Christine's Got a Brand New Baby

If a writer knows the subject and setting well, the story comes to life. With this new baby of mine, Sofi’s Bridge, I’d like to take you on a tour of my beautiful home close to the Cascade Mountains that bridge Washington State and British Columbia, Canada.

In my opinion I live in one of the prettiest places in the world, often compared

Wood carvings featured
in homestead of Sofi's Bridge.

to the Swiss Alps. Since I literally live only 3 miles as far as the crow flies from the US border, I used my own valley and created a fictional vale in Washington State. I did this only to give the book an American setting since those readers make up the majority of the market. But just between me and you, the story is really set in Canada. But shhhh, let’s keep that a secret.

Below are 3 scenes in which I used my province to create the fictional town of Orchard in the US.

~*~

The view from my dining room window.

Sunlight slanted from the west as they entered the valley. Farms created a velvet patchwork, and the tang of recently mown hay sweetened the air. The opposite side of the bridge met them at the entrance to town, where the hammers of steelworkers driving rivets into the trusses rang like a welcome home.

Neil stopped at the crossroads.

Sofi savored the outskirts of the town she’d spent most of her childhood summers. Already her spirits lifted. A high-wheeled freight wagon rolled toward Gronberg’s livery stable. Railway lines would make it so much easier to transports goods in and out of Orchard. But there were things she hoped would never change—the red and white awning of Helsing’s mercantile, the steeple of a white clapboard church that sought the sky. With a quiet nod, she motioned to Neil to take the road following this side of the gorge.

~*~

Sofi’s Bridge starts out though in Seattle, which I drive to a few times each year, so again I know the location well. Here’s another snipped created from my own memories driving out of Seattle and heading north.

~*~

Puget Sound

A rising sun melted the morning fog. Where the roads were good, the Cadillac ran smoothly at thirty-five miles per hour. Not so with the out-of-the-way paths

Sofi chose, taking them through cultivated farmlands that hugged the water.

Neil kept to a low speed to avoid jarring as the thin tires travelled the rutted byways. They’d come almost forty miles. Now a smattering of small islands floated on the intense blue of Puget Sound. To the northeast, rolling mountains furred with evergreens gradually molded higher and higher. Ireland wasn’t the only emerald land, but his halfhearted smile faltered when he glanced at Sofi.

~*~

A romantic scene from the book is set in one of my favorite places in all the world, taken directly from my visits to the Alpine Meadow in Manning Park BC,

just across the border from the same glorious Cascade Mountains in Washington State. In fact, each summer I look out on the US side from this location when I go to view the alpine flowers at their peak in mid-July.

~*~

At the summit they reined the Clydesdales under a shady tree. The wind, carrying a clean pine fragrance, blew unimpeded as though they’d reached the top of the world and grasses swayed in the breeze.

Neil walked with Sofi along a pathway strewn on either side with blue and purple lupine, pink phlox, yellow arnica, and red Indian paintbrush. In the distance, pale blue and turquoise ice from glaciers filled crevices between serrated granite heights. Quiet awe filled his face as he swept his gaze three hundred and sixty degrees and studied the glaciers that though they were miles away seemed close enough to touch. Above the tree line, gray peaks scraped the sky, some still capped with snow.

Sofi could only hope that up here for a while he could let go of whatever pain he was hiding from the world, and from her.

Read the first chapter of Sofi’s Bridge for free by clicking HERE.

SOFI’S BRIDGE by Christine Lindsay

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.

PURCHASE LINKS for Sofi’s Bridge Paper & Ebooks

AMAZON.com 

Barnes and Noble

Pelican Book Group

About Christine:

Christine Lindsay is the author of multi-award-winning Christian fiction. Tales of her Irish ancestors who served in the British Cavalry in Colonial India inspired her multi-award-winning trilogy Twilight of the British Raj, Book 1 Shadowed in Silk, Book 2 Captured by Moonlight, and explosive finale Veiled at Midnight.

Christine’s Irish wit and use of setting as a character is evident in her contemporary romance Londonderry Dreaming and newest release Sofi’s Bridge. 

A busy writer and speaker, Christine and her husband live on the west coast of Canada. Coming August 2016 is the release of Christine’s non-fiction book Finding Sarah—Finding Me: A Birthmother’s Story.

Connect with Christine:

Please drop by Christine’s website www.ChristineLindsay.org or follow her on Amazon on Twitter. Subscribe to her quarterly newsletter, and be her friend on Pinterest , Facebook, and  Goodreads

The New Bridge

One of my favourite places to walk is the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve.  I live in a big town, but a twelve minute drive from my home takes me to hectares of unspoilt African bushveld. If you click here,  you can access a wealth of photos which will give you some idea of the beauty of the reserve. I'm posting a few of my own photos below to whet your appetite to visit the website.

On my last visit there with a group of friends, we were greeted by brightly coloured bishop birds which had built nests among the bullrushes. On previous walks we had the thrill of seeing their babies inside the nests.

Southern Bishop Bird

We saw several of the wild animals which live in the reserve, including the blesbok below.

Blesbok

Later in the walk we saw springbok and a wildebeest in the distance, but the highlight of the day was several zebra who watched us as they enjoyed the lush grass a few feet away from us.

A zebra watching us as he eats the lush grass

There are also several sites of historical interest in the reserve, including the ruins of a nineteenth century farmhouse and outbuildings. We stopped to take photos through the windows of the old dairy.

View from the old dairy

A picturesque river, the Bloubosspruit, runs through the reserve. There were two bridges to cross the river, but one was washed away in a flood, so for several years there was only one. If we wanted to cross higher upriver it was a case of balancing on wobbly stones and getting wet feet.

Bloubosspruit

It was a pleasant surprise to discover that, since our last visit, a new bridge had been been installed. It was not visible until we were within in a few yards of it and it made crossing the river a breeze.

It was constructed in two sections and then transported to the nature reserve. Four men carried each section to the river and then put it in place.

The new bridge

What fascinated me was that it was only anchored at one end, which was on a pivot securely bolted to a rock. The other end rested free on the other bank. Next time the river floods, the water will swing the bridge sideways on its pivot, so that it offers less resistance to the flood waters but the strong anchor will prevent it from being washed away. After the storm, the bridge can be returned to its original position and once again provide a way across the river.

The new bridge reminds me of a verse I read in the Griefshare workshop I attend:

 "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; 

my hope comes from him.

He alone is my rock, and my salvation; 

He is my fortress and I will not be shaken." (Psalm 62:5-6 )

I am like the new bridge. Storm waters of grief, trouble and worries  buffet and threaten me , but I am anchored tight to God and will not be swept away. He is my rock, and nothing can separate me from His love.