BOM: Questions and Answers

Photo: Take away the cell phone, and you've got my Pontius Pilate.

Aside: I am in Lynchburg, VA, home of my alma mater, and it's SPRING! Beautiful, chirpy, goldy-green Spring! So lovely.

Questions raised during the BOM week:

1.) Have I read Josephus? Yes. I used his work quite a bit for my research with Magdalene, but the question came in the context of The Shadow Women. Though Flavius Josephus, a Jew, did write about Moses, he wrote at least seventy years after Christ . . . so anything he said about Moses was gleaned from oral tradition and was later reflected in the Midrash, which I did reference in The Shadow Women. I consider his work in the same light that I consider almost all extra-biblical sources--interesting, sometimes useable, but invalid if it contradicts Scripture.

2.) Have I lived in Reno? No. I researched the city, however, for THE NOVELIST.

3.) Are you going to write more historicals? I would love to--I love doing research. But first I'd have to find a publisher who wants them. Contemporaries seem to be in demand right now.

4.) What did you learn about Jesus as a direct result of writing this novel? For the first time, I saw his loving care in the small things--like not requiring the disciples to wash their hands before meals so the women wouldn't have to haul water from the lake. I've always accepted him as God--in writing this, I learned to see his human side, too.

5.)What gems of wisdom have you gained from writing this book? My appreciation for our adopted Hebrew heritage grew deeper. Far too many Christians believe that somehow the Church has replaced Israel, when Paul himself said we have been grafted into their tree. Christianity is the new wine in a new wineskin, but God still has a plan for Israel. When the "time of the Gentiles" has been fulfilled, he will redeem his people. (Zech 12:10-13:9).

6.)Have you read the other Magdalene stories? If so what did you think of them. No--I didn't want to read any of the other Magdalene novels lest I subconsciously copy any of those plot twists.

7.) Was it harder/more stressful to write Magdalene as a commissioned work on a tighter deadline, as opposed to your other novels? What were some of the major differences in this situation?

Hmmm. I think I'm one of those folks who actually works BETTER under pressure. And the sovereign hand of God was at work--I'd just finished my master's class in New Testament (I think I've already mentioned that), so the NT was fresh in my mind and I already had dozens of books at my fingertips. I wish I'd had more time, though--when I handed it in (and I had the same feeling with The Elevator)--I found myself wishing for another week to go through the manuscript yet AGAIN. But of course, I got that chance after I received my editor's comments. And at the point of submission, with all my books, I am so close to the work I'm not a good judge of its merit.

Thanks for joining me this month!

P.S. All right, our talking head has a new name--Catherine! (It was the name on the voice, and it seems to fit.) Thanks for all your input! You can call her "Cathy" if that makes her seem less creepy. (VBG)

~~Angie