A Conversation With Sarah Varland

Sarah Varland lives in Alaska with her family. Her passion for books comes from her mom, and her love for suspense comes from her dad, who has spent a career in law enforcement. When she’s not writing, she’s often found reading, baking, kayaking or hiking.

Why do you like writing romantic suspense?
Sarah: I love romance but I like what suspense adds to it. I think it’s fun to confront the challenge of having people fall head over heels in love while they’re also trying to avoid being killed. My favorite part of writing romantic suspense is the way I get to have my characters, especially my heroines, confront their fears. They are always so much braver than they believe they are, and I love them coming to that realization towards the end of the book and truly being brave as they learn to trust God more. I love the lessons that teaches me and hopefully my readers as well.

What did you want to be as a child (and did that dream come true)?
Sarah: As a really young child I wanted to be a veterinarian. That was before I realized how much science was involved and that science wasn’t my strong suit. When an aptitude test in middle school reminded me of that but showed up with writing as one of my strengths, I was intrigued. I started stories for fun sometimes, just to entertain myself, but until then I’m not sure if it had ever occurred to me I could do that for a career. My mom encouraged me, and when I was in college, my dad took me to a writing conference and the dream just kept growing from there. I still can’t believe sometimes that I’m really an author, that God really did give me this dream along with all the others He has given to me, but I am extremely thankful.

What does your family think of your writing romantic suspense?
Sarah: Ha! I love that you asked this. My family is very proud of me for my writing, which I appreciate, but the idea of suspense in my stories cracks them up occasionally. I’m that person who would rather have a nightlight somewhere in the house than pitch dark, doesn’t like to go outside alone at night, hears a noise and wonders what creepy thing it could be.

I don’t have a track record of extreme bravely like my heroines do, though I aspire to be like them one day, but I guess you could say that while my family laughs a bit we all admit that my overactive imagination has finally come in handy?

Current book: Perilous Homecoming
A former police officer teams up with her high school rival to try to find the modern day pirate responsible for a murder.

Connect W/Sarah
Website: espressoinalatteworld.blogspot.com
Facebook: facebook.com/sarahvarlandauthor
Twitter: @sarahvarland