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Christina Hollis
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Christina Hollis (born in Keynsham, Somerset) is an English writer on countryside matters, and an author of romance novels. During her childhood and youth she spent her spare time writing pieces for local newspapers and magazines. Leaving Wellsway School at 16, she joined Sun Life Assurance PLC (now AXA Sun Life) working variously as a clerk and a "gopher" in the marketing department. She met her future husband on a blind date, and they married in 1982. Three years later she and her husband left the city to live in rural Gloucestershire. Hollis worked in the clerical section of Rolls-Royce Aero Engines, Filton for a few years in the late 1980s. Biography Early Writing Career In 1990 Hollis gave up her job at Rolls-Royce Aero Engines and made the transition to full-time writer. She produced many non-fiction articles on country living as a freelance for national magazines including The Garden, The Lady, Smallholder Magazine and the now-defunct Country Garden and Smallholding, mostly on life as a smallholder with particular reference to poultry and pig keeping, and fruit and vegetable growing. She also wrote a long-running series of articles on Gardening with Children in Nursery World magazine. First foray into books After hearing an historical novelist interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Hollis tried her hand at a full-length novel. The result was Knight’s Pawn, which she submitted to the "slush pile" of the historical section of Mills & Boon under the name Polly Forrester; it was accepted and published in hard-back and paperback forms in the UK in 1990. Hollis wrote a further five historical novels for Mills & Boon under the name Polly Forrester before taking a career break to concentrate on raising her family. Several of her novels from this period were referenced in articles on the Teach Me Tonight academic blog, discussing various subjects including Why children might be included in romances and Some of the ways in which sex in romance can be educational. Return to books In September 2004 she enrolled on a creative writing course at the Royal Forest of Dean College run by award winning poet Paul Groves. Assignments were in the form of short stories, several of which were read on local radio stations in the border counties. One, Jaded, went on to be shortlisted for the Sid Chaplin award. Another went on to be published by The People's Friend. A third, while disliked by the tutor, was well received by the rest of the class and so Hollis sent the idea and three chapters anonymously to the "slush pile" of the contemporary section of Mills & Boon. Again they liked it, requested the rest of the story and in January 2007 The Italian Billionaire's Virgin was released as a Modern Romance. As of July 2012 Hollis has sold over one million printed copies of her romance novels, individually and as parts of ominbus editions including one omnibus published in the form of a Manga comic. Between them Hollis's books have been translated into six languages (French, German, Greek, Japanese, Russian and Italian). Personal Hollis acts as a mentor to a self-help group based around the teachings of Jack Canfield and Stephen Covey and is an active member of her church. Her Christian beliefs don't stop her including sensual detail in her work, if it helps to illuminate a caring relationship. With her husband she has raised two children, who are known to her Twitter followers as DD and Son Number One. Bibliography As Polly Forrester * Knight's Pawn, Mills & Boon Historical Romance 1990 * Jewel Under Siege, Mills & Boon Historical Romance 1990 * Winter Of The Wolf, Mills & Boon Historical Romance 1991 * Lady Rascal, Mills & Boon Historical Romance 1991 * Changing Fortunes, Mills & Boon Historical Romance 1997 * Double Dilemma, Mills & Boon Historical Romance 1998 As Christina Hollis * The Italian Billionaire's Virgin, Mills & Boon Modern Romance 2007 * Count Giovanni's Virgin, Mills & Boon Modern Romance 2007 * One Night In His Bed, Mills & Boon Modern Romance 2008 * Her Ruthless Italian Boss, Mills & Boon Modern Romance 2008 * The Ruthless Italian's Inexperienced Wife, Mills & Boon Modern Romance 2008 * The Tuscan Tycoon's Pregnant Housekeeper, Mills & Boon Modern Romance 2009 * The Count of Castelfino, Mills & Boon Modern Romance 2009 * The French Aristocrat's Baby, Mills & Boon Modern Romance 2010 * The Italian's Blushing Gardener, Mills & Boon Modern Romance 2010 * Weight of the Crown, Mills & Boon Modern Romance 2011 * The Count's Prize, Mills & Boon Modern Romance 2012 Omnibus in collaberation * An Innocent In His Bed Bundle (with India Grey, Lindsay Armstrong, Kathryn Ross) * Forced To Marry Bundle (with Daphne Clair, Sara Craven and Margaret Mayo) * Hired: For the Boss's Pleasure Bundle (with India Grey, Lindsay Armstrong, Kathryn Ross) * Taken: At the Boss's Command Bundle (with Helen Brooks, Chantelle Shaw and Kathryn Ross) * The Hot-Headed Virgin (with Melanie Milburne and Trish Morey) * Irresistible Bosses & Expectant Mistresses Bundle (with Anne Oliver, Susan Stephens and Cathy Williams) * Claimed by the Italian (with Diana Hamilton and Kathryn Ross) * Harlequin Magazine Manga comic Volume 7 (December 2011) (with Christine Rimmer, Michelle Reid, Diana Hamilton, Lee Wilkinson and Sara Craven) References and sources 
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