Susan Page Davis grew up on a small farm in Central Maine and has always loved reading, history, and horses. She took a vocational course in horseshoeing after earning her bachelor’s degree in history. For many years she worked for the Central Maine Morning Sentinel as a freelancer.


Several of Susan’s novels have won awards, including the ACFW Book of the Year and the Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award. Three of her books have been “Top Picks” in Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine.


Susan and her husband Jim, a freelance book editor, now reside in Western Kentucky.




Please tell us about Christmas at Barncastle Inn (Barbour, September 1, 2011).


In this series of four stories, the Barncastle family transforms its sprawling Victorian bed and breakfast into a fantasy world. Guests can rent the entire inn at Christmas for a vacation set in whatever historical period they choose. Parents Ted and Diane are skeptical that anyone will pay the exorbitant price their daughter Jayne recommends—but they’re wrong. Plenty of people long for Christmas in another time. They transform the B&B into a castle, a World War II era inn, a pirates’ lair, and ancient Palestine. Each Christmas, love wends its way through time to the Barncastle Inn, while guests discover that forgiveness is timeless. The other authors in this collection are Lynette Sowell, Janelle Mowery, and Darlene Franklin.



What inspired “Love Comes to the Castle,” your story in the book?


I had the first story in the collection, and I decided to go for the obvious. The house looks like a castle anyway, and the family’s name suggests a big, rambling barn of a house that can be transformed into a fairytale palace.


I also wanted to include a child who loved the castle, but was perhaps a little bit afraid at first. Andy has a traumatic background, but at Barncastle Inn, he meets new friends and gains confidence and a feeling of security.


In “Love Comes to the Castle,” Jayne Barncastle has big ideas for her family’s bed and breakfast, but is the idea so big it will break them? With the rich Dillard family paying for a deluxe medieval Christmas, Jayne must come through for her folks. But how will the Dillards feel about her attraction to their widowed son-in-law, Luke?



Detours in life can be frustrating—especially around the holidays. Can you tell us about a recent “detour” in your life that turned out to be positive?


I find detours unsettling. One of the recent ones for me was moving to a state very different from the ones I was familiar with. But we’ve settled in here pretty well and will be enjoying our second Christmas in Kentucky.



A few fun questions…


What is your favorite Christmas song?


I love Christmas music, especially the old carols. One of my favorites is “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear.”



What is your favorite Christmas comfort food and why?


Cookies! My mother made special cookies at Christmas that she never made any other time of year, and I love that tradition.



Please tell us about one of your favorite Christmas traditions.


Our family used to write poetry for the Christmas Eve gathering. We would read our poems aloud before we opened our gifts. It was great fun. The poems usually involved family members in humorous situations.



Which best describes your perfect Christmas tree: an elegant, evergreen covered in the latest couture; a vintage aluminum tree with shiny glass bulbs; a shaggy cedar covered in homemade ornaments and strung with popcorn; or a palm tree adorned with pink flamingos?


Definitely the traditional tree with homemade ornaments, but not a cedar, please. It HAS to be a fir.



Thanks, Susan. Merry Christmas!


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For more information about Susan and her books, visit her website at http://www.susanpagedavis.com/.



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