Christina Hollis: Happy Holidays!

My Alma Mater—Francis Close Hall at UoG

Next month I'll be returning for my second year as a mature student at the University of Gloucestershire. The terms whizzed by and the holidays passed even faster. I've gained such a lot from the experience, and had so much fun, I think everyone should try it!

I've already passed modules in Creative Studies, Genre Fiction and Phase One of the project that will become my dissertation. This coming semester I'm signed up for Research Methods. Then in the New Year I'll be studying the teaching of creative writing and starting an independent project. 

My independent project will link back to the Research Methods module. I live in the Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire. The area has a rich industrial past, and the local people are proud of their background. The Dean Heritage Museum is an important resource for historians and writers. It's only a few miles from my house, so I'll be a constant visitor once the academic year begins. 

Find out more at mybook.to/BristolWomen

Building on the work I did for my current release, the non-fiction book Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol, my projects will centre on the big changes in home life over the past one hundred years. I'm trying to gather as much information as I can in advance. This is where you come in! 

Do you have any memories of the long school holidays in the days before mobile phones and laptops? Over on my blog, I'm recalling the endless sunny days and the feasts of homegrown food. What did you and your friends get up to when you were let off the educational leash for weeks on end? 

Christina Hollis's first non-fiction book, Struggle and Suffrage in Bristol is published by Pen and Sword Books. You can find out more about that here, catch up with her at https://christinahollisbooks.online, on Twitter, Facebook, and see a full list of her published books at christinahollis.com

Christina Hollis: A Learning Experience

Beautiful, isn't it? Pic via Pixabay

I can't believe how quickly my first term at university is passing. It's flying by. I assumed it would be only my writing that saw the benefit of a Masters course at the University of Gloucestershire. Instead, it's proving to be invaluable in all sorts of ways. 

My navigating, driving, parking, and socialising skills are all improving in leaps and bounds. I can now find my way around Cheltenham pretty well (both on foot and by car), I've learned the best lanes to be in during rush hour (because there's so much traffic you can't always see the lane markings). I always used to go shopping very early, so there was plenty of room to park. My university schedule means that's no longer an option. I've had to get used to reversing into the very last parking space in a packed car park (driving a tiny car helped with that one!).  Workshopping as part of a group of ten isn't half as bad as I thought it would be, now I've got used to everyone.

I'd recommend further education to everyone. You're never too old to learn something new!

Christina Hollis writes contemporary fiction starring complex men and independent women. She has written more than twenty novels, sold nearly three million books, and her work has been translated into twenty different languages. When she isn’t writing, Christina is cooking, walking her dog, or gardening.

You can catch up with her at https://christinahollisbooks.online, on Twitter, Facebook, and see a full list of her published books at christinahollis.com

Christina Hollis - Creative Writing, Chapter and....Prose

Hard at Work...(with biscuits)

Last year, the Romantic Novelists' Association awarded each of its local chapters £100 (around $168) to be spent on a constructive writing project of their choice. I'm a member of the RNA's Marcher Chapter, which covers the border country between England and Wales. We put our heads together, and decided to use our windfall to fund a day-long, fully catered creative writing workshop for our members.

We held Be A Fool For Love For A Day on the day closest to April Fool's Day that we could book at our favourite venue, the slick Hereford Courtyard arts venue.  The photo shows (clockwise, from bottom left) Fay Wentworth, Georgia Hill, Christina Courtenay, Joanna Maitland, Marilyn Rodwell and organizer, Ann Ankers, in mid-session.

My Current Release

A month in advance, we each submitted up to ten pages of a current project to our organizer, Ann Ankers. You can read part of my extract on my blog, by clicking here. Ann collated the entries into one document, removing our names and giving each entry a unique identifier. Members then read and critiqued every entry (including their own) before reading out their thoughts on each piece in turn during the day of the workshop. We then discussed them individually, in depth. This system worked really well, especially as everyone stuck to the ratio of three stars to one strike. That means, three good points were highlighted for every piece of constructive criticism given. The whole day was a really positive experience, and everyone went away full of ideas.

Last Tuesday, 10th June, we had a follow-up meeting. Everyone's made great progress with their projects and several (including me!) had completed their featured projects and submitted them to publishers.  Our first workshop proved such a success we're now planning a second one, to be held later this year. That's given us all a big incentive to start work on new projects.

Are you a member of a critique group? What's the most useful piece of advice you've been given?

Christina Hollis writes both contemporary and historical fiction - when she isn't cooking, gardening or beekeeping. You can catch up with her at http://www.christinahollis.blogspot.com, on Twitter and Facebook, and see a full list of her published books at http://www.christinahollis.com