Mesu Andrews
https://mesuandrews.com/
Author of Brave: The Story of Ahinoam
T4JYM: Tell our readers about Brave: The Story of Ahinoam, releasing October 1, 2024. What can they expect from it?
MA: Brave is the first book in a series called, King David’s Brides, based on 2 Samuel 3:2-5 that tells us David married SIX women who gave him sons while he reigned as king in Hebron (before he conquered Jerusalem). Six? The fact that David married six women tells us he was brave, right? But my book, Brave, is The Story of Ahinoam. So, what makes her brave?
Ahinoam is a Kenite, born of a foreign clan still living among the Israelites, never expelled from the Land promised to Abraham centuries ago. Like many Kenites, Ahinoam and the father who raised her, worship Yahweh and even more so since Ahinoam’s mother abandoned them when Ahinoam was very young. Her father teaches Ahinoam the trade of metalworking and the skill of throwing daggers. When they join David’s army of misfits, Ahinoam’s heart betrays the promise she made years ago – that she would never marry and suffer the devastating loss of a broken heart.
When David reveals his heart and proposes she become his wife, she refuses, unable to imagine a Kenite’s daughter as the wife of Israel’s next king. Wrestling with who she was, who she is, and who she might become, Ahinoam is confident she’s brave enough to fight and die for David ben Jesse, but is she brave enough to love him -knowing a king must marry other wives?
T4JYM: Being a writer of historical fiction, how much time and research goes into a book? And how do you ensure they are historically accurate?
MA: As a new author, I researched at least six months before ever starting to plot or form my characters. As a published author who has written books set in three of the four eras of the Bible – Patriarchs, Monarchy, Exile (not pre-Flood) – I usually only need two months of research since I’ve already done years of previous study on culture, locations, and settings of those three eras. Invariably, there are questions that come up as I’m writing, so I continue to research some details as I’m writing the manuscript, but I try not to interrupt the flow of concentrated writing too often, because research and creative writing happen in two, separate parts of the brain. I can barely walk and chew gum at the same time, let alone accomplish both right-brain and left-brain activity within the same hour.
Accuracy is especially important to me since I believe the Bible is the absolute Truth, no errors at all (in its original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages). I write my novels in layers and keep track of the information on a three-columned spreadsheet: 1) Biblical, 2) Historical, and 3) Fictional. While researching, I insert whatever information I discover in the appropriate column with the source documentation: 1) Scripture reference, 2) Bibliography citation, 3) sometimes the mind map of why I came to that conclusion. This level of record keeping is very helpful when a reader emails me with questions about where I got certain information or if something is Truth, historical fact, or simply my imagination.
T4JYM: What does the writing process look like for you? Walk us through everything that happens from idea to publication.
MA: As a multi-published author, the process is very different than it was before I’d been published. Since I’ve now worked with four, well-respected publishers, my editor and I talk about what stories I’d like to write next and usually agree on that. I write a one-page synopsis including: 1) Proposed Title; 2) Setting: Location (main) and Date; 3) Main characters: a one-sentence description of each character’s motivation strong enough to carry their transformation (arc) through the entire book; and 4) Short story synopsis – beginning to end. The editor takes my one-sheet proposal to the “pub board” (may be called different things at various publishers), usually comprised of: editorial director (usually my editor, who is now my cheerleader for this project); sales director; marketing director; design director; and the publisher (aka, the big-cheese). They either offer a contract as-is, or they decide to change my idea. They then call my agent. My agent calls me to see if I like what they’ve said, and he takes over on the negotiations. If there’s another publisher that’s interested in the same idea (and I don’t like the offer from my current publisher), my agent takes the idea to the other publisher – and we go through waiting for another pub board decision. And over and over until we get an offer we like.
If you’re unpublished, your first task is to get an agent! A large publisher WILL NOT EVEN LOOK AT YOUR PROPOSAL unless you have an agent. The best way to get an agent is to attend online or in-person writer’s conferences. It’s tempting to just upload your book to Amazon and sell it when you think it’s ready for the world to see.
Don’t. Do. It.
If you’re really serious about becoming a professional author, be willing to wait. If you upload a book to Amazon, any agent (or publisher) will look at those sales to make their decision about whether you’re a viable client. I know there are LOTS of stories about instant successes, but there are thousands more about folks who didn’t get the big break on their first try – or 100th. It took me twelve years to get published. It may not take you that long – but are you Brave enough to work hard for as long as it takes?
T4JYM: You have such an assortment of published works already that I would love to dig into! Do you have any new books in the works that we can look forward to?
MA: I DO!!! Brave is the first book in the Brides of King David (BKD) series. I’ve already started my first edit on Book #2, NOBLE: The Story of Maakah, which tells the story of David’s third wife mentioned in 2 Samuel 3:2-5. NOBLE releases in August 2025, so we’ve got several more steps to go through before its print and release. I mentioned this was the FIRST edit, called the “line edit” by my current publisher. Every traditional house has different names for each edit, but an author generally edits a manuscript three or four times before the final copy is sent off to print. My deadline to submit the first draft on NOBLE was August 1, 2024, so it takes about a year from the time a traditional publishing house receives a full-length novel first draft to the time readers get it into their hands.
BTW, did you notice that BRAVE is about Ahinoam, wife #1, and NOBLE is about wife #3. Are you wondering what happened to wife #2? My passion is writing about the unnoticed or obscure women in the Bible. David’s wife #2 is Abigail, widow of Nabal the Carmelite. You can learn a lot about her in 1 Samuel 25, so she doesn’t get a whole novel, but I’ve written a FREE NOVELLA – a prequel to BRAVE – that you can download by subscribing to my newsletter here: https://mesuandrews.com/#newsletter.
T4JYM: Are there any characters from books you have written who hold a special place in your heart?
MA: I LOVE Hephzibah, the main character from Isaiah’s Daughter. It’s partly because I love her name, which means, “Delight of the Lord.” I’ve always wanted the Lord to delight in me. When I began digging into the research for that book, I realized that Jewish legend held that Queen Hephzibah – King Hezekiah’s wife – was actually the prophet Isaiah’s daughter! With that knowledge, so much of Isaiah 62 came to life for me – and so much of Hezekiah and Isaiah’s story.
T4JYM: Who are some of the authors you enjoy reading? What authors have inspired you as a writer? Who are some of the authors you look up to and why?
MA: I love to write biblical fiction, and it’s also my favorite genre to read. Our genre is very popular right now, so lots of folks are writing it. Some do excellent research and remain accurate to the Bible’s Truth. Unfortunately, some don’t. I’m really careful about who I read and even more careful about who I endorse. I enjoy reading the authors who wrote biblical fiction even before I was published: Francine Rivers (Mark of the Lion series), Lynn Austin, and Angela Hunt. They definitely inspired me to write well-researched, relatable, passionate biblical novels. The writers who began writing at the same time I did and are still my two favorites: Tessa Afshar and Connilyn Cossette. But there are some newer writers to biblical fiction who have shown some amazing promise: Jamie Ogle and Heather Kaufman.
Perhaps the author I look up to most is more than an author and writes much more than great biblical novels. Liz Curtis Higgs has always been my hero. Her testimony of “circling the eternal drain” to being saved by the King of Kings resonates with my past. She knows God’s Word, lives it, breathes it. Her humility is real, as is everything about her. I once approached Liz at a writer’s conference (she was there to learn, not teach) after my debut novel published. She glanced at my name tag and gasped, “Mesu Andrews, I’ve been wanting to meet you!” I laughed out loud! SHE wanted to meet ME? But that’s the kind of person she is. Liz makes everyone feel like they’re God’s favorite kid, and I’m pretty sure she’s at the top of His list – with the rest of us.
T4JYM: Besides writing books, tell our readers a little about you and the things that keep you busy.
MA: My husband Roy and I have two married daughters and eight grandkids – aged 20, 18, 12, 12, 10, 10, and twin 6-yr-olds. I spend a lot of time on the phone (talking, texting, FaceTiming) with them or my 94-yr-old mama. I LOVE movies! We watch a lot of them. My hubby is a pastor, so we enjoy spending time with lots of folks from our church family, too. It seems like I should have a hobby or something, but I just don’t have time!
T4JYM: What kinds of books do you enjoy reading? What are you reading currently?
MA: Honestly, don’t have time to sit down and read an actual book, so I listen to audiobooks while I exercise, clean, cook, drive, etc. I’m currently reading, The Scarlet Ribbon (WhiteFire Publishing, 2025) by a new author, Naomi Stephens, that I intend to endorse. It’s a retelling of Rahab’s story in the setting of the American Revolutionary War. Isn’t that fun? Liz Curtis Higgs did a series based on Jacob, Leah, and Rachel but set the story in the Scottish Highlands in the 1800’s. And Kate Breslin wrote, For Such a Time as This, placing Esther’s story within the setting of the WWII Nazi death camps. It’s difficult to do this sort of adaptation well, but it’s golden when an author can pull it off.
T4JYM: Please share a short testimony of something God has done in your life.
MA: I’ll share why I write books only based in the Old Testament. My husband and I have known each other since 3rd grade. Neither of us were Jesus-followers in school. I grew as a spiritual mutt: Dad was a Quaker, Mom Charismatic, grandparents Wesleyan. They all used Bible verses like weapons to wound, so I wanted nothing to do with God or the Bible. My husband went to a Christian college (to get a basketball scholarship), and those people didn’t talk a lot to him ABOUT Jesus; they just lived like Jesus in a way he couldn’t argue against. He became a Jesus-follower by Easter, but then his scholarship went away. When he came back home, we went out on our first date, and I asked why he was acting so weird. Long-story-short – he blamed Jesus, and I rolled my eyes. When I finally asked him why he believed the Bible, he said it was all ONE STORY about Jesus, cover to cover, God’s love-letter written to me. And he showed me Jesus in Genesis 3:15… not just John 3:16. Three weeks later, after he showed me Jesus’s Crimson Thread all the way through the Old Testament, I became a Jesus-follower, too. That’s why I write novels about the Old Testament. I want people to know that God isn’t a god of wrath in the Old Testament and a god of love in the New. He’s one God, the same yesterday, today, and forever Whose love never changes FOR YOU and me.
T4JYM: If you could have 20 minutes with any person in the Bible, other than God, what would it look like?
MA: My dear friend, Tosca Lee, wrote a book that swept the Christian publishing market and won the ECPA Book of the Year in 2017: Iscariot. Her indescribable portrayal of Judas Iscariot – the betrayer of all betrayers – still haunts me because it proved to pretty much everyone that read the book… I could have been Judas. I wouldn’t want a whole afternoon with him (as I would Mary, mother of Jesus), but I’d like to hear the REAL story from his own lips.
T4JYM: If you could pick any character from one of your books or another author’s, who would you want to spend an afternoon with?
MA: Anne Rice, known for her many vampire novels, wrote a series in the early 2000’s called, Life of Christ. Why would a best-selling vampire author suddenly write about Jesus? I’ve heard it said that Rice thought the genres not so very different because both require blood to live eternally.
Wow. Just wow. I must admit, I’ve never read any of her vampire novels, but her portrayal of Mary, the mother of Jesus, raised many questions that would likely take more than a single afternoon to be asked and answered. But here goes…
I’d love to hear about her pregnancy, Jesus’s birth, the visit from the Magi, and Jesus’s unrecorded childhood. I’d ask if she ever doubted that her Son was God’s Son—when and why, or why not? I would want to know how she could endure remaining at the Cross to watch evil men torture and kill the Son she KNEW was God’s gift to the world. How did she feel those three days while He was in the tomb? Did she doubt Him like the rest? Or did she always believe in the “somehow”? Then I’d ask where she went afterward – with John, the disciple Jesus loved, and the man Jesus put in charge of caring for His earthly mother. I’d ask how she died, and what her reunion with Jesus was like in heaven – God’s Son, her Son.
T4JYM: What is your favorite book of the Bible and your favorite verse? Why?
MA:My favorite Bible book is Genesis because it has all those foundational Patriarchal stories that are key to understanding the rest of Old Testament. My favorite verse is Zechariah 3:17 because it tells me that God actually SINGS – and He sings over ME! Like the meaning of Hephzibah’s name, it is my greatest desire to bring my God joy and think that I might somehow, each day, be able to make Him smile. Or sing!
T4JYM: What advice would you give to someone interested in publishing?
MA: Please hold loosely to YOUR plan for writing. When I started writing in 2001, I was writing non-fiction: Bible studies. In 2005, I switched to devotionals and secured an agent. Finally, in 2008, my best friend suggested I teach the Bible (which was my true passion) through writing fiction. I was indignant! “I’m a serious Bible student!” I said. “Oh, forgive me,” she replied, grinning. “I forgot you were a better teacher than Jesus.” OUCH!!! She not-so-gently reminded me that Jesus often taught with stories (parables)! And which parts of your pastor’s sermons do you remember? Yep, the stories. If I’d stubbornly held to ONLY writing non-fiction, I likely still wouldn’t be published.
T4JYM: What advice would you give to the youth of this world?
MA: I wrestled with fear for my grandkids. Y’all are growing up in a very different time in this world than EVER recorded. But our awesome God didn’t blink or wake up one day and say, “Oops!” The God of All Creation brought the youth of this generation into being FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS. YOU are our champions! YOU are the ones He knew would be perfectly equipped to face the challenges of your generation! It’s up to my generation to be your encouragers, your wise counselors, and your prayer warriors. Those older than you have valuable experience with which to teach and train you, but YOU also have many things to teach us. Every part of the Body must follow the Head in order to conquer the challenges ahead. Only if we’re ALL following Jesus can we overcome.
T4JYM: Any final thoughts you want to share?
MA: All this Jesus talk is just talk until we figure out PERSONALLY how to give ourselves to an invisible God. It’s a little freaky, truly, to sit in a room alone and talk out loud to the God who is always with you. But that’s what I would suggest. Get alone. Talk out loud. Tell Him the truth about how you feel—about Him, about who you are, about what you need. You likely won’t get a burning bush or a fiery chariot. Those belonged to Moses and Elijah. You’ll get something God intends uniquely for you. Job 33:14 says, “For God does speak – now one way, now another – though no one perceives it.” Learn to listen while you’re alone. When you hear Him while you’re alone, it will become easier to hear Him over the noise. Shoot an email my way when you hear Him (me**@me*********.com – be sure to tell me where you read this article).
I’d love to celebrate with you!
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