*** Special Feature - September 2017 ***
Quick Recap:
1st September - Introducing the Author
8th September - Women in the Resistance, and other war
15th September - A complex book of two parts
22nd September - A book of two locations; Zakynthos or Cornwall?
About the Author:
Chrissie lives in Devon, UK, with her husband. She has published
five books including Integrate and Temperance
(books one and two of The Moon Series), Among the Olive Groves, Nabataea and
The Secrets, a collection of Poems and
Short Stories. Other work includes articles for the Bristolian, The Huffington
Post, The Zakynthos Informer, Epilepsy Awareness Squad and Epilepsy Literary Heritage Foundation.
Chrissie’s poem Maisie
was performed at the 100 poems by 100 women
event at the Bath International Literary Festival in 2013. In 2016 Among the Olive Groves won an historical
fiction award in the Summer Indie Book Awards.
Chrissie is passionate about Ancient History, Archaeology and
Travel, and has completed two Egyptology courses and an Archaeological
Techniques course with Exeter University.
Contact the Author:
Website I Blog I Facebook Group I Facebook Page I Twitter I Instagram I Pinterest I Goodreads
An Interview:
What do you like best about yourself? Least?
Best - I like to think that I am true to myself - as much as I can be. I’m open and honest with people, and I don’t hide the person that I am. What people see is pretty much what they get.
Least – I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve, this can be a bad thing sometimes as people can take advantage of it. I also talk far too much and never know when to shut up!
What emotion/feeling are you afraid to experience?
To show that I’m afraid, or a failure at something. I’ve spent my entire life fighting to be who I am and to be able to do what I do. I have struggled with people telling me that I shouldn’t be a writer, telling me that I would never be good enough, or that it isn’t a good career choice. I also have a hard time with my medical condition, Epilepsy, as it does tend to hinder my life sometimes. In the end those obstacles made me a more determined and strong person, but in the process I have found that I still do try to hide my failures. Whilst I have realised that nothing is impossible and I’m not afraid of trying, I am still however very much afraid to fail.
What do you carry in your pockets/purse/backpack, etc.?
My pockets are usually empty. My purse has the usual money, cards and receipts in, and my tiger’s eye (stone). My bag always has a handful of green pens (I always write in green pen), a notebook, my purse, my epilepsy paperwork and tablets, my keys and a hairbrush.
What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you?
Oh boy, where to start.
I’m very clumsy and tend to do lots of embarrassing things.
I think the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done however, (which now seems more funny), was a few years ago. My husband is an actor and my best friend and I attended the first night of his new show in the West End, in London.
There was a red carpet with rope barriers running along the front of the theatre, a photo board with the show and sponsor logo’s on and a row of photographers and TV cameras.
As we began walking along the red carpet I tripped and fell into the rope barriers knocking them over, and then continued to fall straight into a large glass window. Thankfully the window didn’t break, but everyone, including the photographers and TV cameras saw the whole thing happen. All I could do was jump back up, untangle myself from the ropes and pretend all was okay as my best friend laughed at my ineptitude!
What would you like it to say on your tombstone?
She was Chrissie, that’s just how it was.
It’s a past tense version of my current personal motto:
I’m me, that’s just how it is.
About the Book:
It is 1938, and a young Elena Petrakis lives on the small Greek Island of Zakynthos. Life for Elena is quite, traditional and typically Greek. One day she meets a local young man, Angelos Sarkis and they strike up a friendship. Soon their friendship turns to love, but when Elena falls pregnant Angelos's father is furious and he bans Angelos from seeing Elena again, and forces Angelos to marry another woman.
World War Two breaks out and Zakynthos is unable to escape invasion. Islanders are pitted against each other under the watchful eye of the Italian D'Aqui division. Elena hates the war and everything it stands for. She joins the resistance to fight for what she believes in, her freedom, and her daughters right to live in a peaceful world, but Elena finds herself drawn into a dangerous game of cat and mouse. In the end Elena realises that the only way through the madness of war is to makes the greatest of sacrifices.
Decade’s later, in 1991, a young Cornish woman Kate Fisher is celebrating her 21st birthday. Her happiness is short-lived however when she finds out that she is adopted. The news shakes her and her world falls apart. She argues with her best friend Fletch, and they stop talking, which makes things worse for her. Kate tries her best to carry on, but finds it impossible.
Ten years later Kate has moved from her home in Cornwall to Bristol, having tried her best to re-start her life, but she is stuck in a rut and unable to move on, her adoption and loss of her friendship with Fletch still haunting her. In the end Kate flees to Zakynthos, in Greece where she is finally forced to face the harsh reality of her past. What she discovers completely changes her life.
Buy Links:
Giveaway:
Signed Paperback Copy + a Greek Eye necklace to an UK Winner.
E-copy (all versions available) of the book for an international winner.
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