Susan Page Davis' "The Lady's Maid"

Title: The Lady’s Maid
Publisher: Barbour Publishing

Cover blurb: The Lady’s Maid features Elise Finster, who accompanies her young mistress, Lady Anne Stone, on a voyage to America in 1855. Lady Anne’s father has died, and her Uncle David is the new Earl of Stoneford—if he steps forward and claims the title. But David disappeared into the American West when Anne was a baby. Now it’s up to her and Elise to find him. Obstacles abound. Mules to tend, a lazy hired man, rugged mountains, unexpected romance, and a sinister stranger stand in their way. The Lady’s Maid is the first book in the Prairie Dreams series, and released October 1, 2011.

1) How did this story come to you?
My editor asked for a prairie story, and I was working at the time on a different book that involved royalty (Love Finds You in Prince Edward Island). I read a lot about the customs and protocol of the day. The idea of aristocrats on a wagon train struck me as a fun way to bring the Victorian period to the West.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
Although this book was requested by the editor, I did have a false start. At first I had suggested another idea. She liked it “all right” but wasn’t crazy about it. I certainly wanted to give her a story she was crazy about, so I did some brainstorming and came up with my elegant ladies crossing the plains.

Once that was settled, it was a matter of fleshing out the plot, writing the book, rewriting, doing edits and revisions, and so on—the usual journey of about eighteen months from idea to publication.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
It’s really hard to surprise people these days, but I’ll try. I am a Mayflower descendant and a stroke survivor, and I have no sense of fashion whatsoever. Oops, for anyone who knows me, that is no surprise.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I am working on the third book in this series, A Lady in the Making. (Lady Anne’s Quest comes in between). After that, I’ll be writing a contemporary mystery.

5) Parting comments?
Thanks for having me over, Dawn. This series is a lot of fun to write, and I hope the readers love the characters and their adventures as much as I do.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
My website is at http://www.susanpagedavis.com/.

Purchase links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/161626439X/suspagdav-20
Barnes & Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Ladys-Maid/Susan-Page-Davis/e/9781616264390?itm=1&usri=the%20lady%20s%20maid
CBD:
http://www.christianbook.com/ladys-maid-prairie-dreams/susan-davis/9781616264390/pd/264390?item_code=WW&netp_id=881498&event=ESRCN&view=details

Susan Page Davis' "Love Finds You in Prince Edward Island, Canada"

We're happy to have Susan Page Davis with us today talking about her book Love Finds You in Prince Edward Island, Canada. To learn more about Susan and her book, read on!

Title: Love Finds You in Prince Edward Island
Publisher: Summerside Press

Cover blurb: Prince Edward Island pulls out all the stops to prepare for the visit of Prince Albert Edward (Queen Victoria’s son, later King Edward VII) in 1860. Molly Orland, a farmer’s daughter, is hired as a housemaid at the governor’s mansion, where the prince and his entourage will stay. Peter Stark is sent ahead of the royal party to ensure the arrangements are in order. Though Peter and Molly are attracted to each other, there seems to be no future for them, since Peter must soon leave with his master, the Earl of Washburn, and Molly will lose her job if discovered to be engaging in a flirtation with one of the visitors. However, Molly’s family harbors a secret that connects her family to Washburn’s. Can she and Peter overcome the past and set right a 60-year-old wrong?

1) How did this story come to you?
I thought of it after reading some historical material on Prince Edward Island and learning about the Prince of Wales’s 1860 goodwill tour of British North America and the United States.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
This one was not typical. The editor and I had talked several times about working together, but up to that point a story line hadn’t clicked for both of us. When Summerside Press decided to cross the border into Canada with the Love Finds You line, Rachel Meisel asked if I’d like to write a story set in PEI. I lived in Maine then, and was within five or six hours’ drive of the island. I jumped at the chance, we worked out the story line, and I went to PEI to do research.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
I am a stroke survivor (it happened 13 years ago, and no cause was found); I’m descended from John Alden of Mayflower fame; and I collect old tea tins.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I just finished a Texas historical called Captive Trail. It’s about a young woman who spent 12 years with the Comanche and is found lying unconscious in the road by a stagecoach driver. Moody Publishers will release this title September 1 as part of the new Texas Trails series, which I’m writing with two other authors, Darlene Franklin and Vickie McDonough. We’re each writing two books.
And I’m working on Lady Anne’s Quest, in which an English lady searches for her uncle in 1855 Oregon. She needs to tell him that he’s now the Earl of Stoneford—but he disappeared into the American West twenty years ago, and he’s a hard man to find. Especially when two bumbling crooks are out to stop her and an assassin has her uncle in his sights. This is Book 2 of my Prairie Dreams series for Barbour Publishing. Book 1 (The Lady’s Maid) will release October 1.

5) Parting comments?
Thanks for having me over today, Dawn! I love visiting with you and your friends. I’m delighted that we’re giving away a copy of Love Finds You in Prince Edward Island.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
My Website is: www.susanpagedavis.com and I give away free books there every month. Come see me there or on Facebook.