Christina Hollis: Dreadline Fever, and A Winter Warmer!

DD's new (actually 400+ years old!) house

I hope you had a lovely start to the New Year. I've been busy working on an assignment since the semester ended just before Christmas. The deadline is tomorrow, which is why I'm typing this  blog with one hand while making dinner with the other!

I've only cooked about one or two meals per week since term ended on 20th December. Each Sunday I did a big roast as usual, and I also cooked lunch on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The rest of the time my family took turns, so I could concentrate on writing my essays. 

Now everyone has gone back to work. DD has the added stress of masterminding the move into her new home, so I'm back on cooking duties. Tonight we're having one of our favourites—vegetable casserole.

We're not vegetarians by any means but vegetable casserole is one of the cheapest, easiest and most filling things in the world to make, although it takes a while to prepare everything and it takes an hour or two to cook. It's a recipe I invented so there are

Pic by Loubos Houska via Pixabay

no weights and measures. That's what makes it so easy! All you do is peel and/or trim some carrots, potatoes, onions, and any other similar "hard" veg you have to hand such as celery, swede, turnip or sweet potato. Cut everything into slices about as thick as a coin. Put all the sliced veg into a big casserole dish and add enough stock (made from a cube if you don't make your own) to almost cover it. Cook in a low oven (about 160 degrees) for a couple of hours, or until the vegetables are soft. Stir once or twice, and season before serving. If you have room in your oven you can put in a milk pudding and a rich fruit cake at the same time, as they benefit from long slow cooking. 

I serve vegetable casserole either with home-made bread or cheese scones. If there's anything left over, I liquidise it, add some chilli powder or garam masala,  and reheat it next day as soup. 

What's your favourite warming winter recipe?

Christina Hollis has written six historical novels, eighteen contemporary novels, sold nearly three million books, and her work has been translated into twenty different languages. When she isn’t working on getting her MA from the University of Gloucestershire, Christina is cooking, gardening, or walking her dog.

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 christinahollis.com

Christina Hollis: Countdown to Launch Day!

We had snow last night—
let's hope the weather's better next Friday!

This is an exciting time for students at the University of Gloucestershire. 22nd November (next Friday) sees the launch of Heritage: New Writing VIII.

Heritage is an anthology of poetry, prose and artwork of work from alumni past and present, young and old. A selection of work from our parter foundation, Humber College in Canada, is included, too.

Creating the anthology was a great team-building exercise for students on our MA course. Our tutor Mike was an éminence gris, overseeing the project while leaving the organisation and method to our group. We managed everything, from call for submissions to planning the launch night, ourselves.

With more than a dozen people involved (and with our typesetter and publisher's baby due at any moment!) it was quite an undertaking.

A special mention must go to Shannon Storm, who created all the promotional artwork together with the book cover you can see below. It's difficult to see the fine detail at this resolution, but the cover includes a map of the world with the countries made up of fingerprints. It looks amazing in real life!

We wanted our theme to appeal to as many people as possible. The title Heritage is ideal as it is open to a wide variety of interpretations. Cheltenham's geography helped with this. As a Georgian spa town and the gateway to the world-famous Cotswolds, there's no shortage of inspiration right here.

The work of our contributors is as varied as they are. We have pieces that look back, appreciate the present, and look forward into dystopian futures.  There really is something for everyone!

Next month I'll give you some more details about Heritage, and report on our book launch.

Christina Hollis: Quick as a Flash!

Pic by Ipicgr via Pixabay

That's how fast the past six months have gone. I'm already well into my second semester at the University of Gloucestershire, yet as recently as last July becoming a mature student was the last thing on my mind.  I picked up a prospectus when I took my son to the university's open day and...here I am, studying for my Master's in Critical and Creative Writing!

Over the past twenty-six weeks I've read what feels like a million books, analysed the living daylights out of the pastoral tradition, developed the idea for a novel about coercive control, and written the first ten thousand words of a non-fiction project on the changing role of women in the countryside. Oh, and I'm also part of the editorial team putting together the university's 2019 collection of new writing. 

Friday12th April was the end of term. I spent the first day of my Easter break recovering! A lie-in until six am, then dog-walking, gardening, and eating. That's my idea of the perfect holiday. Today I'm blogging, then next Sunday I'll be taking part  in the village's Easter Service.  

We're not going away at all for the holiday, but compared to many of the women I wrote about in my most recent book, Struggle and Suffrage In Bristol I don't have anything to complain about.

Find out more at http://bit.ly/PSBristol

In August 1886, social campaigner Mary Clifford wrote of a workhouse treat she organized to the seaside.* A poor one-eyed girl who had been found a position as servant in a lodging house fifteen years earlier was allowed to accompany her old friends on the trip. The annual workhouse treat to the seaside was the sole outing she had all year. As well as putting her helpless mistress to bed each night, she was looking after another old lady of ninety-two and waiting on other lodgers in the house. This poor servant made the most of every minute of her day at the seaside. She gathered a long black tail of seaweed, filled her pocket-handkerchief with pebbles as a souvenir to take back for her mistress, and spent her holiday money on a bunch of country flowers. 

It makes you realise how lucky we are these days, doesn’t it? 

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

*Williams, Gwen Mary, Mary Clifford Bristol, 1921 Arrowsmith books.