Everything about Sarah Robsdottir is real; everything, that is, except her last name.

“I needed a unique pen name because Sarah Johnson is all too common,” she explained. “So I created ‘Robsdottir’ because I’m Rob’s daughter. He’s my dad, Rob Evans. He’s been a big inspiration to me ever since I was a little girl when he would read stories and acted out plays with me.”

Sarah now has her own story to tell. Her novel, “Brave Water” has just come off the press. It depicts the journey of two East African teenagers who try to rescue their friends from a human trafficking operation that kidnaps children as they search for the precious commodity of fresh water.

“I got the idea from a brochure I picked up in the mail one day,” she said. “Of course, I realized that I would need to do a lot of research and that began in the Dimmick Library by reading an encyclopedia about the lack of natural resources in Ethiopia.”

Full house

Her dream of writing a complete novel was something she could not dedicate much of her daily time.

Sarah and her husband, Peter have seven sons ranging in age from 4 to 18.

“I have home schooled them all,” she said, “but now our oldest is a college student.”

Though time to write was not always available, Sarah was “writing in my head” as she put it. For some inexplicable reason, she often gets her best ideas while making mac and cheese or doing the laundry.

From conception to finished product, “Brave Water” has taken 10 years to complete. At Dimmick, Sarah credits the late Susan Sterling and retired librarians, Christina Becker, Irene Hudock, and Charlotte Kriley for not only inspiring her to write the novel, but the latter trio also read her manuscript and supported her fragile confidence to see the book through until the end.

Her journey

Since the setting takes place in a part of the world that Sarah has never been, she relied upon 30-40 people and some “African voices” as she calls them to provide realism for the journey of her two major characters.

“I spoke with a priest at Costco and I visited several missionaries. I even asked and received an interview with a worker at the drive-thru at a Wendy’s. I just knew she was East African.”

Sarah’s portrayal of the story settings has been authenticated by college professors.

“Brave Water,” published by Voyage Publishing, is targeted toward readers age 13 to adult due to the nature of the sex trafficking elements that Sarah hopes will bring further awareness to this terrible and tragic issue.

The back cover of the book that’s to be released for sale to the public on Sept. 28 offers insight and intrigue into her compelling story.

“Girls are disappearing on their way to the spring … Will fear stop Talitha, the sole water gatherer for her hut from searching for her friend - even if it means scaling the walls of the mine owners’ compound where locals are shot on sight? And will terror block Moses’ path or can this teenage hunter battle an underground trafficking ring with ties to the cities on the other side of Great Mountain?”

The story in the story

In the book, Talitha and Moses will not only encounter violent drug lords and blinding anger, but they will also find “tremendous beauty and the flutters of first love.”

“My mantra in my life of faith is ‘Beauty will save the world’ words written by Russian author, Fydor Doestoevsky, says Sarah, who actually was writing revisions of her novel while in the hospital having her sixth and then her seventh child.

She’s a Catholic convert, a woman of deep faith, and a believer that good will always win over evil, but she is quick to point out that she does not like preaching from the institutional side of religion and she does not think that prayer solves all problems.

“We don’t need Bibles for these poor families in Africa.” she says. “We need fresh water.”

Supporting the local library

She absolutely loves living in Jim Thorpe because it’s “community driven” and of course, visiting Dimmick Library where she found her motivation to write even more so than taking communication courses in college.

She will leave signed copies of “Brave Water” at Dimmick with full proceeds from the sales going back into the library.

Twenty-five percent of her other proceeds from book sales will be donated to charities who either help in the provision of clean water for families in need or help in the fight to save children from the exploits of human trafficking.

Upon receiving the first copy of her novel, Sarah held the book in her hands to feel the physical proof of her labor of love that has taken a decade of her life to finally experience her reward.

“I could have pinched myself,” she said, “and then there was this wonderful moment that brought me to tears because I was able to share it with my mother and my sister.”

This Jim Thorpe mother of seven, wife of 22 years, and first time novelist has more stories running inside her head that just might find their way to her computer while she’s making mac and cheese and doing her laundry.

But for now, Sarah Robsdottir invites her readers to come along with Talitha and Moses on their journey to save their friends from an evil terror that destroys the innocence of childhood.

“Brave Water” is available on Amazon and from Voyage Publishing.