Susan Page Davis Interview 2

Q: Let me start with asking you to tell us a little bit about yourself.
A. I started out as a news correspondent and turned to writing fiction about 20 years ago. My first novel came out in 2004. In 2010, after my husband, Jim, retired, our family migrated from Maine to western Kentucky. We’re now closer to all our children and grandchildren than we were previously, and the climate is a good fit for us.

Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
A. I loved writing stories as a child, but I never thought I could actually get published or be an author professionally. In 1999, I realized I had a long, complicated story in my head, and Jim said, “You have to write it down.” I first succeeded in publishing short stories in magazines, then had my first novel accepted for publication after a few years of honing my writing craft.

Q: Could you give us the highlights of your professional writing career including how you got your first writing break?
A. If we go way back, I’d have to say my first break was selling short stories to Woman’s World, GRIT, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Then my first novel was bought by Heartsong Presents. That first book, Protecting Amy, came out in 2004. I did a lot more books for Heartsong and its parent company, Barbour Publishing, and I also published books with Harvest House, Guideposts Books, Moody Publishers, and other companies. Some highlights were winning the ACFW Book of the Year Award (now the Carol Award), two Faith, Hope, and Love Readers’ Choice Awards, and two Will Rogers Medallions.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release, Ransom of the Heart?
A: Captain Harvey Larson is on guard when a fifteen-year-old girl approaches him during his lunch hour. Leah thinks she has proof that he is her father, but Harvey needs more evidence. A few hours later, his sister-in-law Abby stumbles upon a body at Hobart Chevrolet. Her husband, Peter, is missing, and the Priority Unit turns out to investigate. When Abby gets a call demanding ransom, Harvey goes into high gear to set up a ransom drop. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned when they try to deliver the money. Meanwhile Peter and Abby’s little boys agonize over their father. Harvey’s wife, Jennifer, does her best to support Abby and their other sister, Leeanne, who is gearing up for her first book signing, and Detective Tony Winfield hopes his idea for a first date will appeal to the chief’s new secretary. His cousin Amy’s getting married, and he needs a date for the wedding, but Tony forgets to reveal one crucial bit of information.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for Ransom of the Heart?
A: The men of the Priority Unit always seem to have odd events happen to them. For some reason, I don’t have any trouble coming up with new dilemmas for these guys. They sort of walk into them, even though—or maybe because—they are the best detective squad in Maine.

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?
A: We may go through horrible things, and they won’t always turn out as we wished, but God is still there with us, every step of the way.

Q: What inspires you to write?
A. Writing allows me to reshape my world. I see things happening around me, and I don’t always like the results. By writing stories about them, I can change the outcome. I can present events the way they might have been.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?
A. I’m working on a new mystery series and a western novella collection.

Q: When you’re not writing what do you like to do?
A. I like to read, spend time with family and friends, and solve codes and logic problems.