M.J. Hollows Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

M.J. Hollows is a bestselling historical fiction author from Liverpool who also writes fantasy and science fiction novels in addition to tie-in fiction for gaming companies. The author is originally from London but in 2010, he moved to Liverpool where he found a job teaching Audio Engineering.

Since he had told stories ever since he was a kid, writing is something that he always wanted to do. He enrolled at Liverpool John Moores University for his master of arts degree in writing and got his bachelor’s degree in 2016.

Before he became an author, he lectured on Audio Engineering at the University of Chester and SAE Liverpool. There, he taught a new generation of learners on advanced sound engineering techniques and also taught academic research and writing.

In 2017, he went back to study at Liverpool John Moores University to get his doctoral degree in writing. In addition to his master’s and doctoral degrees, he went to the University of Cambridge where he got a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching Creative Writing.
Hollows published his first historical fiction novel “Goodbye for Now” in 2018 and has never looked back since.

Michael’s doctoral research is an exploration of the relationship between the influence of authors in the post-Second World War era and writing science fiction. He used this to pen the work “The Final War,” a novel that was part of his dissertation.
Michael Hollow researched and investigated the development of the science fiction genre following the end of World War II and how this informs modern writers of the genre. His post-graduate research interests have usually extended to many areas of genre fiction including crime, historical, science fiction, and fantasy.

In addition to his research, Michael has been a guest lecturer in master’s and bachelor’s creative writing programs at Liverpool John Moore University.

He is also an organizer and facilitator of doctoral creative writing workshops both online and on campus. He did this as the Liverpool Screen School student representative on faculty research.

Aside from his teaching, Hollow has presented at the World Science Fiction Convention and at Worldcon. In 2019, he was a member of panels that discussed Disability and Writing, and Disability and Genre Fiction at Fantasycon.
Michael is also an activist for awareness of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis which he was diagnosed with in 1999.

As for his writing, it usually takes Michael Hollow about six to seven months even though “Goodbye for Now” his debut took a long time. The reason for this was that the novel was part of his master’s thesis and partly because it needed a lot of research.
He has said that the biggest learning curve in writing has to be when he was taking his master of arts course in writing. Nonetheless, he believes he would never have published and become so successful had he not been enrolled in the program.

As for his inspiration, it has to be his favorite author Terry Pratchett. He believes his novel “Discworld” is one of the snarkiest and cleverest works ever produced in Britain.

He also loves Bernard Cornwell who helped develop his passion for historical fiction, particularly reading the “Uhtred” books. Nonetheless, his favorite novel has to be the fantasy work “The Hobbit,” which was the first work he ever read that got him to develop a love for reading.

Michael Hollow’s novel “The German Nurse” opens with Guernsey island in a panic. The British army is evacuating children and women who are boarding one of the ships that is headed back to England.
Jack Godwin is watching the chaos at St Peter Port as a police officer who lives on the island alongside his frail grandparents and his mother.

There is an imminent invasion and on June 1940 the Nazis attack bombing the island first. The remaining residents are totally defenseless making the takeover easy as there is hardly any resistance.

Jack is one of 50 policemen on the island that is charged with maintaining law and order. He has never been a soldier and does not have the training to stop the Germans, even if many residents believe he should have tried something.
He is concerned about his loved ones including his mother, his grandparents, and Johanna the Jewish nurse from Germany that is also his girlfriend.

The novel is a story about life in Guernsey during the Second World War. As the war years drag on, things become very difficult, as there are shortages of everything, even as frustrated residents attempt acts of insurrection.

“Goodbye for Now” by Michael Hollow is set in Europe in the throes of war as two brothers are forced into different battles and only one could survive.

George has always been known to be a man of action and when the war breaks out he immediately joins the army. His brother Joe is of a different mind and refuses to fight preparing to battle propaganda as a conscientious objector.
On the Western front, George soon learns that war is not the big adventure he imagined it would be. Surrounded by horror, blood, and mud, his mindset starts to shift and he starts questioning everything he was once sure of.
Back home in Liverpool, Joe is fighting his own war and is unjustly imprisoned and judged for his cowardice. But he is determined to defend his convictions no matter what.

It is a work that is set during the First World War that showcases the horror of conflict both on the home front and in the fields of battle. It is a story that draws people in making you feel for George who is fighting a battle for national pride while Joe is fighting for personal principles.

Michael Hollow’s novel “The German Messenger” is set in 1940 Liverpool where Ruth Holt the journalist has to deal with the terror of the Nazi Blitz.

Things only get worse when her kid is kidnapped and soon after, she starts getting demands from the kidnappers.

They assert that they are in cahoots with the Nazis and she will need to cooperate or they will report the secrets she is harboring to the authorities. Her job provides her with access to critical information and the kidnappers want access to it.
If she refuses to share that information with the Nazis they promise to kill the child. Desperate to get her child back, she lies to everyone including her lover, her family, and her employer. But the demands keep on increasing and she finds herself walking on a knife edge and if she falls she may lose her son forever.

Set during the Second World War it showcases a woman’s struggles first with rationing and then having to make plans to evacuate her son.

It highlights the horrors of the war including the endless night bombings in Merseyside. All in all, it is a story of drama, secrets, tragedy, mystery, tragedy, and suspense.