Guest Post by Author Christina Esdon on Where in the World is Westwood? + Giveaway

Today I’d like to welcome Christina Esdon, who recently published the very lovely Work in Progress (reviewed here).

Where in the World is Westwood?
by Christina Esdon

The setting of Work in Progress, Westwood, is a fictional town. It doesn’t exist. But I sure wish it did.

Westwood is a small city alongside a river. Its “rival town” Riverside, a large, prosperous city, sits with its highrise skyline sparkling across the river. Both cities are joined by a large bridge.

I grew up in a small sized city on Lake Huron near the US/Canada border. I loved that I had my quaint little city, but that just a short car ride away (over a big bridge) I could be in a completely different country. Westwood and Riverside are in the same country, but their worlds are very different.

This was my inspiration for the river and bridge that connects Westwood and Riverside. (Bluewater Bridge, Ontario, Canada) (Photo Credit: Christina Esdon)

As an adult I moved away from my hometown to “the big city”. It had everything: universities, some of the best hospitals around, great theatre and concerts…people my own age instead a sea of grey-haired people falling asleep at the symphony…it was fantastic. Except one thing. It wasn’t near the water. I couldn’t hear the waves of Lake Huron lap at the shore while reading in bed or soaking in the bathtub. After a tough day I couldn’t just kick off my shoes and go for a walk on the shore, my toes digging for cool sand.

I loved living in the Big City, but hated the location.

I missed the water.

Creating Westwood and Riverside was like having my cake and eating it too. The quaint smaller town of Westwood nestled along a rolling river, just a bridge (or boat) ride away from the hustle and bustle of the sparkly city of Riverside.

In real life it was not possible to have these two things at once, but I could make it up and put it in a book.

So I did.

Now I just have to find a way to move to Westwood. But for now I’ll stay in my small city, one foot on the shore, the other foot pointed in the direction of the Big City.

About Christina Esdon

Christina Esdon is a hopeless romantic and dreamer extraordinaire. She loves to see the world through rose-colored glasses (literally) and has the uncanny ability to find humor and joy in the small things in life. When not writing, she can be found frolicking along the shores of Lake Huron, taking notoriously long bubble baths or contemplating the next renovation to her home in Ontario, Canada. Work in Progress is Christina’s debut novel. You can visit her at www.christinaesdon.com.Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.