Meet Christina Holbrook | Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christina Holbrook and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christina, why did you pursue a creative career?
I have spent much of my professional life in creative businesses. I worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, was a freelance consultant for art book publishers, and finally the publisher of a company in New York called The Black Book. Although I did some personal writing, and writing for work, looking back I feel that a lot of what I was doing was supporting other artists.

This observation is partly true, but partly how I feel when I am grumpy or feeling sorry for myself! Because I also recognize that it took me, personally, most of my life to get to a point where I felt I had the insight to write fiction and serious creative non-fiction.

I dipped my toe in, and began publishing essays when I was in my late 40s, in business publications like Forbes.com. When I moved to Colorado I had a column in the Summit Daily (which was often picked up by the Vail Daily and other Swift publications) called “Lark Ascending” about a city slicker who moves West. I also wrote about travel and Colorado Wine Country.

But I have a deep nostalgia for particular places from the past — what they felt like, sounded and smelled like, on a summer day. What it was like to fall in love there. In my mid-50s I reconnected with a man I had known and been enamored with as a teenager. So many years ago we’d gone our separate ways, he to Colorado and me to New York City. Now lightening struck again. We were married in 2018 and the experience of finding love at this age somehow merged with my sense of nostalgia AND a chance re-reading of the Great Gatsby. Suddenly I HAD to write the story of a young woman’s struggle to define herself, in a particular place and time, and against a backdrop of secrets, abuse, insurmountable differences in social class.

At this point I was no longer pursuing a creative career — this story was chasing me, like an obsession. It took me five years to write and publish “All the Flowers of the Mountain.” During this time I also came up for air when I could and wrote a number of short stories, many of which have appeared in literary journals. I found that fiction was a way for me to make sense of much of my own “story” but also had this addictive quality of taking on a life of its own. The characters that began as “my creations” have all taken on lives of their own in my mental landscape.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
It has taken me time — six decades — to come to a point in life where I feel I have some insight into the motivation of potential characters. And also the patience and perhaps confidence to believe that if I keep at a piece of writing, the particular “truth” or revelation I am trying to get at will emerge.

I have actually found that working at jobs OTHER THAN writing jobs was the most ideal situation for me in terms of my own creative writing — it keeps things separate. I don’t want to be distracted by the “travel writer” or “wine writer” voice I can slip into!

My brand? Hmmm. I like to write about characters — particularly women — facing difficult emotional situations, like grief, loss, and of course love.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
They would stay at our house up on Gold Hill in Breckenridge. For fun, we’d hike up into the mountains that are right behind us, or maybe take an easy mountain bike ride. In winter, we’d snowshoe or ski.

Then, I’d regale them with readings from whatever I happen to be working on. Poor friends!

This would inevitably lead to popping open a bottle of Colorado wine. You want my favorites? Evolve, Buckle Family Wine, Colterris, Sauvage Spectrum.

I am sorry to be boring, but we would eat at home as my husband Alan is an amazing cook. This would also allow for more consumption of Colorado wine from our collection.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
“All the Flowers of the Mountain,” my debut novel, is dedicated to my husband Dr. Alan Dulit. Anyone who has ever been involved with a writer knows the patience this requires, as well as the ability to listen and encourage over what is often a looooong time.

Many good friends supported me, by reading countless copies of my manuscript. Two professional organizations — Authors Publish and the Denver Lighthouse — really helped me polish my work. When I encountered a serious health issue at a critical juncture to getting my novel published, good friends in publishing in New York rallied around to help me get the manuscript edited and ready for publication. Colorado publisher Karen Wyatt of Sunroom Studios stepped in when I questioned whether my health would allow me the traditional publishing route; would I have time to hold a copy in my hands? She got the job done in three months. “All the Flowers of the Mountain” was published in July and became the number one selling book in Summit County this past summer, as well as a popular read throughout the east coast, where much of the story takes place.

Website: Christinaholbrook.com

Instagram: @christinaholbrookwrites

Linkedin: Christina Holbrook

Facebook: Christina Holbrook Author

Other: I’d love to plug my book! It can be ordered through your local bookstore, or Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/All-Flowers-Mountain-Christina-Holbrook/dp/B0B3S89KVC/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1658951216&sr=1-1

Image Credits
“Amor” Author Photo of Christina Holbrook by Lisa Moose Levy Kral Image of Colorado Women Authors by Greenhouse Creative Studio