Heart's Desire - Christina Hollis

A while ago, I read Jack Canfield’s ‘The Success Principles’ and it made a real impression on me. It’s a motivational book, and it led to me getting my first Modern Romance accepted by Harlequin Mills and Boon so I’m living proof that the Success Principles system works (if you use the system)!

One of the exercises was to list all the things you’d like to achieve before you die. I thought meeting and falling in love with my husband was the ultimate prize – he’s the answer to all my dreams - but I duly wrote out my own ‘bucket list’ and it was fun. It concentrated my mind to the point where I’ve actually managed to tick off a few more ambitions along the way, including the one that was originally at the very top of my list. That was to get The Italian Billionaire’s Virgin published, which happened for me last year. More recently, I’ve been tackling the entries ‘keep chickens’ and ‘start beekeeping’. The poultry was a bit of a cop-out – we’d hung on to all the equipment from the last time we had a flock, and the children have been hankering for some pets. They’re thrilled with our new hens, and have even taken on some responsibility for looking after them. In a few weeks time they’ll get the thrill of collecting eggs warm from the nest as a reward.

Spring is such a lovely time of year, and a good time to try one of my other ambitions - beekeeping. This is much more of a challenge. I’m absolutely terrified of getting stung, but apparently honeybees are in real danger of dying out here in the UK. It’s important to get as many people as possible caring for them, as health problems in wild colonies mean they never last long. So as I want to help stop their decline, I have to fight my phobia. Luckily, the course I’ve been taking has been mainly classroom based. The only time we students have been let near to the bees they’ve been calm and didn’t sting anybody!

To celebrate spring and all these new beginnings, I’m holding a competition on my website, http://www.christinahollis.com/. It runs until the end of May and for the chance of winning some signed books (including my next release, Her Ruthless Italian Boss) and other goodies, all you need to do is email me at christinahollis@hotmail.co.uk with a list of five things you’d love to achieve. To get you started, here’s a selection from my current list:

To hold a traditional Christmas party, including all my extended family;
To become an established author,
To meet a reindeer;
To plough with horses and
To get de-stressed (ha!)

Put ‘competition’ in the email’s subject line, and I’ll be selecting a winner after the closing date of 31st May. Good luck!

Christina

http://www.christinahollis.com/