Today I am so happy to host Author Christine Lindsay to talk about her writing process and what inspired her to write Sofi's Bridge.
Book Blurb:
Seattle Debutant Sofi Andersson will do everything in her power to protect her sister who is suffering from shock over their father’s death. Charles, the family busy-body, threatens to lock Trina in a sanatorium—a whitewashed term for an insane asylum—so Sofi will rescue her little sister, even if it means running away to the Cascade Mountains with only the new gardener Neil Macpherson to protect them.
But in a cabin high in the Cascades, Sofi begins to recognize that the handsome immigrant from Ireland harbors secrets of his own. Can she trust this man whose gentle manner brings such peace to her traumatized sister and such tumult to her own emotions? And can Neil, the gardener, continue to hide from Sofi that he is really Dr. Neil Galloway, a man wanted for murder by the British police? Only an act of faith and love will bridge the distance that separates lies from truth and safety.
About our Featured Author: Irish-born Christine Lindsay is the author of multi-award-winning Christian fiction and non-fiction. Readers describe her writing as gritty yet tender, realistic yet larger than life, with historical detail that collides into the heart of psychological and relationship drama.
Christine's books have garnered the ACFW Genesis Award, The Grace Award, Canada’s The Word Guild Award (Twice), the READERS’ CHOICE AWARD, and was a finalist twice for Readers’ Favorite and the Selah Award.
Christine, your historical romance Sofi’s Bridge that won the Readers’ Choice Award features an Irish immigrant as the hero. Tell us why?
I was born in Ireland, so I not only love the culture, I know the culture and history inside and out. My hero, an Irishman who is on the run from the English police, is really a doctor but pretends to be a lowly gardener who comes from Belfast, same city I was born in. My hero’s father and
brother were ordinary tradesmen—Riveters—building massive ships in the Belfast shipyard just like my father, my grandfather, and great grandfather. So I loved adding that personal family history into an adventure that actually takes place in beautiful Washington State, also not far from where I live currently.
What is the first book that made you cry?
The Anne Frank Story. I wept bitterly after finishing that tragic story.
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Writing energizes me, but the marketing of my books drains the life out of me.
What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Getting caught up in the details of their writing without getting their story completely down first. Get your story down, make sure you have a good story arc, that your characters are fully developed and learn what they need to learn by the ending, and that your ending has satisfying resolution. Then go back and work on the details.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I always write each of my books to stand on their own. This is true even in my trilogy, or the series I am currently writing, each books stands alone, but the reader can pick up the next book in the series and feel she is with old friends and starting a new adventure. The characters going forward in the series continue to develop as the series progresses.
What does literary success look like to you?
I can’t say I’ve been a commercial success, but my books have received some lovely critical acclaim of which I’m pleased. At least this confirms my writing is nothing to be embarrassed ab out. But the success that means the most is from that individual reader who I meet in person or who writes to me and tells me how much my book or books meant to her. That’s the cream in my coffee.
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
Tons, good thing I love research. I learned however after writing my first book to not do all my research up front. That really stops you from getting to that blank page. Nowadays I do a little bit of research at the start, and get the main gist of my story down, and research as I go along. Still, because I write historical fiction, I do a lot of research, read loads of non-fiction to get my facts right.
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
Yep, I try hard to put symbols into my books that not every reader will notice. For example, in my first novel Shadowed in Silk which is set in India, the title and silk saris within the story represent that invisible feeling people have when they are not loved or respected as they should be. This refers to my main character an American woman called Abby who hides who she is by wearing a silk sari. But being shadowed in silk also refers to the whole continent of India and the Indian people who are invisible to the British Colonials who rule them.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
The blank page. It scares me like it does every other writing. That’s when you have to be brave and start plunking words down on the page.