by Sara Davison @sarajdavison

I can’t remember a moment of my life when I was not an avid reader. As a toddler, my favourite story was a picture book called Where’s Willie? about a lost black kitten (spoiler: Willie was in the laundry basket under the clothes). I can still close my eyes and see the pictures on the page and remember exactly how the story went. I also loved The Man Who Never Washed His Dishes and Are You My Mother, both of which I own copies of, well-worn from reading them to my children and stored away to bring out when I have grandbabies someday.

As a kid, I always brought a book with me wherever I went. Our family albums are chock-full of pictures of my parents and sisters carrying out some kind of activity and me way in the background, curled up on a chair reading. I couldn’t get enough of The Bobbsey Twins, Encyclopedia Brown, or The Great Brain books. One deeply impactful book I read during the wedding reception for my grandfather and step-grandmother was The Lady with the Lamp, the story of Florence Nightingale. Other than family events, my favourite place to read was my treehouse, where I always kept a stack of books and a supply of snacks ready. I could have happily lived up there if my parents had let me. Unfortunately, they always forced me to come inside at night, where I would continue my reading with a flashlight underneath my blankets.

We moved around a lot when I was growing up, and the first thing I did (and still do) in every new town was seek out the library and apply for my library card—that magical, golden ticket to other times, places, and worlds. From fourth to seventh grade, I lived with my family in a really small town (population 900) that had an amazing library in an old stone house. Two stories with old wooden floors that creaked under every footstep—I can still picture that place vividly, smell the old books. It was in that building one day that my future was sealed. I clearly remember wandering along between two shelves, running my fingers along the spines of the books and thinking, All these people wrote books. It can be done. I can do this. A degree in English literature and eleven suspense and romantic suspense novels later, here I am.

Nothing means more to me than readers reaching out to say that something I wrote had an impact on their lives, on their relationship with God. I believe with all my heart that my stories come from God and that He has a purpose for them. Whether or not I ever know this side of Heaven what that purpose is or how it has been fulfilled, I write and market my stories to the best of my ability and then leave that up to Him.

I only hope and pray that every person who honours me by giving their precious time and attention to one of my stories enjoys it every bit as much as I loved every book I read growing up, and that God uses it to bless their lives in some small way.

Sara Davison is the author of three romantic suspense series—The Seven Trilogy, The Night Guardians, and The Rose Tattoo Trilogy—and the stand-alone novel, The Watcher. She has been a finalist for ten national writing awards, including Best New Canadian Christian author, a Carol, a Selah, and two Daphne du Maurier Awards for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. She is a Word and Cascade Award winner. She currently resides in Ontario, Canada with her husband Michael and their three children. The words on the mug she uses every morning pretty much sum up her life—I just want to sleep, drink coffee, and make stuff up.