Romance author

Guest post. Karen Louise Hollis

/ lizziechantree / Leave a comment

I’m thrilled to have Karen Louise Hollis on my blog today. Karen runs her own (very popular) blog, alongside writing lots of beautiful books. I asked her about both and she’s here to tell us more.

From Karen:

I started writing my blog because I have been reviewing books online since 2000, when I wrote reviews for sites like Ciao and Dooyoo. I also used to review books on Facebook, but realised they could only be seen by my Facebook friends, so I decided to start a book blog two years ago.

This led to me joining various blog tours and using my blog to review those, alongside the odd blog post about my own writing and some interview posts. Then more recently, I decided (after finishing writing my third novel), I should put more time into my blog and try to create content on a daily basis, instead of the usual three posts a week I had been doing.

So I started to contact authors I knew online, or those who had written books I had read and enjoyed, or those whose work I was interested in to see if they would like to be on my blog. I was amazed how many did and especially thrilled that some of my favourite authors like Milly Johnson and Lisa Jewell said yes! Wow! I tend to ask the same ten questions, though I vary it occasionally depending on who I am interviewing.

I have written many more non-fiction books than fiction and these include lots of gymnastics books where I have interviewed gymnasts who competed for their countries from the 1950s to the present day. As both my parents were journalists, this feels like my natural home. I am fascinated by people and truly believe everyone has a story. I ask the questions I want to know the answer to and I hope readers will find the answers interesting too. This is the same with my author questions. My first question I ask is about the books and authors they read as a child and wow, nearly everyone says Enid Blyton (me included), she was such a wonderful writer for getting kids reading and caught up in all the magical worlds we find between the pages.

BLURB

Becki is fifty and a single mum to eleven-year-old Jemima, after being widowed five years ago. Dan is forty-eight and a single dad to eleven-year-old Freddie, after his wife left him five years ago. They have both given up on love. But when they all go to Silver Sands Bay on the Lincolnshire coast for the summer, will they be able to put the past behind them and find love again?

Links

Twitter – https://twitter.com/KarenLNHollis

IG – https://www.instagram.com/karenlouisehollis/

Blog – iheartbooks.blog/blog

Amazon Author Page – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Karen-Louise-Hollis/e/B00NSLQME6?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1691933322&sr=8-1

Bio – About Karen Louise Hollis

I was born in Lincoln, England in 1969. I loved writing from an early age, being the daughter of two journalists. I am a mum to five children and have three grandchildren. I have had over twenty books published and have written about a variety of topics including motherhood, poetry, Doctor Who and gymnastics. My first novel Welcome to Whitlock Close came out in 2022 and my second one Starting Again in Silver Sands Bay in 2023.

Daily smiles.

/ lizziechantree / 1 Comment

Hello everyone. How are you? I’ve finally sent book two back to my editor for the second round of edits and am starting book 3 in my most recent series, which is based in Cherry Blossom Lane. I’ve been trying to be more active on social media and have been making lots of Instagram, Facebook and TikTok posts, which has been a learning curve. It’s given me the chance to chat to some new readers and subscribers, so I’m really enjoying it too.

The next writing buddy session I’m hosting with fellow author, Chris Penhall, at Fete cafe in Chelmsford, Essex, will be on the 16th March. Details can be found here.

Here are some memes I’ve made to hopefully make you smile today. Feel free to drop me a message or comment to let me know what you’re working on, or reading, at the moment. Have a great week! From Lizzie. x

February word count.

/ lizziechantree / 1 Comment

Hello everyone. I haven’t posted here for a while. How are you all? I’ve been working on the second book in the Cherry Blossom Lane series and have just received the first edits back from my editor. The book is called, The One That He Wants and is the second book in the series to My Perfect Ex. It’s always exciting and nerve wracking to open that email to see what she says! Luckily she loves the story and is looking forward to book three. Phew! Here are some gorgeous reviews from book 1: ‘Loved it!’ ‘A wonderful read.’ ‘Beautifully written and thoroughly enjoyed.’

I’m trying to be more organised this year, so I bought myself two huge wall planners for my office and home and I’m using it as a visual prompt to get on with book promotion and stop procrastinating. I’ve held a couple of writing buddy sessions that I run with fellow romance author, Chris Penhall, recently and the daytime session was fully booked, which was exciting. It warms my heart to hear about the different ways people write, what they are working on and also that writing buddies might help them to get words onto paper in some way. We hire the top floor of a gorgeous coffee shop and encourage people to write with two 30 minute writing sprints, a coffee break to network and a chat at the end about how people are. There are no word count pressures and we don’t check anyone’s work, it is purely to write alongside other creatives for a couple of hours. We have people writing books, comedy, short stories, poetry, articles and more. The weather has been dreary, so it’s always a mad dash to keep our computers and manuscripts dry if we are going to the coffee shop. I tend to write by hand at first, so I always have pages and pages of paper with me.

I’ve been chatting to people on social media a lot recently and I’m enjoying hearing about what everyone is reading. I’ve just started reading a lovely book called Patches through time by Sian Turner, who is a member of my book group, Lizzie’s Book Group, on Facebook. I’ve also just finished a book by Sue Moorcroft, called An Italian Island Summer, which is a beautiful read.

Have a great week everyone! From Lizzie. x

 

Cupcakes, Ice Cream and Romance.

/ lizziechantree / Leave a comment

Hi everyone. How are you all? I’ve been working on getting two new books ready. The New Girl On Cherry Blossom Lane, will be out in the next month or two and my newsletter subscribers will be the first to see the cover. It will be in their email inboxes in the next week.  The other book is the sequel to my international bestseller, The Little Ice Cream Shop By The Sea. I’m so excited to revisit those sandy shores and it’s given me an excuse to sample some delicious cupcakes and ice cream. Not that I need much persuading! It’s also given me the chance to walk by the sea, sit and reflect for a while and to waggle my toes in the fresh sea air. It was a bit too chilly to take my boots off, so I wriggled my toes in my boots, but the sentiment was there. Lol!

 

I thought I’d share some pictures of the beach to make you smile today. Where do you feel the most creative? The sea often inspires story ideas for me.

Have an amazing rest of the week and don’t forget to pop by my book group for writing support or my Instagram page for bookish inspiration.

 

 

 

The healing power of romance.

/ lizziechantree / 24 Comments

Hi everyone. How are you all? I hope 2022 has started off with some happiness.

There was an article in the media recently, about how forgettable romance books are and it hit a nerve with me. A few weeks before Christmas I was told I needed a biopsy and another procedure and I spent New Year’s Eve attending an anaesthetist appointment. I didn’t tell many people, as I didn’t want to worry them, or spoil their festivities. Isolating during such a busy time of year wasn’t much fun, but having these reads beside me helped my mental health.   I chose books by Heidi Swain, Katie Fforde and Mary Jayne Baker and all three caught my imagination, kept me turning page after page and eased a stressful situation.

I tried my best to enjoy every minute of the festive season, but worry simmered under the surface each day. I found it difficult to concentrate on writing my own romance novels, but turned to reading the books of other authors, to distract my mind with their beautiful stories and to give me moments of peace.  I even sat and read them as I was waiting to go into theatre, to help ease my nerves! These are books I will never forget. The NHS were absolutely incredible and I’m happy to say that my results are clear, which I’m very thankful for.

Romance novels make us happy and help us through hard times. The stories give us time to step away from worries and travel to places we’ve never been to before. They offer us comfort when we feel down and let us know we are not alone.  I have recently spoken to others who have also found solace from romance books before surgery. Any book of any genre, that brings enjoyment to our lives, is just as worthy as the next.

I’m very proud to have been writing romance books for about ten years now and the community of writers and readers I’ve met along the way, are something really special.  I write books to make people smile and if a story I’ve written, feels like a hug to the reader, then I’m happy. It doesn’t make the story or genre, any less important, if people enjoy it. Even if someone else doesn’t.

‘We can’t make everyone happy, we’re not pizza.’