahollis.com/
I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

Focus on...Rachel Brimble.

2011-09-09T01:19:00.000-07:00

Today, the spotlight falls on Rachel Brimble who lives not far from where I grew up in the UK. Here's the lowdown and an extract from her latest release, Paying The Piper...

Nightclub manager, Grace Butler is on a mission to buy the pub where her mother’s ashes are scattered – except the vendor wants to sell to anyone but her. And the vendor happens to be her father…with a secret Grace will do anything to uncover.

Social worker and all-round good guy, Jimmy Betts needs cash to buy a house for three special kids before their care home closes. In a desperate bid for cash, he agrees to a one-time ‘job’ for bad-man Karl Butler. But in a sudden turn of events, Jimmy finds himself employed by Karl’s beautiful, funny and incredibly sexy daughter, Grace.

Their lives are so different except for one unifying thread – they are both trying to escape the binds of their tyrannical fathers. But is the key to their liberty each other?

Grace’s mouth dropped open and stayed open.

He was huge. Huge and muscular, tall and strong. The saliva drained from her mouth, forcing her to snap her jaw shut so she could swallow. She felt her eyes expand in awed fascination as he stepped out from under the cover of chairs, crates and crap to stand in front of her. She met his gaze.

He held out a hand and nodded in the direction of the teenager who now stood behind him smiling like a demented clown. “Sorry about Billy. He can be a cheeky son of a gun sometimes. I’m Jimmy. Jimmy Betts.”

His voice was deep and rich. Warm and smooth. Grace blinked, licked dry lips and tentatively slid her palm against his. It was hot--in a nice way. Not in a clammy “I’ve-just-had-that-down-my-pants-hot,” more...open fire in a log cabin kind of hot.

She snatched her hand away, snapping her brain back into gear despite the fact her nipples now tingled. These two were trespassing. They had no right. “What are you--”

“Doing rummaging around in your rubbish?” The Adonis smiled.

She smiled back. She couldn’t help it--much to her irritation. His boyish grin kicked her in the stomach and sent her heart ricocheting to the back of her throat. His thick, black hair shone beneath the overhead lights, and even in the semi-darkness, his eyes glinted blue like cut Bristol glass.

“Exactly.” She nodded, not trusting herself to use full sentences. Her physical reaction to him was terrifying. Since when had Grace Butler wanted to grab a man’s face and mash it between her breasts?

He turned away and gripped his companion’s collar. “Billy and I come here from time to time to see if we can pick up a bargain or two. Say hello to Miss Butler, Billy.”

Her gaze shot from Billy back to Jimmy. “How do you know my name?”

He grinned. “What can I say? I read the occasional gossip magazine. You’re Grace Butler, daughter of the Great Karl Butler, and future heir to the infamous Butler Empire.”

Rachel lives with her husband and two young daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK. Having always believed there’s someone for everyone, Rachel started writing her own tales of love once her children were at school. Since then, she’s had several books published with The Wild Rose Press, Eternal Press and Lyrical Press. She has recently acquired a US agent with her second Victorian historical. A member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of America, Rachel cannot imagine her life without romance or writing!

When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family. And in the evening? Well, a well-deserved glass of wine is never, ever refused…

Thanks for sharing, Rachel!
You can find out more about Rachel and her work from:
www.rachelbrimble.com
www.rachelbrimble.blogspot.com and
www.twitter.com/rachelbrimble

Focus On...Bernadette Marie

2011-09-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

Today I'm very pleased to welcome writer and publishing entrepreneur, Bernadette Marie...

Bernadette Marie has been an avid writer since the early age of 13, when she’d fill notebook after notebook with stories that she’d share with her friends. Her journey into novel writing started the summer before eighth grade when her father gave her an old typewriter. At all times of the day and night you would find her on the back porch penning her first work, which she would continue to write for the next 22 years.

In 2007 – after marriage, filling her chronic entrepreneurial needs, and having five children – Bernadette began to write seriously with the goal of being published. That year she wrote 12 books. In 2009 she was contracted for her first trilogy and the published author was born. In 2011 she (being the entrepreneur that she is) opened her own publishing house, 5 Prince Publishing, and has released contemporary titles and will begin the process, eventually, of taking on other authors in other genres. Also in 2011 she became co-owner of Seven Songs Press and will release a novella as part of an anthology with other very talented authors in November 2011.

Bernadette spends most of her free time driving her kids to their many events. She is also an accomplished martial artist, working her way to her second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do. An avid reader, she enjoys most, the works of Nora Roberts and Karen White. She loves to meet readers who enjoy reading contemporary romances and she always promises Happily Ever After.

Here's how Bernadette finds her inspiration -

I'm often asked by aspiring writer and readers alike, “How do you come up with your stories?” I can’t say I’m very quick with an answer, but I am quick to tell them the one little component that brought on the whole story.

Let’s call it a blessing. Anything can spark my imagination. The Executive’s Decision was all built around the first moment Regan and Zach met on the bus – when she literally fell into his lap. What better way to meet a woman? My next release, Cart Before The Horse, was a whim at the airport in Washington D.C. as I was leaving the RWA conference. What if you were a super-smarty pants, a prodigy, and your life was always backward. You graduated college when your friends were going to prom, that kind of blessed backward. What if you’d never in your life done something wrong, and then one night you let go threw caution to the wind? How would you deal with finding out your were pregnant, and not knowing exactly who the father was. Certainly it would disrupt things.

I can hear verses in songs and in my head a sixty thousand word book has just been written. The sound of my kids’ hockey coach yelling, “Get the puck!” Even a shifty glance from the guy on the street corner with his card board sign can cause my head to fill with ideas. So what do you do with those ideas? You write them down.

It doesn’t have to be the current work in progress to deserve a little note on your computer or a page in a notebook. Start jotting down any little thing. One night I brain stormed at my computer and I came up with thirty-six different working titles. Suddenly I could imagine a little blurb to drive the story. What did I have when I was done? Thirty-six potential books! You know what really happened? I wrote one of those book. It turned into a trilogy and that became two more. The Executive’s Decision was supposed to be one book. (They all start that way.) But Regan had a sister, two brothers, and a nephew who will be plenty old for his own book soon. Now I have a series, all because when I was on a tram with my husband at an amusement park I fell into his lap. SPARK!

If you’re an aspiring writer, open your eyes and ears. Take the challenge to write a book about the next thing you hear in a conversation, the first job you ever had, the color of the next car that drives by. You’ll be amazed at what you can do if you just start adding components. If you’re a reader and you have taken the time to get to know authors, give them your ideas. Do you like a certain character in their books that you would like to see with their own story? Let me tell you, we love when secondary characters mean something to you. It means we’ve done our job.

So the next time you see an opportunity to observe, take it. It just might be the inspiration you need to write the next bestseller.

BLURB FOR "THE EXECUTIVE’S DECISION":

Regan Keller fell in love with a wealthy and powerful man once. He was her boss. When that turbulent relationship ended, she swore she’d never again date someone she worked with. That was before she literally fell into her new boss’s lap.

Zachary Benson is the head of a successful empire and used to getting what he wants in the boardroom and outside of it – and what he wants is Regan Keller. He’s determined to convince Regan that even though he’s her boss, they can share a life together.

However, when Regan’s past threatens to destroy the architectural firm Zach has invested his entire career in, he has to make an executive decision whether to choose his business or fight for the woman he loves.

EXCERPT FROM THE EXECUTIVE’S DECISION...

Thunder rippled through the gray clouds that loomed overhead. Regan Keller raised her eyes to the sky. Please, please don’t rain. As she sent up the silent prayer, she felt the first drop hit her forehead.

The nervous flutter in her stomach quickened as she looked down at her watch. Surely her day couldn’t get any worse. But the sky opened up, and those around her crowded together in the bus stop shelter. Her hair, tied in a tail at the base of her neck, dripped rain down her back as she hunched in her coat. How could she have forgotten her umbrella? Had her car been running, she’d have the one tucked safely away in the glove compartment because spring in Tennessee often meant sudden storms. She should carry one in her bag but had suffered a lapse in memory, having opted for the sunny beaches of Hawaii for the past two years.

As the bus arrived, those under the shelter huddled onto it ahead of her, claiming every seat. Soaking wet, Regan wedged herself between two people and held onto the handrail above her head. She looked out the window at the commuters driving themselves to work in the pouring rain. That should have been her.

A bitter-faced old woman sat below her, her oversized bag occupying the next seat. Regan bent to ask her to move it, but the woman glared up at her and gave a grunt that sounded like a dog’s bark. Regan flinched and tried to look away. But she was compelled to keep an eye on the woman.

The man to the other side of the vacant seat snickered. Regan looked down at him in his long black overcoat and perfect hair. Hemmed in between the old lady’s bag and an overweight man in a jogging suit, he was as pinned in his seat as she was to the people around her. She would have given him a piece of her mind for laughing at her had the bus not jolted to a sudden stop. It lurched forward then back and tossed Regan onto the man’s lap.

“I would have offered you my seat,” he said with a bright grin as the bus lurched again.

“Why, you…” She struggled to free herself, but the crowd moved in tightly around them as the bus bounced down the street. The pace of her heart kicked into gear and she could feel the sweat bead on her brow.

She hadn’t been this close to a man in over a year, and the panic of having him actually hold her on his lap was making her more than uncomfortable. “I need to stand up.”

“You might as well sit.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Doesn’t look like you’ll be standing again anytime soon.”

Regan took a few deep and cleansing breaths. She forced down the panic that was filling her body and tried to push it away. Alexander Hamilton thought she was dead. There should be no danger in sitting on the lap of a nice-looking man. She should find it within her to enjoy the experience and focus on something else.

He didn’t have an accent native to Tennessee like hers. Perhaps the rain had caught him off guard as well. If she didn’t relax, she’d have a heart attack, and this nice gentleman who wasn’t from Nashville would probably be blamed for her death on the bus on his way to work.

Accepting her predicament at face value would be a prime opportunity to let go of bitter feelings for the opposite gender, though after what she’d been through, she wasn’t sure she could. The thought of ever loving another man or letting one touch her made her palms sweat and her stomach clench.

The man smiled at her, and a dimple formed in his cheek. “This is your first time on this bus, isn’t it?” He pushed back a wet wisp of hair from her forehead, and she flinched away. “It’s always crowded, but I know I would have seen you.”

“My car wouldn’t start this morning.” She pressed her hand to her jittery stomach and willed it to settle. “I start a new job today. Car trouble couldn’t have come at a worse time.”

“New job? Congratulations. So what is this new job?”

God, he was handsome, and wouldn’t it be nice to enjoy the ride? But she wasn’t. “Executive assistant.” The words shook as she spoke.

“Pretty important.”

“You think it’s just some glorified secretary, don’t you?” She clenched her teeth and her fists. Why wouldn’t she be angry? The last man she’d worked for had interpreted the title executive assistant as a license to run her life and to ruin it.

“No. I was serious. It’s a very important position.” He looked sincere. “So where is this new job?”

“Benson, Benson and Hart.”

“Real estate development.”

“Yes.” Her breath was becoming harder to push through her lungs. “I should get off your lap.”

“You’d ruin my day.” He laughed easily, so she tried to relax. “So whose executive assistant will you be?”

“Zachary Benson’s.” She looked around for a space to stand.

“CEO? He must have been very impressed with you.”

“I’ve never met him. His current assistant is having a baby and leaving the company. He was out of town when she interviewed me.” She thought about Mary Ellen, his current assistant. The interview had had a motherly quality to it. She wasn’t sure whether it was because Mary Ellen was pregnant or that worried for her boss. “I think she takes good care of him. It’ll be a hard pair of shoes to fill.” And if that hadn’t had her stomach tied in knots, here she was having a conversation about it with a man she didn’t know while sitting on his lap. Had she completely forgotten the last man she’d gotten this close to tried to kill her?

“I’m sure he’ll be pleased with her choice.”

“Thank you.” She wanted to wiggle away from the hard muscles she could feel in his chest, from his arms that held her tight against him, and from the legs of a man who obviously kept in shape. She couldn’t, so she kept talking. “I hope he likes me. I can’t imagine him not wanting to meet me first.”

“Maybe he’s ugly.”

Finally a laugh rolled from her throat. “That’s not what Mary Ellen said.” She tucked in her lips. “She says he’s a hottie.”

“Hottie?” His voice lit with humor. “Well, you’ll enjoy your job then.”

“Strictly business here. I don’t get involved with the boss,” she said sternly. Not anymore. This was, after all, her chance to take back her life after making such a mistake.

The bus stopped, and the old woman stood and grabbed her bag.

“Move!” She shoved her way through the people who climbed on and made her way out the door. Before Regan could stand and claim a seat, the crowd around her pushed her closer against the stranger, whose arms wrapped tightly around her as others dropped down beside them.

“Your stop is the next one,” he offered, and she nodded. “So what’s your name?”

“Regan.”

“You’re native to Tennessee, aren’t you? Your accent gives you away.”

“I was born in Memphis. I spent most of my life in Nashville though. I did a stint in Los Angeles and then lived in Maui for the last two years. I missed home though.” The more she tried to suppress her nerves, the more she talked.

“Los Angeles? Tried your hand at Hollywood?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I worked for a prominent lawyer who had some big-name clients. But I wasn’t seeking fame and fortune.”

“Well, Ms. Executive Assistant, I’m glad you came home or this would have been a very boring ride this morning.” The bus stopped, and most of the people began to move to the door. “This is your stop.”

She finally stood and turned to exit with the crowd without looking back.

The man caught her hand and held it. Her very core shook, and her first instinct was to rip her hand away. But she needed to move on and not be so damn afraid of every man that gave her attention.

“Would you have lunch with me?” he asked.

“What?” She looked back at people climbing on. If she didn’t exit the bus now, she’d miss her stop. “Oh, I don’t think so.”

“Meet me at the hot dog stand at noon just on the north corner of your building,” he said with a wink and a nod.

She couldn’t think to speak. She nodded as she hurried off the bus.

The rain had subsided for the time being. Regan had almost dried off as she sat on the handsome man’s lap. The smell of his cologne lingered on her coat. She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of him.

She stopped as she neared the door and turned to see the bus drive away. He was watching her from the window, and he waved. It occurred to her she didn’t even know his name.

She looked down at her hands. They were shaking.

Get over it. Move on. Not everyone wanted to hurt her. Not every man was evil with ulterior motives. No, some were just nice men who wanted to take you to lunch.

Well, it wasn’t like he’d asked her to stay at a hotel. He’d offered to buy her a hot dog. Really, it was harmless. And he’d assume she was too busy with her new job if she just didn’t show up.

But she wanted to.

Well, there was no better time to move on with her life, and no better way to get to know the man on whose lap you’d ridden to work than over a hot dog.

A tingle of hope shot through her. She needed to start taking back her life the way she wanted it. No more mistakes. No more regrets. It was her life now, and she was going to enjoy it.

LINKS:

WEBSITE: www.bernadettemarie.com

BLOG: www.authorbernadettemarie.com

EMAIL: info@bernadettemarie.com

FACEBOOK:www.facebook.com/authorbernadettemarie

TWITTER: @writesromance

Thank you for that great insight into your work, Bernadette, and for introducing us to Regan and Zachary. Good luck with all your projects, now and in the future!

Focus on...WeWriteRomance.com...and WeReadRomance.com, too!

2011-08-26T00:30:00.000-07:00

Today I'm delighted to welcome Heather Reed, from WeWriteRomance.com and its sister site, WeReadRomance.com, two great resources for lovers of romance.

When Christina asked if I’d like to guest ‘post’ on her blog, I thought sure…why not? After all, I just had to talk about the site I’ve babied for the past seven or so years. How hard could that be?

Of course, the answer caused panic to set in. How do you narrow down all you want to say about your baby? All the reasons others should love it as much as you do? Then I realized I’m sure I’ll leave something out, but you can always visit WeWriteRomance.com yourself. And that’s when the words started flowing…

A Bit Of History

First, I wanted to drop in a bit of the site’s history. It often helps to relate people, places, books, etc. with its history. So when you think of WeWriteRomance.com, I want you to recall that it’s a dream. One shared by two friends who had a true love of romantic fiction. We read and wrote romance novels, as well as developed websites for authors…so we decided to combine all three, and as they say the rest is history.

In late 2004, WeWriteRomance.com was launched. As an author and reader community, it had a variety of features from chats, forums, workshops, and interviews to books, reviews, and other industry news. The site had everything but the kitchen sink as they say.

The reality of what we’d endeavored was soon clear, and the work on narrowing down what features were really useful to authors and readers began. While the site has gone through many evolutions (and still has some more to come), it has consistently been one thing above all else, a labor of love. A place where authors can share their writing tips and latest news in tandem. A place where readers come together to discuss their latest reads and ask their favorite authors questions.

What You Can Find On The Site

In 2011, WeWriteRomance.com actually split and WeReadRomance.com was born. As the site titles are pretty self-explanatory, you can probably guess most of the writing and author related information stayed on WeWriteRomance.com—like Guest Bloggers / Interviews, Industry News, and Articles. And the reading related information moved to WeReadRomance.com—like Book Lists and Reviews. While both sites have something for both authors and readers alike, it’s a bit easier to find things now. If you’re looking for a book review, you know WeReadRomance.com is where you go. If you’d like to read an interview about an author you’re going to want to check out WeWriteRomance.com.

WeWriteRomance.com also houses the blog for both sites, and has special monthly features like Kate’s Corner (with Harlequin Presents/Mills & Boon Author, Kate Walker) and Carolynn’s Clues (with Best-Selling Author and all around Grammar guru, Carolynn Carey). Readers (and writers) can find contests to enter for some great prizes and free online reads to enjoy through the blog as well.

In short, there are many reasons to visit and enjoy what WeWriteRomance.com/WeReadRomance.com has to offer. If you’re an author and would like to participate by guest blogging or promoting your book(s) on the site, we’d love to hear from you. If you’re a reader who enjoys romance novels as much as I do, you’re going to want to check out the latest reviews on WeReadRomance.com and chime in with your opinion.

Thanks, Christina, for having me by to let people know about the site!

Happy surfing,
Heather R.

Thank you Heather - it's great to get the background on such useful sites!

Blueberry Bounty

2011-08-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

Blueberries are delicious, and home grown ones taste even better than those from the shops. They're also really easy to grow. They are originally bog plants that like an acid soil, so we grow them here in containers that stand in trays kept permanently topped up with rainwater. A magnificent harvest was promised from our eight bushes earlier this year. I covered them with a bird-proof net early on in the season, but sadly the local squirrels discovered a taste for them - green! They tore through the nets, leaving holes that blackbirds were quick to take advantage. Much pegging and pinning later, I think the remaining berries are safe. We've been picking the odd handful to go on cereals for a week or two, but now the bulk of remaining berries are ripe and ready. I picked over three pounds yesterday, and made the first blueberry tart of the season. Here's the recipe:

For The Pastry:
250g flour
175g butter
20g caster sugar
1 egg
half tablespoon cold water.

Rub the butter into the flour and stir in the sugar, or blitz in a food processor. Add the egg and water combining it all into a soft dough. Chill in a fridge for 40 mins.
Butter and flour a 25cm loose-based flan tin. Roll out the pastry to more than fit the tin - you don't want to have to stretch the pastry. Hint: rolling it out between two sheets of greaseproof paper makes a tricky job slightly easier and cleaner! Chill the unbaked pastry case for another 20 minutes.

For the Filling:
500g blueberries, washed and dried.
2 eggs
125g caster sugar + extra for dusting
175ml cream
25g flour
1 desertspoonful of creme de cassis

Put the berries into the pastry case. Mix together the eggs, sugar, cream. flour and cassis well and pour over the fruit. Sprinkle over a little more caster sugar and bake at 200 degrees c/gas mark 6 for about 35 minutes. This is best served chilled.

Once I've picked all the berries, I cut out one or two of the oldest branches then give them a good top dressing of home made compost. Blueberries also put on a brilliant show of fiery autumn colours. Then next year their pretty white flowers are a magnet for our bees. All we have to do is keep them constantly moist and the blueberries do the rest. Taken all round, they're really good value plants.

Now It's Your Turn!

2011-08-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

Last time in my Focus On... spot, Nas Dean contributed an informative and interesting blog about Virtual Blog Tours. Thanks to all the readers who dropped by to post comments. I love hearing from you, so today's blog is in the form of a question.

Who would you like to see featured in future Focus spots here on my blog? Lots of you agreed with me, that Nas' post gives a real insight into the publicity aspect of writing. What would you like to get the low-down on? Who would you like to hear from? Let me know who or what you'd like to see in the spotlight, and I'll do my best to get a Focus feature for for you.

Don't forget the competition running on my website to win free books. The closing date is 21st August. Visit http://www.christinahollis.com for more details - and good luck!

Focus On...Virtual Book Promotions

2011-07-28T22:53:00.000-07:00

Plotting, characterisation and computing skills aren't the only things writers have to worry about these days. Today I'm welcoming Nas Dean, Romance Fan Supreme and head of Virtual Book Promotions, who's there to take some of the stress out of our 'after sales service'...

First I’d like to thank Christina, for asking me to share about Virtual Book Promotions.

Promoting an upcoming book is easy, do you say? The marketing department at your publishing house will handle it. But you do know that the marketing department will be handling all six or sixty books releasing in that month?

But who will give “YOU” the author, special attention you need for “YOUR” book to sell?

Okay you got the CALL! Yay! …You’re super excited! Then you receive your cover photo and release dates, now, can anything be more exciting? But does it stop there? No, your journey has just begun. Now you have to make your name stand out from the masses and sell copies of your book. You have to connect with readers everywhere around the world.

But you’re rushing along trying to meet the deadline for your subsequent books. You don’t want to be a one-book-wonder; you have to have your second and third books or for that matter your sixth and seventh books already in the pipe-line.

How can you do promotions?

That is why I’m here! To start your promotion machinery rolling!

- What can a virtual book tour do for a new or established author?

Book Tours bring you to the notice of readers. It actually helps to have your name and the title of your book talked about. You have to find the reader, rather than wait for them to find you. And when you do find them, you have to talk to your reader and keep him/her engaged. Book promotion is time consuming, expensive, and there are no guarantees that your efforts will bear fruit. But a lot of your labor can be cut in half if you focus on the reader and what S/HE needs.

Think about yourself as a reader. You just finished a fantastic book from a new-to-you author and you decide to Google the author to learn more about her. When you reach her blog, all you find are advertisements for more books. It feels like a bit of letdown, doesn’t it? Now what if the author is out there visiting all your favorite haunts and inviting you to ask her questions? And doing giveaways of her book?

Talking to you, answering your individual comments and generally having fun, chatting with you.

- Does it work better for certain genres than others?

No, I would say it should work the same for all genres. It’s scary to put yourself out there because you don’t always know how you’ll be received, but if you’ve written the best book you can, all that’s left is to be the kind of author people want to know, Facebook friend you and chat with you through twitter.

- What are some things authors should keep in mind to have a successful tour?

Authors are rushing to meet the deadline for their second and third books; they can’t keep details about promoting their first book in mind, that’s why they come to me! (--_^)

But seriously, they should have a media kit ready with all the pertinent information. This would include a mini bio, a full bio, decide on a author photo and include this(this is the photo out and about everywhere!) the book cover photos, links to your website, social networking sites eg. Facebook Page, Twitter. Goodreads.

And be available on the date of a Blog Stop to connect with a reader. And I’ll let you in on a secret for promoting. I advise authors to comment on many different blogs. Not a ‘hi, I like your site’ comment, but something personal and thoughtful. If you leave short and intriguing comments, people will follow you back.

- What blogs is it best to appear on?

High traffic blogs where your book would be appreciated! If it’s a romance novel, then obviously romance writer’s blogs would be good. Where romance readers mostly hangout. But I found all blogs have mostly adult visitors and people read romance so most blogs are suitable.

And I talk to book bloggers and arrange:
• Reviews
• Interviews
• Guest posts

- How long should a virtual tour take?

It depends on the author. If she can handle one week of five blog stops or five weeks of one stop a week.

Recently when I promoted Wendy S Marcus, and her debut book, When One Night Isn't Enough, we took on more than thirty stops but Wendy was game to agree. She also had a deadline to meet for her second book, Once a Good Girl. Though, Wendy scheduled some of these blog stops herself. And each and every stop had new and fresh, interesting posts.

- Do virtual tours replace brick-and-mortar book signings? Or should authors still be prepared to do some traveling and in-person meet and greets?

Virtual Tours actually don’t replace, rather enhance your promotional efforts. The brick-and-mortar book signings are in your immediate area or in your country, but the Virtual Tour is all over the globe. Wherever books are sold and readers know how to click a few buttons to get online.

- Once an author signs a contract, it seems as if there’s more to do than ever! Are there any resources available that can help? If so, what is the typical fee?

Once an author signs a contract, I start with subtle promotions of her title. After I set up Blog visits and confirm dates with blog hostesses, I send the author a list of titles she may decide to talk about on her tour. We do want to keep readers interested by following her tour. And decide if she would be doing giveaways. Wendy did a 2in1 Book giveaway on each stop. And at the end there was an Amazon gift card to be won for one person.

Typical fee you looking at is US$150-180 for a ten/fifteen Blog Stop. But if you decide to hire me on as a Virtual Assistant then it’s extra.

For Blog Stops the author sends me the post and I do all the linking, add photos and send it onto Blogs. Then at every stop I link to Facebook and Twitter to promote that Blog Visit. I have another Facebook Page Romance Book Paradise which is linked to twitter so I promote through that as well. I’m generally around for any hiccups or to encourage conversation. I’m like a chaperone, if you please!

Then I create an Author Page linked to Romance Book Paradise where I have all the details, reviews and buy links for your book on one page. Now for subsequent books you don’t have to hire me, just send me a book and I update that page for you with all relevant reviews linked!

As a Virtual Assistant, I keep track of your visitors/ commenter’s and winners by excel spreadsheet. I also have librarian status at Goodreads, LibraryThing where I can load book details and covers of different editions of your book. There are some other sites which have given me authority to add to their author list and add books on their site. So I add you onto these sites.

What’s in it for Blog Hostesses?

I make sure all my fellow hostesses receive free books!

And if the author on the blog tour is doing giveaways, the host blog also receives lot of traffic and her blog also becomes the favorite haunt of readers.

- How did you get started working with authors on online tours?

Actually I did a degree majoring in Management and Marketing and some of my author friends noticed that I was good at promoting books (I have a passion for reading!) and approached me to take on their upcoming book release promotions.

Recently I have also been approached to allow authors to display their upcoming book cover photos on the sidebar of my Blog, linked to their websites. The author concerned already paid another site US$25. for one month, she offered the same to me to have her cover placed on my sidebar. She’s already booked for three months for 2012! She herself said, “You do have to pay the bills!” Romance Authors and writers are fantastic and very warm and considerate!

- Apart from Virtual Blog Tour, what is the single most important thing an author can do to promote her book?

Ah, yes, the author has to make sure of reviews….on reader sites as well as bookseller sites. As recently I came across this wonderful post from a very knowledgeable person, Michelle Fayard, when she was asked about reviews, said,

“I recommend authors get at least 10 reviews, each about 75 to 300 words long. According to Berrett-Koehler Publishers, customer reviews are the single most effective tool for selling books on Amazon, as they help potential customers decide if the title is a fit for them. If you ask your contacts to post a review on Amazon, ask if they’d mind posting the same review on Barnes and Noble and Goodreads as well, for example.”

Check this post for more information as I found it to be extremely enlightening. Apart from Virtual Book Tours I also post reviews on more than ten different sites.

And for more information regarding Virtual Tours please visit Romance Book Paradise’s this link Why Book a Virtual Blog Tour?

Thank you for inviting me to share about Virtual Book Tours, Christina, and if anyone has a question, I’ll try my best to answer.

Thank you for posting, Nas. It’s been a very interesting and informative blog, and I wish Virtual Book Promotions every success for the future!

Focus On...Fiona Benson

2011-07-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

Today's focus is on someone who really knows how to multi-task. Please welcome Fiona Benson, who is a writer, lecturer, mentor, fund raiser and...well, the list goes on and on! Here's her blog...

Passion is itself a beautiful thing. It is fabulous if you are able to share your passion with others.

Like Christina, I have a deep love of landscape. I was born and raised in Sunderland, on the north-east coast of England, so grew up surrounded by the massive natural 'landscape' of the sea. Beautiful. The beauty of natural surroundings has had a strong influence on my life as a playwright and poet and on my choice of settling in the stunning Forest of Dean, where I've lived for over twenty years.

A while ago I started writing prose pieces to perform at literary cabarets and found that my writings were a celebration of the Forest and my life within it - my day-to-day life in the present, but also revisiting scenes from previous years. I gathered the pieces together in an anthology and had a paperback published. I was thrilled when readers contacted me to say how much my tales had brought the Forest of Dean to life for them.

To share my passion more further afield I have recently epublished the collection under the title 'Hang On A Minute! Tales of a writer's life in the ancient Forest of Dean'. I have included here a short extract that I hope you enjoy. The collection can be found at:http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Hang+On+A+Minute&x=14&y=25

'From Mireystock to Highnam'

"I'm climbing into the car at not quite the crack of dawn but definitely among the splinters. I'm away up the lane through Camomile Green, left down Worral Hill, on past the narrow ribbon of the river Lyd and I'm heading for the Mireystock crossroads.

I haven't turned on the radio yet, it's quiet in the car, just me catching my breath between the domestic landscape and the travelling one, just me indulging in an overture of anticipatory silence.

It's early to be leaving the village, the cottage, the study that's my writing room, but today's one of those days when I turn back into an academic to go and do college work in Cheltenham.

I'm turning left at Mireystock, and ... am I sitting comfortably, then let the radio begin ...

I'm passing the island of shops with the crazy coloured lettering, passing the Cinderford lights, driving up the winding hill past the church, in reverse slalom towards the summit of the Plump.

I'm greeting the Gorgon tree.

Morning, lovely morning, how're ya hanging?

The Gorgon, with its long, wild and straggly branches is one of a special collection. The collection that's called My Favourite Trees. These include the old bearded-man tree at Speculation, the Truncated-trunk Elephant tree at Sallow Vallets, the Gorgon tree just before the summit of the Plump.

I'm up and over the top of Plump Hill, with that tricky contortion that involves an irresistible glancing over to the right to view the horseshoe-bend of the river Severn - while simultaneously turning the car to the left, trying not to slither over the middle white line into somebody else's lane. Oh, sorry mate, lovely view!

Then down, down the other side into Mitcheldean ..."

Thanks Fiona, that's a terrific evocation of life in the Dean!

Bees At Work!

2011-07-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

This is a lovely time of year - if only I had managed to keep on top of the gardening! Instead, I've been so busy writing a new Modern Romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon the time has flown by and I'm looking out at a scene of self-sown poppies and wild white clover. Luckily, my bees love both these flowers so they are extra busy. One of our hives is packed to the rafters with honey, but that colony is so large I shall have to be careful and leave them plenty of those stores to keep them well fed through the winter. Some beekeepers take off all the honey and then feed their bees with sugar and water, but I'd rather let them have natural food. If white sugar is bad for us, it can't be much better for the bees!
July sees the US publication of my romance set in the South of France, The Count's Challenge. Nip over to my website, http://www.christinahollis.com to read an extract, and for a chance to enter my great new Summer Competition based on the book!

Focus On...Elaine Lowe

2011-07-07T10:39:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to welcome Elaine Lowe onto my blog today, to talk about her latest release.

Hi Christina, thank you so much for having me as a guest on your blog. I'm Elaine Lowe, and I am happy to announce that my latest book, http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9413-magic-eights.aspx Magic Eights, is out today! Short but hot, Magic Eights tells the story of a happily married couple that still has a lot to learn about one another, and the touch of magic that helps them to do it. What is a woman to do with eight copies of the man she loves? Have a lot of exhausting fun!

This book is light-hearted and fun, a departure from some of my more plot-intense, research heavy historicals. I really had a lot of fun writing this summery romp, and I hope you have fun reading it.
Check out my website, http://elainelowenovels.com/ Elaine Lowe Novels and follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/elainelowe
Have fun and keep reading!
Elaine Lowe

Here's an excerpt from Magic Eights to whet your appetite...

Will stood in the doorway for a moment, taking in the soap-obscured view of her

naked body and flashing her a brief but devastating grin that still made her heart go

pitter-patter.

“Hello my water nymph. How do you find your bath? And is that incense I smell?”

He turned away from her and to the toilet, nonchalantly taking a piss, while she

observed the curve of his ass in the ancient pair of khaki shorts that he wore.

“Bath’s searing hot, just like this nymph likes it. And no, the scent is something

Esme sent us for our anniversary.” She looked him up and down. “Care to join me?”

Her voice dripped with invitation, but she knew he didn’t share her particular fetish for

baths.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! It’s like ninety-five in the house, and it’s only going

to get hotter. How you can stand to take a hot bath in this weather is beyond my ken!”

With a drip and a zip and a quick wash of his hands, he turned back to her, his eyes

eating her up and making her throb even more than she had been. With his dark

shining eyes carrying that edge of lust and his wicked goatee reminding her how much

she liked the drag of his chin against her thighs, she was practically melting with need

for him. But she didn’t let it show. Her appetite for him was simply ridiculous after all

the years they’d been together and she’d never been completely comfortable letting it

all out. He was everything she ever wanted, and she didn’t feel like scaring him off

now.

Will seemed to read something in her expression though, and he looked apologetic.

“I promise to take a bath and have fun with you when it’s not scorching hot. Besides, I

just got a call from work and the server is having a meltdown. I’ve got to log on and fix

it before the CFO starts having kittens. Which would be bad, because he’s very allergic

to cats.”

Susanna crinkled her brow and blinked. Will always did have a cock-eyed sense of

humor. She loved it and the unexpected twists his brain would occasional make. “But

you are supposed to relax this weekend! You’ve been…”

“I know, I’m stressed out and I desperately need to get away from the computer.

But I’m an addict, what can I say. And I think I’ve done quite a bit of restorative

relaxing.” His eyes flickered over her once again and that lazy lecherous smile

appeared, the one that could make her blush like a sixteen-year-old virgin. “So let me

go off and slay some electronic dragons, or fix some bugs, and I shall return to indulge

in all the bounty milady has to offer.” With a wink, he turned around and shut the door,

leaving her in the swirling steam and foamy water of her bath. All alone.

His parting words had sent all kinds of naughty images tickling her brain...

Passion in a sultry bathroom - exactly the thing to put the zing back into a marriage!

Thanks for blogging here today, Elaine, and good luck with Magic Eights!

Exciting Times

2011-06-25T00:29:00.000-07:00

The year is dashing by - I can hardly believe the longest day has come and gone already. It won't be long before the honey harvest, which happens here in mid to late July depending on the weather. I don't take much, as I keep bees more for the enjoyment and environmental benefits than for what they can give me. Though I get hours of free entertainment (and sometimes disappointment and frustration) out of them as well! In anticipation of the harvest, I ordered just a few odds and ends of equipment - as I thought. It arrived in three huge boxes, though luckily none were very heavy. It's amazing how much space a thermometer, some flat-pack carpentry and a few sheets of wax can take up when everything is individually packed in tons of shredded paper! Does your hobby end up filling the house from top to bottom with bits and pieces?
By the same post, I got some some copies of the Japanese version of The Count of Castelfino and the French edition of Count Giovanni's Virgin. I like to get these as the cover art is always subtly different from country to country. This means my bookshelves are filling up, so I'm going to be giving away a copy of each of these most recent additions to my collection. If you have Japanese or French friends, they'd make an unusual present!
To get your name into the draw for one of these signed copies, just email me via my website, http://www.christinahollis.com putting either the word 'Japanese' or the word 'French' in the subject line. Good luck in the draw!

Address Book Burgling

2011-06-16T23:17:00.000-07:00

WARNING: If a message gets posted on your Facebook page containing a survey allegedly from me, please mail me direct at christinahollis@hotmaildotcom (replacing word 'dot' with an actual dot) to check before continuing. I've heard of a couple of instances lately when questions have been posted asking people 'Do you think Christina Hollis is smart?' or 'Do you think Christina Hollis will make a good parent?' These are clearly spam and have absolutely nothing to do with me. It's this kind of thing that is rapidly putting me off Facebook. I suspect these messages are automatically generated in response to requests for access to on-line address books, so the system can trawl for other 'friends' to contact.

I don't like to think of questions being generated in my name like this. It might seem a minor gripe, but Facebook is so widely used the opportunities for bullying are immense. Imagine an insecure young person seeing their name attached to a question such as 'Do you think so-and so is pretty/fat/smart?'. Social network has revolutionised life for millions of people, and when used for good it's great fun and a vital link between people who would otherwise never meet, but it has its down side.

Have you come across any problems like this? Do you find the benefits of Facebook, Twitter etc outweigh the problems?

A Sense of Place

2011-06-13T08:53:00.000-07:00

Here's the view from the hotel I stayed in recently. It's Canary Wharf, part of the Docklands development in London. The Thames ran past our windows, and at low tide all sorts of flotsam and Jetsam was exposed. Almost exactly one hundred years ago, this was where my grandfather's family made their living. They were mudlarks, salvaging and selling on anything they could. It was the nineteenth century version of reuse, repair and recycle, but it can't have paid very well. Grampy ended up in Barnardo's. Once he was old enough to be useful, he was to be sent to Canada but didn't think much of that idea. One night he ran away, lied about his age and joined the British Army. It sounds very romantic, but I suspect it was anything but!

My New Work In Progress...

2011-06-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

...is another Modern Romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon Modern Romance. Leo Cassini is a bad boy made good - but his determination to be the best has cost him the two people who meant most to him in the world. Embittered and cynical, he finds consolation in his work.

It’ll take a strong woman to iron out Leo’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 everyone, 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…

News and Views

2011-06-03T23:51:00.000-07:00

I had some great news this week. My Mills and Boon Modern Romance, The French Aristocrat's Baby, has gone on release in the US. It's published as a Harlequin Presents Extra, with a new title: The Count's Challenge. You can see the details here: http://www.eharlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=23974

I've also been busy updating my author biography and photographs. If you'd like the new information, please mail me via my website, http://www.christinahollis.com .

Here in the UK we've had some beautiful weather over the past few weeks. I hope the weather is good where you are, too!

Congratulations...

2011-06-01T00:27:00.000-07:00

...To Minna and Judith, who won signed copies of The Hot Headed Virgin collection in my May Competition. Thank you to everyone who entered!

Another Shameless Plug...

2011-05-24T08:56:00.000-07:00

But at least I'm honest about it!
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!

Luscious Strawberries...

2011-05-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

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!
PS: Don't forget to enter my competition on http://www.christinahollis.com

One, Two, Three...

2011-05-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

One collection, two beautiful covers, three stories of awakening passion....
The Hot Headed Virgin collection has a special place in my heart. As well as two great reads, The Virgin's Price by Melanie Milburne and The Greek's Virgin by Trish Morey, it includes my very first modern romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon - The Italian Billionaire's Virgin. It's lovely to see it now now released as part of this anthology. On the right you can see the cover for the Australian edition, while below is the UK version. Visit my website, http://www.christinahollis.com for details of my May competition, with a chance to win signed copies. Happy reading!

A Busy Week

2011-04-25T21:18:00.000-07:00

There's a lot going on this week. It's been my daughter's birthday - where on earth have the past twenty years gone? The weather's been so good she's been able to have some fresh ripe strawberries, warm from the greenhouse, but the icing on her birthday cake went a bit awry. She wanted lemon feather icing, but it sent a bit too quickly so it was more impressionistic - from my 'yellow' period (!) There's going to be a village bring and share picnic to celebrate the Royal Wedding Holiday, as well as a soup and sweet session organised by the church the day before, all in the name of good neighbourly relations. It's lovely how this wedding is bringing people together. Let's hope the weather is good for all these outdoor events. I'll be making some celebration traybakes to take along - what's your favourite dish for sharing?

A Day Off...

2011-04-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I turned in the manuscript of my latest Mills & Boon Modern Romance, provisionally entitled Fire and Ice. As my editor is taking a few days well earned rest, today I squeezed in a sneaky day away from the computer. That meant spending some time in the garden. I'd love to say this is a picture of my handiwork, but sadly, it isn't! I also went for a nice long walk, listening out for the cuckoo. No luck - the wind is still a bit chilly for him. I've been trying to walk a minimum of twelve thousand steps per day to counteract the time I spend sat at the keyboard, but it's hard work! I need lots of encouragement, and with the beautiful river Wye 3,500 steps away (a figure burned into my brain), that's one obvious target. Unfortunately, to get there I have to pass the only shop for miles around. It sells chocolate.
Enough said...

Starting All Over Again!

2011-03-31T03:52:00.000-07:00

I've just finished the first draft of a new Modern Romance. There are always mixed feelings when I type those two little words 'The End' at the foot of a final page. First there's the little flush of pleasure that comes from inventing a whole world in fifty thousand words. Then there's the tinge of sadness as I face saying goodbye to a hero and heroine that I've been living with night and day, waking and sleeping, for several months. That's soon replaced by the thought of starting all over again with a new couple. Looking around for inspiration is always an exciting time. It can strike at any time - when I overhear a snatch of conversation, see someone with Alpha potential, or while I'm on the school run. Not that I get much time to daydream. There's the next draft of my current work in progress, tentatively called Fire and Ice, to polish!

Great News!

2011-02-05T01:35:00.000-08:00

Photo: Ian Britton

I've just had another Christina Hollis book accepted by Harlequin Mills and Boon! The Weight Of The Crown will be published in the autumn of this year (2011) and it marks a bit of a departure for me. It's set in the beautiful little desert country of Rosara, whose regent, Lysander, is drawn to the one woman in the world who fights his animal attraction. That makes her a challenge Lysander can't resist. Alyssa is already suffering from a broken heart when she arrives to work for Lysander, so she's never going to fall for a man with his reputation. She won't give in, but he won't give up - so something (or someone!) has to change.
The freedom to invent my own country in Rosara was amazing. Much as I loved writing about it, I wouldn't want to live in a desert land. England is such a place of contrasts, my heart will always be here. At the moment we're creeping out from under the worst winter we've had for years, but the sight of early spring flowers like snowdrops, aconites and witch hazel is a lovely contrast to all the gloom. Just like reading romance!

Here, There and Everywhere...

2011-01-05T00:50:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year - how are you getting on with all those resolutions? January can be dark and dreary but I've got lots of things to look forward to this month. My latest Harlequin Presents Extra Title, The Master of Bella Terra, is released in the US and I'm blogging to celebrate it.
On Wednesday, January 5th I'll be at http://www.iheartpresents.com
On Saturday, January 8th I'll be at http://www.pinkheartsociety.blogspot.com
On Sunday, January 9th I'll be posting at http://www.authorsoundrelations.blogspot.com
I'd love you to drop by and maybe post a comment!

Happy New Year!

2010-12-27T01:23:00.000-08:00

I hope you had a lovely Christmas break, and that you're now looking forward to a happy, peaceful and productive New Year!

January 2011 sees my latest book, The Master of Bella Terra, released in the US as a Presents Extra. I'll be blogging this month at IHeartPresents (http://www.iheartpresents.com) on Wednesday, January 5th, at the Pink Heart Society (http://pinkheartsociety.blogspot.com) on Saturday 8th January and Author Sound Relations (http://authorsoundrelations.blogspot.com) on Sunday 9th January, and I'd love you to drop by.

Competition Winners!

2010-12-05T03:31:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Beth and Kelly, who won first and second prizes respectively in my Christmas Competition. I've already emailed you both, separately. Thanks to all who entered!

We've been snowed in for the last week, and everywhere looked so pretty. With the lane impassable to traffic, it's been very quiet. The only sounds have been deer moving through the wood, and squirrels scampering through the branches. Then yesterday it began to thaw, but a penetrating frost overnight turned even the cleared tracks glassy with black ice. Getting to church was a challenge - half a mile down a slippery slope, then a quarter of a mile up a steeper one, but it was worth it to see the second candle lit on the Advent wreath.

Remember, Remember - My Blogging Schedule

2010-11-05T02:59:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the UK launch of The Italian's Blushing Gardener I'm blogging over on http://jauntyquills.com on Friday, 5th November and my monthly slot at http://www.authorsoundrelations.blogspot.com is on Sunday 14th. Then on 17th November I'm being interviewed by the Minxes on http://minxesofromance.blogspot.com. I'd really love you to drop by and post a comment, for the usual bribe of a signed copy!

Here are the Winners!

2010-10-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Laurie G, Annie M and Peggy Q, who all won copies of my latest Mills and Boon Modern Romance, The Italian's Blushing Gardener in the competition drawn on 22nd October!

Competition Time!

2010-10-22T01:30:00.000-07:00

There's still time to enter my latest competition: nip over to http://www.christinahollis.com for details!

Went out for a lovely romantic dinner at the Stonemill Restaurant last night, just me and my lovely OH. Then there was a lovely moonlit walk, followed by a drive home through the forest. It was magical.

My Latest Release...

2010-09-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

This is a great cover, but wait until you see the new-style artwork for my next romance - 'The Italian's Blushing Gardener'. It'll be on sale in a few weeks time, so keep your eyes open!

I Love Technology

2010-09-24T06:48:00.001-07:00

They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. That's true - one blogging webinar and I've started pressing buttons all over the place. How did I get here? I have no idea. Will it work? I don't know, but I'm experimenting with all sorts of things at the moment as I love chatting to readers, writers and other interesting people.
It's currently 3pm on Friday afternoon, and my brain is in meltdown after a whole week of writing interspersed by hideous domestic dramas, so I thought I'd kick back by trying making my own blog. As a technological dimwit (the title's a joke, in case you hadn't guessed) I'd welcome any help. When it comes to this site what you see is, quite literally, what you get. What's the best way to illustrate a blog? What are the things you love to read about? How often do you dip into the blogs you follow?

A signed copy of my next Harlequin Mills and Boon Modern Romance, The Italian's Blushing Gardener, will go to the sender of the best hint, tip or nice, polite suggestion!