Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Let's welcome Christine Lindsay to the Mine this week!!


 

 


 

 Could you tell us a little about yourself?

 

One of the things I’m proud of is that I was once patted on the head by Prince Philip (Queen Elizabeth’s husband) when I was a baby, right outside the Belfast City Hall. I was born in Ireland so a lot of British-ness is in my novels. My great-grandfather and my grandfather—yes father and son—were riveters on the Titanic, but as a family we accept no responsibility for the sinking of that infamous ship.

 

That last bit is said tongue-in-cheek. Seriously though, I’m happily married to David for the past 35 years, and we have three grown children and currently 4 grandsons. I’m also a happily reunited birth-mom—meaning I relinquished my first child to adoption in 1979 when I was an unmarried mother, and my birth-daughter and I were reunited 20 years later in 1999. Today, my birth-daughter Sarah is part of our extended family.

 

So I understand—like my readers do—what suffering is, and all my novels take those readers through dark valleys but always bring them out in a wide plain of joy in the Lord.

 

 

What genre do you write under, and what made you choose it?

 

I found my niche in historical fiction. I’m not a romance writer exactly, because my stories don’t just focus on the romance but on much more. I prefer to say I’m a historical author with Big Love Stories.

 

I think it all started with my desire to show how the Lord can heal a broken heart and fill it with scintillating joy. But I have one contemporary romance out called Londonderry Dreaming.

 

 

What made you decide to be a writer?

 

It was back in 1999 when I was first reunited with my birth-daughter, and the reunion had not been as joyful as I’d hope and prayed for 20 years. My husband caught me crying one day over my renewed loss of my daughter. He went out and returned a while later with a brand new pen and journal, and said, “Here, honey, write it.”

 

That journaling of my broken heart was the beginning. A few years later I felt the Lord encourage me to put what I had learned through that experience and the healing He had given me into fictional novels to help others with their broken hearts.

 

 

What advice would you give to those out there still striving to achieve their dream of being a writer?

 

I started writing in 1999 and it wasn’t until 2011 even after winning the ACFW Genesis that my first novel Shadowed in Silk was published. Even after that novel won a few more awards and my second book Captured by Moonlight won awards too, I still wasn’t selling a lot of books. My publishers were small press, but I have learned that the Lord isn’t just interested in the big and fast way to a writing career. Not all of us will big splash in the world of novels in a fast way.

 

However, if He has called you to write, remember this word PERSEVERANCE. After all this time, almost 16 years since I started, am I just starting to see my writing get noticed. Here’s another phrase, HANG IN THERE. As I’m looking at book 6 being published this year by a small publisher, I’m thrilled with what God has done.

 

Don’t underestimate THE SMALL THINGS.

 

 

What book are you planning to give away this week, and could you give us a little preview?

 

I want to give away a paper-back copy of my latest novel Veiled at Midnight which is the Explosive and Passionate Finale to the series Twilight of the British Raj, following the multi-award-winning Books Shadowed in Silk and Captured by Moonlight.



 

I’m including the link here to read the first chapter. Chapter One Veiled at Midnight

 

 

VEILED AT MIDNIGHT

The British Empire is coming to an end. As millions flee to the roads, caught up in the turbulent wake is Captain Cam Fraser, his sister Miriam, and the beautiful Indian Dassah.

 

Cam has never been able to put Dassah from his mind, ever since the days when he played with the orphans at the mission as a boy. But a British officer and the aide to the last viceroy cannot marry a poor Indian woman, can he?

 

As this becomes clear to Dassah, she has no option but to run. Cam may hold her heart—but she cannot let him break it again.

  

Miriam rails against the separation of the land of her birth, but is Lieutenant Colonel Jack Sunderland her soulmate or a distraction from what God has called her to do?

 

The 1947 Partition of India has separated the country these three love…but can they find their true homes before it separates them forever?

 

 

 

 

Do you have a family, and if you do, what do they do that helps toward your goals?

 

I have a wonderful family of 3 grown kids, and the best husband in the world. They all have been supportive of my writing since 1999. In fact my birth-daughter Sarah is the model on the front cover of Shadowed in Silk, and my daughter Lana is the model on Captured by Moonlight.

 

My husband helps me with my historical research, and my mother is one of my first readers, and is almost like an assistant, especially when I speak in public. I couldn’t do my writing without them.

 

 

 

What do you have coming up for your readers in the near future?

 

Now that the series Twilight of the British Raj is complete, I am currently writing a non-fiction book for WhiteFire Publishing. It’s about the relinquishment of my birth-daughter and our painful reunion 20 years later. This book also includes other adoption reunion stories to show a balanced view. In weaving these true-life stories together the book will take the reader on a journey to discover a fascinating aspect to the heavenly Father’s love for us—His El Shaddai love.

 

I also have a historical romance coming out with Pelican Book Group called Sofi’s Bridge. This book is strictly a romance, and it’s spiritual theme is that we cannot save the ones we love—only Christ can do that.

 

 

 

What role does your faith play in your writing, and what do you hope to convey to your readers?

 

I write only to express my faith and the love relationship I have with the Savior. If it were not for this, I simply wouldn’t write.

 

I want to convey that God is in the business of healing broken hearts and broken lives through His son Jesus Christ. He is an amazing God who is at the very heart of romance—His romance with us.

 

 

 

One of my favorite things to ask each person I interview is: Do you have a favorite book? A favorite character? And if so, what makes them stick out in your mind?

 

Jane Eyre. In my opinion there is not greater example of a Christian love story. And of course my heroine is Jane Eyre herself. She stood up for her Christian beliefs and did not give in to her human passion for Rochester, and God rewarded her in the end with the man she loved, but all in God’s timing and in purity.

 

 

 

 

Lastly, what is your main goal for writing, and have you achieved it? If not, what do you plan on doing to further that goal?

 

Goals are so fluid. I find it better for me to just take one day at a time and trust God with the details. However, I found Him to be so faithful. I asked Him way back in 1999 if I could be a Christian author and encourage others through my stories, and He has allowed that to happen. As to how far He wants my writing career to go, I leave that in His hands. I’m a very happy and satisfied woman.  The joy of the Lord flows through my veins.

 

 

 

Thank you so much for sharing with us this week, Christine. I hope you’ll come back and visit with us again soon. J

 

If you’re interested in any of Christine Lindsay’s books, here are the purchase links.
 
 
 





 




 




 




 

 

 

 

 

2 comments:

Peggy Trotter said...

So glad you could join us on the MIne! Love your book covers!!!

Carlene said...

Author interviews are interesting to me. This one is over-the-top inspiring as well. Congratulations to Christine Lindsey. May she continue to persevere!