Interview with Susan Page Davis and #giveaway!

Today we are welcoming Susan Page Davis to our blog. Susan is graciously giving away an ebook copy of The Saboteur or a print copy of any of her other books, winner's choice. Leave a comment to enter and be sure to include contact information. 

Featured book: The Saboteur  

Blurb:

Debra Griffin takes a job at the local police station as secretary to the detective sergeant, Michael Van Sant. Michael is trying to learn who wants to sabotage his unit, and Debra is soon caught up in his hush-hush investigation—while she tries not to fall head over heels for her boss. But danger is nearer than she thinks. When she confronts the saboteur, Mike and his detectives race against the clock. But is one of the men he trusted trying to get Debra out of the way and bring them down?

Bio:

Susan Page Davis is the author of more than 60 novels and novellas in the historical romance, mystery, and suspense genres. She is the mother of six and grandmother of ten. A Maine native, she now lives in western Kentucky with her husband Jim. Visit her website at: www.susanpagedavis.com

Welcome, Susan! Where did you grow up and attend school? Are there any other authors in your family? 

I grew up in central Maine and went to college in New York state. I married a westerner and moved to Oregon, but we moved back East after a year. We stayed in Maine about 30 years, then we moved to western Kentucky. There are a few distant relatives of mine who have published books, and also two of my children, Megan Elaine Davis and James Samuel Davis. Both have co-authored books with me. My husband Jim was a news editor for many years and authored many articles and devotionals. Daughter Amy did a stint as a journalist and also publishes her poetry. Two others of our children are just embarking on their own publishing careers.

How did you get started writing? How old were you? What made you want to start? What did you enjoy reading as a child? 

I began writing seriously as a news correspondent, though I had written a lot of stories when I was younger. I wrote several magazine articles as an adult and began publishing short stories in 2001. My first novel was published in 2004, the year I turned 50.

I have always enjoyed fiction, and I read voraciously. I started with picture books and Childcraft, which my grandmother gave us as part of a World Book Encyclopedia set. I’ve always loved adventure and survival stories.

How and when did you and your husband meet? Was it love at first sight? What does he think about your being an author? 

Jim was my brother’s college roommate. No, it was not love at first sight. He came to our house with my brother one Christmas, on his way to spend the vacation with a relative about a hundred miles away. He got sick at our house and stayed a week. I was 13. I didn’t see him again for several years. When I started college at age 17, he began writing to me. It was a slow, long-distance romance.

How old are your children? Do they read your books? Have any of them got the writing bug, as well?

I have six children, all grown, and some have given me grandchildren. All are readers, and some are writers as well.

How do you research the communities and people you write about? Do you find yourself having do a lot of research? 

I do a lot of research, especially for my historical books. If possible, I try to travel to the place I am writing about. The featured book, The Saboteur, is a contemporary novel, but I still had to research things like police procedure and city hiring practices. I did a lot of that by talking to police officers and a civilian dispatcher at my local police station. Some of it was done online and through books and phone calls. There are actually reference manuals on things like how to hire a police chief.

Which is your favorite book? Do you have a character in your books you identify with the most?

It would be impossible to choose one favorite book, but a few that I love are To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee), The Believers (Janice Holt Giles), and Follow the River (James Alexander Thom). From my own books, I think I identify most with Elaine Cook in the Tearoom Mysteries series. I admit, she’s a lot like me.