Christina Hollis: More Good News About Books!

Find out more at mybook.to/BristolWomen

“‘Twas two weeks before Christmas…” but I’m not only here to wish you a happy holiday season (though of course that takes pride of place!)

Today I can let you into a couple of  secrets I've been keeping for a while. 

The first is about my non-fiction book, Struggle and Suffrage—Women's Lives in Bristol, which features true-life stories about women from the English port city of Bristol. My second snippet of news is about cut-price books—and you really can’t afford to miss that during the holiday season! 

First, news about my next title. Publishers Pen and Sword Books will be releasing Struggle and Suffrage—Women's Lives in Bristol on 28^thFebruary, 2019. 

I've loved working on this project, and it’s got something for everyone. I was born half-way between Bristol and Bath, and Bristol was the city we visited most often as a child. I’d always considered it to be a great place, but I never realised it was such an incubator of female talent until I started my research. That was way back in 2016. I’ve discovered a new fascination for the place and its people.  From the woman who inspired transport genius Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the young women who took a road trip in the days when men were usually welded to every vehicle's driving seat, to a pioneer of premature-baby care, they all star in my book.  

Find out how the other half lived in dear old Bristol by ordering your copy of Women’s Lives in advance here.

Find out more at mybook.to/HeartOfAHostage

My next bit of news is that the third romance in my Princes of Kharova series, Heart of a Hostage, is on special offer right now. Princess Maia is fed up of being overshadowed by the lives of her two older brothers. She’s determined to make her mark. Find out how she exposes the secret hidden in her kidnapper’s hideout for the offer price of only $3.36 (£2.59 in the UK) That's a whole 70% off! But be quick—this offer won't last forever. Grab yourself bargain here!

As well as non-fiction, 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

The resolution route - Kandy Shepherd

Happy New Year to all my lovely Tote Bags ‘n’ Blogs friends! Whether you’re sweltering in heat-waves like we are Down Under or delighting in record snow falls I wish you all the best for 2017.

Did you make some New Year resolutions? By January 9 mine are usually well and truly broken so this year I decided not to make any. They’re inevitably the same anyway: lose weight, get fitter, budget better etcetera, etcetera. I know I want to do all that stuff but I might succeed if I look at them in a less punitive way! My dietician-in-training daughter is telling me it's all about mindfulness and I'm investigating that too.

But of course the one thing I do intend to do is to continue to enjoy writing romance novels—and reading them too!

What about you? Are you a resolution maker—or not? Have you ever made a resolution you were very glad you made? Do make a comment as I’d love to hear about it.

(If you're in the mood for relaxing rather than making resolutions, my fun, sensual holiday novella, Millionaire Under the Mistletoe is at e-retailers for just $0.99.

Kandy Shepherd is a multi-published, award-winning author of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She lives on a small farm in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, with her family and a menagerie of four-legged friends.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

Connect with Kandy on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest

Getting Into The Holiday Spirit -- Michelle Monkou

Thanksgiving in the the U.S.is over. Black Friday mayhem is another memorable blip on our timeline. And now it's time to get into the swing of things with the holiday season.

For me, Christmas is about childhood memories and the ones that I hopefully created for my children. The smell of food cooking, especially baked goodies, would fill the kitchen and the rest of the house with delicious smells. Decorations would be pulled out for quick inspection and then adorn walls, shelves, and the corner for the Christmas tree. And Christmas songs playing on the stereo were the official signal that our house would be turned into a winter wonderland.

From the list of popular Christmas songs, I have a few that always touch me and bring me closer to the reason for the season.

I hope that whatever your faith or philosophy you also have wonderful memories and songs that bring you good cheer.

Here's to a delightful December:



Celtic Women - O Holy Night

Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song

How do you celebrate the season? Any favorite songs to share?

All the best,


Michelle Monkou
http://michellemonkou.com

Three Top Tips For A Happy Holiday

Think back - when you were little, what are the things you most remember about this time of year? As well as the toys and sweets, anticipation was always such a big thing. Waiting to take part in the school play, then for the school term to finish, finally opening the last door on the advent calendar and then waiting for Santa to arrive - the time crawled by, without a thought for the supporting cast. Now you're all grown up and likely to be the one doing the hard work, there never seems to be enough hours in a day to get everything done.  This is always going to be a hectic time, but here are a few ideas for making it a bit less painful...

1. PRIORITISE:  Getting the whole family around the table is a major undertaking. Forget about being a martyr - if anyone asks if you want help, accept their offer. Even if it's just taking care of the children for half an hour, it's one thing less for you to worry about. Guests could bring-and-share a pudding or some snacks, and that will help reduce the pressure. If you're cooking for a bigger number of people than usual, don't feel you have to do all the catering yourself. Even if you love cooking, there's so much meeting and greeting to be done, try and find some shortcuts. Good quality ready-made pastry is almost indistinguishable from home made, and if you prepare as much as you can ahead of time (prepping the vegetables and making a chilled dessert, for instance) it'll reduce the stress on the day.

2. HAVE A PLAN B: Take nobody's word for it. If you're lucky enough to buy your Christmas in a box from some grand department store like Harrods, double check delivery times and dates to make sure it arrives when you want it, and have contact numbers on hand in the unlikely event it doesn't. If you're spending Christmas out of town, make sure there's a generator in case the power fails at a critical moment (that's happened here more than once). As insurance, make sure you've got a little something that won't need cooking, fresh fruit, some good cheese, decent crackers - and plenty of chocolate, of course!

3. REHEARSE YOUR SMILE: When everything goes to plan, it'll be the perfect finishing touch. If there are a few wobbles in your perfect holiday, remember it could be worse. Have another bit of cake and tell yourself this was only a trial run. There's always next year.
Finally, if it all gets too much, a look through this list will really restore your faith in human nature - bit.ly/12jBFpS . 

What's your best Christmas memory? There's a signed book from my backlist on offer to a comment picked at random - and my sincere wishes for a peaceful, happy holiday for you all.

Christina Hollis has written both Historical fiction and Modern Romance/Presents for Harlequin Mills and Boon Ltd, as well non-fiction for national magazines and prize-winning short stories. Her current release, Lady Rascal is available for download from  Amazon, iTunes  and many other retailers, while her next book,  Changing Fortunes, will be published in early 2013. She loves to hear from readers - you can contact her through her website or her blog.

How Will You Spend the Holiday Season? Annie West

It’s that time of year when the world seems to get more frantic. People are trying to catch up on all the tasks they want to complete before 2008, arrange to meet friends and family, organise celebrations or even vacations away. As usual, I approach the end of the year with a sense of anticipation and nerves (at everything I have to do). How about you? Do you have everything under control, are you in a panicked rush or does the holiday season slide by easily?

I decided not to fret over the small things. Here’s my list of major tasks/pleasures I’m working on:

Ensuring we have plenty of food in the house. (Not easy with teenagers). This is the time of year that we make a special effort to spend time with family in particular and there’s nothing like an abundance of food to help the celebrations along.


Making sure we get together with friends. It’s summer here and the parties have begun. I’m looking forward to sitting by the pool/lake/barbeque/beach with a long cold drink and chatting with friends.

Organising gifts for the special people in our lives. Last year we had such fun buying gifts via Oxfam. Those gifts supplied clean drinking water, fruit trees and livestock to people in different parts of the globe. I loved seeing my brother in law’s face when he received a card saying his gift was a goat for a family on the other side of the world. I’m glad to say he was pleased.

Starting the next story. Actually I’ve started writing but I want to learn more about these characters and how they’re going to grapple with the conflict I’ve given them. It promises to be fun!

Writing letters. Yes, I know it can be a chore but I LOVE to receive news from my friends who live a long distance away, even if it’s just a couple of scribbled sentences on a card, so I’m working my way through my own address book right now!

Volunteering time with a local charity as part of their Christmas support for families.

Sneaking time to read some of the fabulous books that have come my way. There’s nothing like an Aussie summer’s day when everyone is well fed, there’s a leisurely cricket match on the TV keeping people occupied and I’m relaxing with a good book.

Above all, taking time out to reflect and be thankful for the many wonderful things in my life.

How about you? Do you have priorities for the season? Do you celebrate at this time of year? Or if not, when is your special time?

Annie
Annie is thrilled to say her next book, ‘The Greek Tycoon’s Unexpected Wife’ is out very soon: UK (Jan), Aus/NZ (Feb) and a little later in North America (Presents May).

If you want to check out an excerpt, just visit her website and go to the books page.