Author Interview (and a Giveaway!): Sara Davison

Are y’all busily baking and cleaning and thinking of what you’re thankful for this year? I’m #coolaunting right about now – with some of my other nieces and nephews – and I’m so thankful for FAMILY!

I’m also thankful to have author Sara Davison on the blog today! And… I totally didn’t plan it this way but for the next three days RimSP will be invaded by Canadians who have already celebrated their Thanksgiving 😀

Sara Davison holds a degree in English Literature from Queen’s University. She has written a monthly column for a major newspaper in her city, and is a copy-editor for an on-line publishing company. Her first novel, The Watcher, was the winner in the Word Alive Publishing contest in 2010, and will be released in April 2011. Davison has been a finalist for two national writing awards through The Word Guild; in 2008, for The Best New Canadian Christian Author, and in 2010, for Best Column – Single.

She lives in Orillia, Ontario, with her husband Michael and their three children.

Connect with Sara at her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Sara’s latest book is the final volume in her romantic suspense “The Seven” trilogy – The Morning Star Rises.

In the midst of all the fear and confusion, only one thing is clear …
This isn’t over yet.

Jesse Christensen is out of the army, but the real battle has just begun. As martial law continues in Canada in 2054, Major Gallagher has taken over the city. His oppression of believers intensifies in response to a so-called radical Christian group that claims responsibility for more terrorist attacks. But is Gallagher acting in a professional capacity, or is he carrying out a personal vendetta?

Meryn O’Reilly faces a dark and uncertain future after shocking revelations devastate her life. She is determined to follow God’s call, but her plans could cost her everything. She and Jesse struggle to surrender everything to a God who is always in control, even when circumstances suggest otherwise.

With the world descending into chaos around them, Meryn and Jesse face the greatest barrier to their love yet–a barrier that may prove too strong to breach.

Hi Sara! I’m honored to have you on the blog! Thank you so much for chatting with me! 🙂

Sara: Thanks Carrie! I’m honoured to be here – thank you for having me!

I start all of my guests with a fast four –

Sara: Of course answers are never fast (or simple) with me. Neither are my favourite, but I would go with apples from September to December, when they’re freshest, and oranges from January to March for the Vitamin C. The rest of the year I would prefer almost any other fruit.

Carrie: Well, now i want to know what your favorite fruit IS? 🙂

Sara: Fall, definitely (see?). Summers are too long and hot but winters up here where I live, near Toronto, Ontario, Canada, are way too long and cold. I prefer the moderate and incredibly beautiful season of autumn.

Carrie: Fall IS pretty awesome.

Sara: Neither, sorry. I love animals but both my husband and I grew up on farms and prefer our pets out in the barn, not in the house with us.

Carrie: Well… at least you didn’t choose cats 😀

Sara: Yay! One simple one. Coffee. Always coffee. Strong and hot and keep it coming (can you tell I’m not a morning person?)

Carrie: Naaaaah… never would have guessed 😉

Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?

Sara: Napping. As I mentioned, I am not a morning person but since I still have kids to get off to school I have to get up early to get them out the door. I live for my afternoon nap and couldn’t survive without it and I can sleep whenever and wherever I am, as long as I have at least a couple of hours to do it in.

Carrie: Napping. Is. AWESOME.

Who is your favorite book character from childhood? 

Sara: Well, since I’m Canadian, there really is only one right answer: Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables). Thankfully, it really is true – love, love, love the way she wanders through life (like me) in a constant state of wonder and rampant imagination. I can relate to her intense love for books and the way stories carry you right out of your reality and into beautiful, strange or exotic worlds. Unlike me, Anne is an extrovert and I am in awe of her ability to speak comfortably (and endlessly) to anyone, anywhere, at any time, whether she knows them or not. And then, of course, there’s Gilbert Blythe …

Carrie: Gilbert … blissful sigh.  And I absolutely adore Anne! How can you not, really?

If I asked your characters to describe YOU as an author, what would they say?

Sara:  I’m sure it would be something along the lines of:

Sara is a most rude and thoughtless guest. She doesn’t visit us on a regular basis every day, but will drop in unexpectedly whenever the fancy (or the inspiration) strikes her, and then will often overstay her welcome by lingering well into the wee hours of the morning.

Nothing strikes more terror in our hearts than when she rings the doorbell and we all peer through the curtains to see her standing on the porch, waiting to be let in, as she so often brings chaos, suffering, and mayhem with her when she comes to see us. Sometimes she will even be carrying a not-so-concealed weapon. Those are the most terrifying days of all as we sit around the living feigning idle chit-chat while, in reality, we are all frantically trying to figure out which of us she is about to kill off.

To be fair, there are good days too, especially when we open the door to see that she had brought a mysterious stranger with smoldering good looks, intelligence, and wit who will inevitably turn out to be the great love of one of our lives. (Although even those days are tempered by the sure knowledge that she will make us work for it and we will wonder many, many times if she will ever stop rolling gigantic boulders into our path and just leave us to our happily ever after already.)

We do understand that each and every one of us has a special place in her heart. That she weeps when one of us has to go (even though she’s the one who pulls the trigger), she suffers alongside us as, against impossible odds, we stumble through the challenges, obstacles, and trials she creates for us, and she rejoices with us when everything works out all right in the end (or usually, mostly works out).

After all, we realize that we become her family as she writes, and with family you always have to take the good with the bad, to, in spite of everything, love and accept each other. And, in “The End,” we all feel exactly the same way about her.

Carrie: Oh my goodness!! I LOVE THIS ANSWER!!! hahahaha!

The Seven Trilogy is a little bit suspense and a little bit end times but it’s ultimately the love story of Jesse and Meryn. Tell us about Jesse and Meryn and what YOU love most about each of them!

Sara: Where do I begin? I love both Meryn and Jesse deeply. I admire Meryn’s ability to be strong and defiant and courageous without coming across as bossy or a shrew, a difficult balance for women to achieve. She has faults, of course, and questions, but she stands strong in her faith and does what she believes God is calling her to do, regardless of the possible ramifications, which in her case are often dire, even life-threatening. And she is capable of great love – for God, for her family, for Jesse (even when they can no longer be together) and for her church and country.

Jesse is probably my all-time favourite character in any of my books. He is flawed and wrestles with doubts and fears, but he has deep, unwavering convictions and does what he believes to be right even when it puts him at odds with others, including his best friend and commanding officer. When he commits to something—like his new-found faith or the woman he loves—he commits with everything he has and is willing to risk anything, even his life, for it. He is protective without being condescending, admires and is not threatened by the strength of the women in his life, has a great sense of humour, and is a strong friend and leader. Oh, and he’s good-looking to boot. (Can you tell I’m a little bit in love?)

Carrie: I’m pretty sure I’M a little bit in love with him after that description too 😉

In the series’ final book – The Morning Star Rises – martial law continues in Canada in 2054. Did anything surprise you as you researched what this might look like?

Sara: I didn’t do a whole lot of research since it’s difficult to research a time that hasn’t happened yet, but there is one great website that doctors, scientists, tech experts etc. contribute to with their predictions and forecasts for what life, mostly technology, will be like every year for the next century or more. When I researched the year 2054, the general consensus was that the biggest change for computers in the future will be in memory capacity, which becomes mind-boggling by that point. Otherwise I had to project, using the trajectory we are currently on as a society in the realms of freedom of religion and freedoms in general, in conjunction with biblical prophecies, to try and paint a picture of what life will be like for Christians in North America in forty years. I chose that length of time in the hopes of making the extreme nature of some of what happens believable, but to be honest, I believe we could see persecution of Christians to this extent or greater in this continent even earlier that that, possibly much earlier.

Carrie: A sobering – and yet inspiring – thought…

What do you most want readers to take away from The Morning Star Rises?

Sara: My greatest hope and prayer is that, as readers go through the series, and as they begin to see and experience in real life the rapid erosion of freedoms of religion and speech in our society, leading to persecution such as is described in these books, they will not be afraid but will rest in these truths: God is sovereign. Nothing happens that he does not allow and cannot use to bring about his will and plans. He is also faithful and trustworthy, so we can boldly and with confidence claim his promise that, whatever we go through, we are never alone. His strength and presence will sustain us through whatever lies ahead. And, in the end, all will be put to right and those who endure to the end will be with him forever, in a place where there is no more sadness, pain, suffering, loss, or death. I pray that every reader will be left, not with a sense of fear, but of great hope.

Carrie: Amen. Everything sad will be made untrue… and everything unfair and evil will be brought to justice. I can’t wait!

Again, Sara, thank you so much for taking time to talk with me! 🙂 Before we say goodbye for today, tell us what‘s coming up next for you.

Sara: I am currently working on a two-book, contemporary romantic suspense series, but after that I will give serious thought to a series that will be a spin-off from The Seven Trilogy. Three couples besides Meryn and Jesse are introduced in the trilogy as minor characters, but readers have been saying they would love to see each couple star in a book of their own. So no promises, but that just may be a possibility in the future. The stories don’t come from me. So far God has provided each one, so as long as he continues to do so, I will continue to be obedient to write the books he gives me to the best of my ability and for his glory. As I say in the dedication of every book I write: It is all from him and for him.

Carrie: I’m looking forward to all of the above!!

Sara is generously offering FIVE of my readers a chance to win the first book in The Seven trilogy, The End Begins. Open internationally, except where prohibited by law. Giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s Giveaway Policies.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What about you? Jesse or Meryn? Who are you most eager to meet in the pages of Sara’s series?