COWGIRL TRAIL - Susan Page Davis - Free Book

Welcome back, Susan. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

I write the kind of stories that I enjoy reading.

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

Probably my wedding day, when Jim and I started our life together. We’ve been blessed with 36 years so far.

How has being published changed your life?

I used to work part time from home for a newspaper. Now I work full time at home writing fiction. Being published has opened a lot of doors for me, but it has also limited my other activities. For instance, I don’t spend as much time with my grown children and my grandchildren as I would like. Most of them live a ways away, and it’s sometimes hard to get together.

What are you reading right now?

Mostly research books at the moment, but recently Sixteen Brides, by Stephanie Whitson, and The Long Trail Home, by Vickie McDonough.

I’ve read both of those and loved them. What is your current work in progress?

I just handed in my manuscript of a book in the Miracles of Marble Cove series (from Guideposts), and I’m gearing up to write another Texas book and a new mystery.

What would be your dream vacation?

Tahiti, maybe. My older son is headed to Yap this week, on a mission trip. I didn’t know where it was and had to look it up. (It’s in Micronesia, “sort of near” the Philippines.) Sounds good to me—I’ve never been to the tropics.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

Sometimes they are chosen for me, but if not, I usually start with a story line and locate where it works best. Lately I’ve written books set in Texas, Massachusetts, Maine, Arizona, and Oregon.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?

My daughter Megan, and her husband, who live in England. Megan is co-author with me of a mystery series. She’s been over to the States twice since they married in 2008, but we haven’t been able to get over there yet, and I’d love the chance.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

I enjoy needlework and logic puzzles. I used to do a lot of walk and horseback riding, but not so much anymore.

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Carving out time to create new proposals has been a problem lately. I need to be planning next year’s books now.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Read a lot, across genres. Write every day. And put some time in working on the writing craft—you never stop learning and growing in this field.

Tell us about the featured book.

I love this story, which is fifth in the Texas Trails series. These books are loosely connected through the Morgan family, but you don’t have to read them all in order. You can pick up any one of them and enjoy the story. Each of us three authors (Darlene Franklin, Vickie McDonough and me) focuses on a different branch of the family, so you won’t “miss something” if you skip around. Here’s a summary of Cowgirl Trail:

In 1884, Maggie Porter returns to the Rocking P Ranch. The sanatorium was not able to save her mother and now her father’s health is failing. When the cowboys walk off the job leaving no one to drive the cattle to market, ranch foreman Alex Bright cannot convince the men to stay. Maggie is desperate to save the ranch, and she turns to the town’s women for help. The new cowgirls must herd, rope, and drive the cattle to market. Unfortunately, some of the strikers resent their actions and want to liven up things on the cattle drive. Maggie can’t believe Alex, whom she always admired, would cause trouble for her family. Can she forgive him and accept his offer of help when trouble comes?

Please give us the first page of the book.

“The princess wants to ride this morning. Saddle up her horse.” Jack Hubble, the ranch foreman, clapped Alex on the shoulder and walked past him into the barn.

            Alex shot a glance toward the house, but the boss’s daughter hadn’t come out yet. “Uh. . .which horse?”

            “Duchess, of course. Come on, I’ll show you her gear.” Jack strode into the tack room, and Alex hurried after him.

            “That’s the chestnut mare out back?”

            “That’s right. Here’s Miss Maggie’s saddle.” Jack laid a hand on the horn of a fancy stock saddle with tooled flowers and scrollwork on the skirts.

            “She doesn’t ride sidesaddle?”

            “Nah. Maggie’s been riding like a boy since she was a little kid. Her father lets her get away with it, so don’t say anything.”

            Alex nodded. His own sisters rode astride around the home place, and no one thought a thing about it. Why should he expect the boss’s thirteen-year-old daughter to behave differently? But he had. Maggie Porter was a pretty girl, blond and blue-eyed. She’d looked like a china doll on Sunday morning, wearing a pink dress with gloves and a white straw bonnet when the family set out for church in the buckboard.

            “Here’s Duchess’s bridle.” Jack placed it in his hand.

            “Just saddle the mare and take it out to her?” Alex asked.

            “Get your horse ready, too.”

            Alex stared at him. “Me? You mean I’m going with her?” He’d been hired at the Rocking P less than two weeks earlier. Now wasn’t the time to argue with his foreman, but it seemed a little strange.

            Jack laughed. “You’re low man around here. Oh, the fellas don’t mind, but it gets kind of boring. It’s an easy morning for you. And Maggie’s a good kid. Let her go wherever she wants on Rocking P land, but make sure she doesn’t do anything dangerous. Where’s your gun?”

            “In the bunkhouse.”

            “You’ll want it today, just in case.”

            “In case of what?” Alex’s first thought was Comanche, but the tribes were now confined to reservations—his parents had followed the saga of the Numinu with special interest.

            “You never know, do you?” Jack said. “Snakes, wild hogs, drifters.”

            “All right. How long does she ride?”

            “As long as she wants, but get her home by noon. Her mother gets fretful if she’s late for dinner.” Jack looked him up and down. “Oh, there’s one other thing.”

            “What’s that?”

            “Maggie’s young, but she’s starting to notice you boys. Don’t do anything to give her ideas.”

I love it. Can’t wait to read it. How can readers find you on the Internet?

Come visit me at my website: www.susanpagedavis.com . I also have a FaceBook page that my daughter Amy and my husband maintain for me.

Lena, thanks for inviting me over!


It's always a pleasure to have you, Susan.


Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Cowgirl Trail (The Texas Trail Series) - paperback
Cowgirl Trail (The Texas Trail Series) - Kindle


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