Author and singer/songwriter Holly Christina was part of the recent Cambridge Autumn Festival lineup with a talk at the library on the publication of the third novel in her ‘Harp and the Lyre’ trilogy.
Holly Christina after publishing her first novel.
Holly Christina – aka H.C Roberts – has blended her talents in the unusual climate-fiction trilogy, adopting a ‘songs in a story’ concept she formulated about 10 years ago. Each of the novels features fantasy maps and original songs, embedded or unlocked via QR codes and intended to give her primarily teen-centric readers a thoroughly modern reading experience.
Describing it as ‘alternative fantasy for young adults’, she said the trilogy tells the story of a group of teens facing relevant issues, including the clash of ‘tech giants’ Harp and Lyre, gaming, climate change, influences, and the delicate crossover between real life and the online world.
“The year 2021 was devoted to planning the series, building its world, and developing the main protagonists,” she said.
“I also wrote the first draft of book one, which then took another year to re-write and edit before its release in late 2022. Book two was quicker … seven months in 2023, but the writing of book three was an enormous struggle throughout 2024. It required intense outlining and precision to bring all the threads together.”
Holly Christina learned to play the piano, the flute and guitar as a child. She settled on the guitar, enjoying the freedom it gave her to write songs, then recorded her first album at age 15. She has done numerous more since them and has been teaching guitar since she was 16.
She moved from Auckland to Cambridge in 2019. Aside from penning her trilogy, she dabbled in bellringing at St Andrew’s Church and wrote a song called ‘Cambridge’ which she debuted at the church’s 2021 sesquicentennial.
She is also a tennis fan and often performs at the annual ASB Classic in Auckland.
With the line now drawn under the ‘Harp and the Lyre’ trilogy, she plans to spend this year sharing more of her cli-fi, adventure world with a wider range of readers by taking her trilogy tour to other libraries and schools in New Zealand.
Holly Christina strumming her way through her unusual ‘Harp and the Lyre’ trilogy during the recent Cambridge Autumn Festival. Photo: Viv Posselt
