Tell us about yourself?
I'm
a married mum of two, who's been a full-time writer for a long time. At
first I wrote non-fiction articles for national magazines. My favourite
job in those days was producing a long-running series on gardening, for
a monthly publication aimed at Pre-School teachers. Then I branched out
into writing historical fiction for the Harlequin Masquerade line.
After that, I was seduced into writing contemporary escapist fiction,
which is my favourite discipline (so far).
What inspired you to be a writer?
I
can't remember a time when I haven't written. Not long after we were
married, my husband suggested I left my office job to see if I could
make a living from my writing. He's so supportive, you could really call
him my inspiration.
How did you choose your genre?
I came up with the idea for an historical romance when I was about fifteen, and spent my angst-ridden teenage years developing it. After a lot of rejections, revisions and complete alterations, it was eventually published as Knight's Pawn. Five more historical novels followed, all written before I had a computer. I live in the depths of the English countryside, so every bit of research meant towing small children half way across the county, to our nearest reference library. After a few years of doing this, I began to yearn for the glamor of researching contemporary romance. Sitting at home flicking through glossy magazines is a whole lot easier than wrangling a buggy up several flights of stairs when the library lifts are out of order!
I came up with the idea for an historical romance when I was about fifteen, and spent my angst-ridden teenage years developing it. After a lot of rejections, revisions and complete alterations, it was eventually published as Knight's Pawn. Five more historical novels followed, all written before I had a computer. I live in the depths of the English countryside, so every bit of research meant towing small children half way across the county, to our nearest reference library. After a few years of doing this, I began to yearn for the glamor of researching contemporary romance. Sitting at home flicking through glossy magazines is a whole lot easier than wrangling a buggy up several flights of stairs when the library lifts are out of order!
What made you tell this story and why did you write this book?
I wrote this book to escape from an endless winter of grey, cold, drizzly days. Rain was lashing against the window, but in my imagination I was soaking up the sun on a beach in Greece. Imagination is an amazing thing. Central heating and double glazing are pretty useful at times like that, too.
I wrote this book to escape from an endless winter of grey, cold, drizzly days. Rain was lashing against the window, but in my imagination I was soaking up the sun on a beach in Greece. Imagination is an amazing thing. Central heating and double glazing are pretty useful at times like that, too.
How did you come up with the title?
Leo Gregoryanak had to give up his career as a brilliant medical student when his older brother, the King of Kharova, died. His Majesty's Secret Passion opens as Leo is spending his last few weeks of freedom before his coronation at an exclusive spa in Greece. He thinks a fling with independent, like-minded Sara will be nothing but a quick distraction. They both turn out to be so wrong. It becomes a life-changing, unstoppable love story.
Leo Gregoryanak had to give up his career as a brilliant medical student when his older brother, the King of Kharova, died. His Majesty's Secret Passion opens as Leo is spending his last few weeks of freedom before his coronation at an exclusive spa in Greece. He thinks a fling with independent, like-minded Sara will be nothing but a quick distraction. They both turn out to be so wrong. It becomes a life-changing, unstoppable love story.
What is your favourite scene?
I really enjoyed writing His Majesty's Secret Passion,
so choosing my favourite scene is difficult. As I enjoy romantic meals
with my husband, I think it has to be Leo and Sara's dinner together.
You can read the extract on my blog, here: http://bit.ly/1BBzb8L. Sara
is determined to be stiff and businesslike, while Leo's intent on
making her relax. It's for her own good, but helping her soon throws his
own problems into the spotlight.
Tell us a little about your book?
Leo
and Sara both work far too hard. They each have very different reasons
for doing it, but the lives they left behind before they met on holiday
are making them unhappy. Their holiday romance starts as a glamorous
escape from reality, but it soon turns into much more. When Sara
discovers the dangerous truth Leo has been hiding from her, it blows
them apart. It takes a near tragedy to bring them together again.
Buy Links:
Amazon
Amazon UK
Wild Rose Press
Christina
Hollis writes contemporary fiction starring complex men and independent
women–when she isn't cooking, gardening or beekeeping. Her books have been
translated into more than a dozen languages, and she’s sold over two million
books worldwide. You can catch up with her at http://www.christinahollis.blogspot.com,
on Twitter, Facebook, and see a full list of her published
books at http://www.christinahollis.com. Her current release, His Majesty's Secret Passion, is published by Wild Rose Press.
Buy Links:
Amazon
Amazon UK
Wild Rose Press
Goodreads Book Giveaway
His Majesty's Secret Passion
by Christina Hollis
Giveaway ends March 01, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Oh wow! This book sounds fantastic. Wonderful meeting you, Christina!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tanya. It's lovely to be here!
DeleteWelcome to Romance Book Paradise Christina! I hope you would enjoy chatting with all my friends here!
DeleteHi Christina
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this story :) Greece is one place I really want to visit and Leo and Sara were so good together
Have Fun
Helen
Thanks, Helen. I concentrated on the lovely things about Greece, as there's not too much good news about the country at the moment,
DeleteNice to meet you, Christina!
ReplyDeleteThanks, William. It's lovely to be invited here!
DeleteThe book sounds awesome, Christina!
ReplyDeleteWe're in the middle of a loooong winter too - maybe time to write about Greece here as well! :)
Thanks for commenting, Jemi —and for the Tweets, too. I can definitely recommend writing (and reading) about sunshine and holidays as a cure for the winter blues. It's *almost* as good as being there—and a lot cheaper!
DeleteThis sounds like an interesting book ... I hope it does really well xox
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger I used to be into the historical books.. I read a series of them and fell in love with all the characters and as I grew up I realized there was a massive amount of work in these books... they spanned many years and many countries... they are a labor of love xox
Thanks for your good wishes, Launna. As you say, writing historical novels really is a labour of love. I promise myself I'll write another one soon, but at the moment I'm having such a great time writing contemporary romance...maybe next year! ;)
DeleteGreat meeting you. It's wonderful having a supportive husband.
ReplyDeleteHi, Nas!
Lovely to meet you too, Carol. I'm very lucky with OH—it's not easy living with a writer ;)
DeleteAs I like anything to do with food, real or imagined, I flipped across and read the excerpt. Cool!
ReplyDeleteHi Nas! Hope you're having fun. (We just survived a cyclone!)
Denise :-)
Hi Denise, glad you are ok. I was following the progression of the cyclone on the news...whew...was bad for a while.
DeleteThanks for dropping by!
Thanks for commenting, Denise—it's good to know you enjoyed the excerpt from His Majesty's Secret Passion. I'm glad you survived the cyclone. I hope the weather's improved now.
DeleteGood luck with the new book. Christina. It sounds really good. Wait. Never mind. You don't need luck... you've got determination and perseverance. That trumps luck any day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for saying such lovely things, Susan. They are just what I need to hear first thing on a dark, cold and wet Monday morning!
ReplyDeleteI love that your husband was so supportive and gave you the encouragement you needed to make a god of writing.
ReplyDeleteI am impressed that your husband encouraged you to leave your day job and pursue a writing career. Not to many husbands would do that.
ReplyDeleteI am impressed that your husband encouraged you to leave your day job and pursue a writing career. Not to many husbands would do that.
ReplyDeleteBravo, Christina! And I agree with the ladies above. You are very lucky that your husband supports your choice of writing. I also agree that creating stories helps me get away from the dreary weather for a while. Good luck with your most recent book. You deserve it.
ReplyDeleteWriting and reading are great escapes. I enjoyed reading about Christina and her work.
ReplyDeleteI want to escape from winter, too!! Great idea :) Congrats!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE your author pic, Christina! I write historical too...sometimes, and I can't imagine trekking to the library with my little for research. Whew! I'm exhausted just from the thought.
ReplyDeleteI love that her husband told her to leave her jobs and follow her writing dreams! THAT is awesome! :) After the winter we have been having, I can totally understand where Christina's inspiration came from. Wishing her the best of luck!
ReplyDelete~Jess
Another interesting review. I like the fact that her husband backed her up from the beginning.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
Congratulations to Tanya Reimer! You on this Christina Hollis giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThanks! That's so flipping awesome! Yay!
ReplyDelete