Christina Hoffman was born in London, England. She moved with her family throughout Canada and the US, and has finally put down her suitcase, for
now, in San
Francisco.
She believes that everyone has the right to
feel both smart and sexy. We don't have to be one or the other! She writes
stories about characters who live in the real world and who, somehow, still
believe in love.
She's starting a mini-revolution. She writes
sexy stories, but hasn't lost the romance from her Romances. Enough with whips
-- back to lips!
She hopes you enjoy her stories and see
yourself in her characters. After all, they are based on smart and sexy people,
just like you.
Christina’s latest book is the contemporary
romance, Invitation.
Visit her website at www.christinahoffman.com.
Thank you for this interview,
Christina. Can you tell us a little
about yourself and how long you’ve been writing?
Hello, and thanks
so much for having me. I was born in England, and travelled around a lot as a young
person. Right now I’m in San Francisco, and I love it (apart from the seagulls,
and the cold weather – I thought California would be warmer!)
I’ve written on and
off for a while, but this is my first attempt at a romance novel.
Can you tell us
briefly what your book is about?
This book came to
me one evening. Madison just popped into my mind. She is a young
woman who used to be full of life and passion. Something really awful happened
a couple of years ago and she is damaged and afraid. But, at the beginning of
the book, she is finally tired of feeling afraid all the time, and wants to get
back into life. She’s not sure how to do it, but then Liam shows up and makes
her an offer she can’t refuse.
Why did you choose
your particular genre?
Two reasons,
really. The first is that all my research told me that romance readers are the
greatest readers on the planet. They’re intelligent, they read a lot of books,
and they’re loyal to the authors they love. Of course I wanted to be part of
that world.
The other answer is
that this story needed to be told as a contemporary romance. I knew it would
have a happy ending, and I knew there needed to be a lot of physical passion
and love. The story decided what it needed to be.
What was your
greatest challenge writing this book?
I was as going to
say that the greatest challenge was making time in a busy life – I haven’t read
a book or watched tv in 2 months…
But, really, the
hardest part was just starting. I had to tell myself that it was all right to
try and fail. I can be really hard on myself, so I had to shut that nasty voice
inside up for a while. THAT was hard!
Are you published
by a traditional house, small press or are you self-published?
I chose
self-publishing because I didn’t want to wait years to hear back from agents
and publishers. I wanted to have the control to decide when to publish, what
the cover would be…all that stuff.
Was it the right
choice for you?
I’m not sure. The
processes of writing and publishing have been great. But, getting the book
noticed, getting it into the hands of people who will buy it and like it – that
has been incredibly challenging. I have spent almost as much time on
“promotion” as I did writing it, which is frustrating. I can see the appeal now
of just handing your finished manuscript over to the publisher and getting
right back to work on writing the next book!
Thankfully, there
are bloggers and readers who are willing to go out of their way to find and
support new books. So, a big shout out to all of you! This couldn’t work
without you.
How are you
promoting your book thus far?
Oh, the list is
long… I’m just starting with a book tour which I think (hope) will end up being
the most productive way to promote.
I’ve been on
Facebook, twitter, Google +, I’ve made a website. I have an Amazon author page
(in each country that has its own author page). I have a Goodreads page and a
Smashwords page. I’ve made paperback copies to use for the Goodreads giveaways
I’ve done. I’ve paid a small amount to be on World Literary Café and Bargain
Booksy. And, of course, I’m working with Dorothy at Pump Up Your Book.
Can you tell us one
thing you have done that actually resulted in one or more sales?
I’m not sure. I CAN
say that promotion on Facebook has NOT produced sales. I spent a lot of time on
there posting about my book and so on. Facebook has been very helpful in
allowing me to meet writers, bloggers and readers. But people do not seem to
BUY books from posts or ads on Facebook. From now on, it will just be a social
network for me (which of course was its purpose in the first place).
Right now everyone
is frantically trying to get “Likes” so people will see their posts, but I’m
not at all convinced that it’s worth the time. I think we should all just be
chatting on Facebook and then getting off of there to write more books.
If you could give
one book promotion tip to new authors, what would that be?
This is a bit
tricky because I don’t know yet what will work. I’ll just say that I spent $40
“boosting” my post on Facebook. Supposedly it reached 20,000 people interested
in romance novels, but it resulted in ZERO sales! If you have a little bit of
money, I would check out smaller websites like World Literary Café or Bargain
Booksy. They seem to be better use of your money.
Oh! And get really
great cover. You can’t skimp on this one.
What’s next for
you?
Hopefully more
books. People are already asking for more Liam and Madison, which is really
exciting because I love them and would love to tell more of their story.
The next book I
have planned is about a big-city cellist who is supposed to get a spot at a
prestigious musicians’ retreat in the mountains, but is beaten out by another
woman (who is sleeping with the prof.) So, she gets to attend the conference,
but has to stay at a rugged ranch instead of the fancy resort. Of course
there’s a gorgeous man working at the ranch. They hate each other at first,
but…
Thank you for this
interview, Christina. Can you tell us
where we can find you on the web?
Of course! Here
goes…
Facebook Author
Page:
Twitter:
Website:
Goodreads Author
Page:
Google Plus:
Amazon Author Page: