Monday, July 19, 2010
Meet and Greet Monday: Susan Page Davis
Susan Page Davis is the author of thirty novels. She and her husband Jim, an editor, live in western Kentucky with the two youngest of their six children. She enjoys reading, travel, needlework, and genealogy. She has homeschooled all her children and is the grandmother of six.
Hi, I’m Susan Page Davis, and I’m happy to be here. I just moved from Maine (where I was born and lived more than 50 years) to western Kentucky, so I’m still amid piles of boxes and culture shock. But so far, I love my new home!
I’ve lived both east and west of the Mississippi, having married a man from Oregon. Jim and I have six children and six grandchildren. The Lord has blessed me with thirty published novels.
My new book is Gunsmith’s Gallantry, book 2 in The Ladies’ Shooting Club series. I loved writing this story about Hiram Dooley, the shy gunsmith (brother to Gert, the heroine of the first book, The Sheriff’s Surrender).
Hiram is a quiet man whose wife died ten years ago. He’s happy to be left alone to do his solitary work. There is one woman in town he admires greatly, but she’s a savvy, beautiful businesswoman who probably would never think twice about the likes of him. Still, he gets all mushy inside whenever he enters her store.
Hiram’s life is disrupted when his sister-in-law, Rose, arrives in town (that’s Fergus, Idaho, a small mountain town you won’t find on any map). Rose has the notion that since they are both widowed, Hiram should marry her. That’s the last thing he wants to do.
Meanwhile, schoolmarm Isabel is shocked when an uncle she never knew existed shows up at her door. Later that night, she sees her father digging a mysterious hole behind their barn, and the uncle is nowhere to be seen. She confides in Libby, the woman Hiram adores.
Soon Hiram finds himself up to his ears in woman problems—and that’s not even counting his sister and her slow-moving beau. Hiram steps up to help his friend Ethan, the sheriff, and shocks the town by clocking a rowdy cowboy. It seems Hiram’s quiet life has become tumult.
Writing this series was an adventure. Stepping into an 1880s mountain town was hard work and tremendous fun. I was able to visit my daughter in Idaho and make an exploratory trip with her. We visited the ghost town at Silver City and other historic places in southwest Idaho.
The research continued as I worked my way through the series. I wanted to put a player piano in the Nugget saloon in the first book, and to my disappointment learned my story was a few years too early for that. Who’d have thought it? Seems every saloon in every western movie has a player piano! But in checking out facts like that, I learned new things that led to other interesting details in my books.
An important part of each book in the series is the Ladies’ Shooting Club of Fergus. Each woman uses the gun she has available. They meet to practice, and Hiram’s sister teaches them to use their weapons safely and effectively. In the first book, this nearly caused a riot among the town’s men. In The Gunsmith’s Gallantry, the club helps rescue one of its beloved members.
This series is about the community of women, their support for each other, and their faith journey. It’s also about adventure and old-fashioned Wild West action.
You can purchase this book through retail stores, Christian Book Distributors, or Amazon.com
My future books will include the third in this series—The Blacksmith’s Bravery, coming your way in December; a 1915 historical suspense novel called The Crimson Cipher—releasing July 1; and a novella in the collection Christmas Mail Order Brides, coming in September. My story is called “Mrs. Mayberry Meets Her Match.” Visit me at my personal website: http://www.susanpagedavis.com/
Enter to win a free copy of Gunsmith’s Gallantry by leaving a comment to this post. Please include a way to contact you online or your entry will become ineligible. A link to detailed rules for Book Readers Central book giveaway drawings is located in this blog's footnotes. Entries will be accepted until this Wednesday at midnight (Pacific Coast time/United States). The winner will be posted on Book Readers Central this Friday.
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Do we hear more about Gert's romance in this one?
ReplyDelete= )
Please enter me! martha(at)lclink(dot)com
Susan is a wonderful author. I would love to win this book!!
ReplyDelete~Steph
soklad@hotmail.com
http://fortheluvofsanity.blogspot.com/
Sounds very interesting - please enter me in the giveaway.
ReplyDeletejanmarien[at]embarqmail[dot]com
I'd love to be added to the giveaway of Susan's book. Thank you! It looks really good, and I love the cover.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Sandee61
Muzzley56[at]aol[dot]com
Martha, you surely will hear more about Gert's romance in this book--lots more. And Hiram really comes out of his shell. Thanks, Steph, Jan Marie, and Sandee! I hope you all are having a good week. My daughter who lives in Idaho is here visiting us right now. We visited her while I was doing research for this series, and we had a trip into the mountains and up to the ghost town of Silver City at that time. Idaho is a beautiful and diverse state! I hope you all enjoy my make-believe town of Fergus.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy Susan's books. Thanks for offering this one.
ReplyDeletewsmarple/at/gmail/dot/com
I love ghost towns, period.
ReplyDeleteHi Susan, Enjoyed your interview. I already love this book. Can't wait to read and I added to my wish list. Thanks for stopping by to chat with us.
ReplyDeleteThanks Janalyn for hosting this giveaway and the opportunity to enter.
misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com
thanks, everyone. Ghost towns rock.
ReplyDelete