Interview with Liana Metal
http://liametal.tripod.com/id2.html

Interview with Holly Christine, author of The Nine Lives of Clemenza

Tell us about yourself first.

I'm a bit of a dreamer, and have always believed that with the right attitude and work ethic, I can be whatever I choose to be. I majored in English and Philosophy in College. After graduating, and failing to find work as a Novelist or Philosopher, I took up a career in the financial industry. The downside of my paying job is that I work for a large corporation. I'm a number with them. The upside is that I've met so many interesting characters!

When did you start writing?

I was probably about eight when my passion came about. I grew up in the country, so a good imagination made our house the best place to play in the "neighborhood!" A clump of ten trees became a magical forest. My bike was a unicorn. A fallen tree became a ship at sea. My best friend and I would write plays, poetry, and attempt to hire our brothers as stagecrew and other random fill-ins for our creative journeys. Needless to say, the boys didn't share our vision! Our home movies are filled with "Holly's poems" about magical pianos and gumball machines.

What genres have you written?

I'd consider The Nine Lives of Clemenza a spiritual/philosophical novel with a mainstream attitude.

Does that genre exist yet? I'm finishing up Retail Ready, a humorous novel about life in retail.

Is (title ) your first book?

The Nine Lives of Clemenza is the first novel I've published. I have two other novels that I was cleaning up, but set aside because I believed there would be a wider interest in Clemenza.

Tell us about your book. What is it about?

The Nine Lives of Clemenza is a story of enlightenment. Clemenza can become whatever she wishes, but must spiritually progress in each life. She becomes air, the Northern Lights, a bald eagle, and learns important life lessons. The book is about leading a meaningful life and exploring the possibility that we control our destiny.

What inspired you to write this book?

Clemenza is my dog, and when she was a puppy, she was a little terror! She would not let me read unless I was surrounded by water in the bathtub! So, I'm soaking in the tub and the sink faucet starts dripping. I thought, "What a terrible life for that droplet of water when your only glimpse of human life is me soaking in the tub!" More interesting concepts came from there. Personally, I was also struggling with two unfortunate deaths. The concept of The Nine Lives of Clemenza made sense of faith and death for me.

How long did it take you to write it?

I spent about four months on the first draft. Cleaning up the prose took another month.

Who is the publisher of your book?

I published using Lulu.com, a print on demand publisher, after a full year of rejection letters from agents and traditional publishers alike. I sat down after a year, read the book as a reader, and enjoyed it! It seemed a shame to waste an inspiring story!

Where is it on sale?

The Nine Lives of Clemenza is available on Amazon.com and Lulu.com as print and download.

Tell us about your other books/work.

Retail Ready, which I hope to clean up by the end of this month, is a novel about the horrors of retail. I've worked in retail for ten years now, so many ideas came from true stories! Like The Nine Lives of Clemenza, Retail Ready has a unique twist that readers will enjoy. The protagonist, Kesey Maverick, sees beyond the corporation that she works for. She develops her own theories about how corporate practices came into place. It's very humorous! The story takes place over one work week and everything, quite literally, starts to crumble.

What are the major challenges that you have faced in your career?

When I was graduating from college an English professor asked me what I wanted to "do." My peers were going on to law school, and my advisors expected me to do the same. "I want to write!" I proudly announced, as if the eight year-old Holly had just suddenly emerged. She told me not to tell future employers my dream, like wanting to be a writer was negative, or perhaps too dreamy. Well, I tell everyone because I've always been a miserable liar. Working in retail and having this dream is like working in retail and wanting to become President. My customers ask, "What are you doing here?" because they assume I have no education. My response is always, "I really don't know." I assume that my time in retail has given me the inspiration to write Retail Ready.

Has the Internet helped you in your writing career?

Yes! That's how I found you!

How?

The internet has allowed me to reach people that I never would have reached. One of my first big sales was to a man in the United Kingdom. He wanted five copies: one for him, four for his sister's bookclub. If it weren't for the writing forums and my website, that connection would have never occured!

What do you advise new writers to do?

I think that as writers, we are our own worst critics. I often write a sentence, stare at it, delete it, then click undo. I think it's helpful to read your story to someone, and the thousand writing forums out there allow you to share your work (unfinished or finished) with an unbiased crowd. Read when you are stuck. Read when you aren't. Write everyday. And never quit!