Newsletter Vol 5 — January 2025

Dear Whispers Across A Sea readers,

Happy New Year 2025! In my research I have enjoyed learning about charming Irish superstitions. For example: To greet the New Year they open the back door of the house just before midnight to “let the old year out” and open the front door to “let the New Year in.” I found that one very refreshing but I liked “doing cleaning, sweeping or laundry on New Years Day is bad luck!” even better.

For me and for Whispers good luck landed in my inbox on 12/28/24 from the President of The Indie BRAG Medallion Award. Her message said, “We have completed the review process for your book ‘Whispers Across A Sea’ and I am pleased to inform you that it has been selected to receive a B.R.A.G. Medallion.” This is very exciting news and recognition for my writing, and I am thrilled to share it with you. The reviewers gave Whispers 5 stars for the cover, plot, characters, dialog, writing style, chapters, copy editing, content editing, formatting and one 4 star for the title.



A reviewer commented: “A beautiful multigenerational story that is filled with strong characters with excellent research into the Anglo-Irish community living in Ireland and in Canada in the 19th century to the early 20th century. The hardships and heartaches are not glossed over, and the endurance and determination of those who survive are well written. The conflicting political stands that were and still are part of the struggles of Ireland are clearly presented, despite the many difficulties. This well-developed novel is made special by her family's history as its inspiration for this novel. I hope to see more of this author's writing!” 

This is very exciting. Whispers will now carry the BRAG Medallion and find recognition in bookstores and online sales at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Goodreads.

When I entered the world of self-publishing last year, with the help of Girl Friday Productions, I found I was part of a burgeoning independent publishing marketplace (indie-publishing) that I knew little about. It turns out, traditional media ONLY pays attention to books produced by traditional publishing houses.They have a grand coalition! This means, the NYT Book Review, Oprah, Reese Witherspoon Book Club and on and on... will NOT review self-published books! Enter the Independent Book Publishers of American (IBPA) to serve a huge and growing talent pool and market. With them came a host of organizations, like BRAG Medallion who carefully review and award recognition and exposure for excellent work by authors in the indie-market. This is a great service they are offering! Whispers has been nominated for a number of awards that will be announced later this year. Stay tuned.

Some books stores are dismissive of self-published work too! Thankfully our local Books Inc., in Town and Country, did a great job offering a crowd packed evening in their store where Stanford Professor of Italian Literature, Robert Harrison, and I had a lively exchange about Whispers and sold lots of books.

In the coming year I will be taking part in Stanford University’s “A Company of Authors” on April 19 and the Pebble Beach Authors and Ideas Festival September 19-21.

I am also booking discussions with Book Groups and community organizations. You can reach me by email through christy@christinahollowayauthor.com

I will end with another Irish superstition you are welcome to try. “Bang on the doors and walls of the house with Christmas bread to chase the bad luck out of the house and invite the good spirits in.”

Stay in touch,

Christy Holloway

christy@christinahollowayauthor.com

www.christinahollowayauthor.com