In 2022, Christina Holbrook was diagnosed with a glioblastoma brain tumor that has a “median life expectancy of 14-22 months. Christina had just acquired an agent and was about to seek a publisher for her novel, All the Flowers of the Mountain, set in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. An article about that book appeared in InDepthNH.org in August 2022.

She reached out to me to let me know that March 2024 “marked two years since my diagnosis. This has not been an easy time, but in some strange way, it has also been the best time of my life. My husband and I take advantage of every day and put off nothing. I have released so many old nagging resentments, fears, regrets. And I am writing like crazy.”

In July 2023, she published a collection of short stories, Table for One. She shares that the tales in the book, “were inspired by some misdeeds and questionable decisions of my youth. The stories are accompanied by lovely spare line illustrations.” She added, “My favorite story is about a romantic relationship with a snake.”

Christina is working on a novella, as well as a correspondence project with another author, “who like me, is dealing with a very serious personal issue.”

She writes that All the Flowers of the Mountain is winning awards including: “one of three finalists for the 2021-2023 New Hampshire Literary Award for Fiction. The book also won the 2023 Colorado Book Award in the Romance Category and was a Bronze Medalist in the 2023 IPPY Awards.” She added, “The book is still going strong, my publisher let me know it was a Trending Title (for Mother’s Day this year) on Bookshop.org.”

Table for One and All the Flowers of the Mountain are available at Amazon.com and you can read more about Christina at www.ChristinaHolbrook.com.