7 Questions with Indie Chick Lit Author Holly Christine + Book Giveaway

Check out Tuesday Tells It Slant by Holly Christine

Today I’m welcoming author Holly Christine (@hollyrambles) to Bleeding Espresso, and the first thing I must do is apologize; her interview was supposed to have been featured here a *long* time ago, but things kept coming up in my editorial calendar that pushed it back, and I’m truly sorry. But here we are finally, so without further ado…

Holly Christine is an indie author from Pittsburgh; her third book is called Tuesday Tells it Slant and is about a girl who goes back and changes her diary, thereby changing her life. Holly is self-published, and I thought her experiences with writing and self-publishing might interest some of my readers, so let’s get started! See the end of the post for contest details.

1. Tell us a bit about Tuesday Tells it Slant.

Tuesday Tells it Slant is about one girl, one diary and one past. At the age of 23, Tuesday decides that she is tired of her past. She wants to make it into something more desirable. To do this she uses her diary. She packs away her old diary entries and transforms a new past. She becomes enviable, skinny and popular. In doing this, she loses a bit of herself with each new entry. The books flows like puzzle pieces, each narrative, poem and diary entry fitting into the larger picture of Tuesday’s real identity.

2. Where did you get the idea?

The concept itself came about, alarmingly enough, during the drive into work. John Mayer’s Who Says was playing on the radio and I was intrigued by one part of the song: Who says I can’t be free/ from all of the things that I used to be/ Rewrite my history/ Who says I can’t be free? I was thinking of a way for a character to actually rewrite their history and a diary struck me. I have always kept a diary or journal of some sort and have fought the temptation to lie in an entry or two, trying to make up a day that I wanted instead of a day that I actually had.

3. Where did you get the title?

The title came up from an Emily Dickinson poem: Tell all the truth but tell it Slant/Success in Circuit lies. It seemed fitting for the concept of the story. During my senior year of college, I studied Dickinson for an entire semester. Each chapter is divided by a Dickinson poem that relates to memory, hope and fleeing from the past.

Tuesday Tells It Slant on Amazon.com

Tuesday Tells It Slant on Amazon.com

4. As a writer myself, this is the obligatory question: What is your writing process like?

It’s disturbing. My office becomes a sort of campground; filled with ashes, post it notes and gigantic pieces of paper, all taped together to allow me to fill in the plot holes as I go along. I sit for hours, but never begin before the voice of the narrative hits my head. From there, the muse takes hold of my brain and I don’t stop until the voice stops. She’s very demanding of my time. I also write in silence, but many of my characters’ traits are inspired by music.

5. Why did you choose to self-publish?

With Tuesday Tells it Slant, I never questioned whether to self-publish or not. After I finished cleaning up the prose and editing, I almost immediately made the story available for Kindle. I wanted to know what readers thought of the tale and because it did well with Kindle sales, I made it available in paperback. Self-publishing opens many doors. It isn’t a dead end street. Major publishers later picked up many self-published authors who made their works available for Kindle: Boyd Morrison and John Rector to name two.

6. What or who inspires you as a writer?

I’m inspired by relationships and oddities. I always find mannerisms interesting and often become inspired to write when I am around crowds. It’s very interesting to sit back and observe. I’m also inspired when I’m around other writers or chatting about the writing process.

7. Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists?

I think that many will agree that in order to advance your writing skills, you have to be a comprehensive reader. I also believe in writing every day, even if it’s a bit about what happened during the day that made you happy or angry or something that someone said that stuck with you. It’s like recording life. When you think about it that way, you will develop an arsenal of writing material.

BOOK GIVEAWAY:

Holly has offered to give away a copy of Tuesday Tells It Slant to one lucky Bleeding Espresso reader. Just comment on this post to be eligible; follow @hollyrambles on Twitter and leave me another comment here telling me you’ve done so for an extra entry. The contest is open only to those with U.S. shipping addresses and ends on Sunday, October 17 at 11:59 p.m. CET.

Good luck!

14 Beans of Wisdom to “7 Questions with Indie Chick Lit Author Holly Christine + Book Giveaway”
  1. Sounds like a fun and interesting read!

  2. Daniel
    10.12.2010

    While my fellow Americans sleep, I am getting on this list! Free things are nice, but free books are the best of all free things. Looking forward to reading this … I hope my male-ness won’t disqualify me from the contest.

    Haha, no minimum estrogen requirement Daniel! 🙂

  3. Tina
    10.12.2010

    It sounds like a lovely book! What an original idea.

  4. 10.12.2010

    What an enchanting post! I love the concept and her ideas.

  5. 10.12.2010

    and now I am following Holly…

  6. 10.12.2010

    I love how you’ve incorporated Emily Dickinson into your book! I can’t wait to check it out!

  7. 10.12.2010

    I would love to read this book!

  8. 10.12.2010

    following holly on twitter, too!

  9. Well done.

  10. 10.12.2010

    I’d love to be entered.

  11. 10.12.2010

    I’m a follower on Twitter @toobusyreading

  12. 10.12.2010

    What a sensational idea, this is motion picture material!!
    I’ll be on the lookout for this book.
    Thank you Michelle for showcasing Holly’s intriguing work.
    xx E
    PS grazie for the banner love…

  13. Julie B
    10.15.2010

    would love to read this book

  14. Julie B
    10.15.2010

    now following on twitter
    @jhitomi

Michelle KaminskyMichelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived. 

Calabria Guidebook

Calabria travel guide by Michelle Fabio

Recipes

 

Homemade apple butter
Green beans, potatoes, and pancetta
Glazed Apple Oatmeal Cinnamon Muffins
Pasta with snails alla calabrese
Onion, Oregano, and Thyme Focaccia
Oatmeal Banana Craisin Muffins
Prosciutto wrapped watermelon with bel paese cheese
Fried eggs with red onion and cheese
Calabrian sausage and fava beans
Ricotta Pound Cake