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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

What Happens When a Woman’s Passion for the Word Meets Her Love of Story?

by Chautona Havig · Leave a Comment

Mesu Andrews has a new release and it's a doozy. What could have motivated a woman like Potiphar's wife to make such an accusation? via @chautonahavig

Biblical fiction can be a sticky wicket, but one beautiful thing it has going is providing cultural context to familiar stories. It can also offer reasons that people may have acted as they did. Its very strength in making us familiar with things its original audience already understood can also be a means to blurring the lines between fact and fiction. Great authors know how to throw a “what if” scenario into the mix and leave us digging deeper into Scripture to understand what the Lord is teaching us in His Word, and isn’t that the main point? Listen in as Mesu Andrews and I tackle my issues with Biblical fiction and see why it is such an important genre in Christian fiction.

Mesu Andrews

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What Happens When a Woman’s Passion for the Word Meets Her Love of Story?

I’ve always been honest about my concerns with Biblical fiction, but as I chatted with Mesu (we didn’t have time to discuss it), I realized it really is the same issue as with all Christian fiction–allowing creativity and recognizing the ways different people understand the same passages while holding fast to Biblical truth. In Biblical fiction, it’s more overt. If an author tries to say that David was a twelve-year-old girl, we’re going to have problems. If another book shows the possibility of Paul having been married as M.D. House talked about in Episode 133, well that’s something we don’t actually know. How that’s done makes all the difference.

Mesu Andrews has a deep love and passion for the Word that shines whenever you talk to her, and this interview was no exception. She lets us peek into her writing process that starts pretty generically (Hello, Google!) before digging deep into more academic sources. She made it very clear that every Biblical fact mentioned in the Bible never changes in her stories. However, she does look at cultural and traditional aspects of life at the time and asks those wonderful “what if?” questions.

Why write about someone like Potiphar’s wife?

Because women often prefer reading about women, Mesu looks at familiar stories like that of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife from an unfamiliar angle. Of course, you can read all the spoilers by going straight to the Bible, but I have to admit that I’m fascinated to see where this book takes us.

Finally, we discussed a few authors and the kinds of Biblical fiction they write. From concepts to deep dives, Old Testament to New, these authors have carved out niches for themselves. I know you’ll find something you need to check out. Me, I’m going to be reading Potiphar’s Wife soon and seeing what Mesu Andrews has for us.

Potiphar's WifePotiphar’s Wife by Mesu Andrews

One of the Bible’s most notorious women longs for a love she cannot have in this captivating novel from the award-winning author of Isaiah’s Legacy.

“Mesu Andrews yet again proves her mastery of weaving a rich and powerful biblical story!”—Roseanna M. White, author of A Portrait of Loyalty

Before she is Potiphar’s wife, Zuleika is the daughter of a king and the wife of a prince. She rules the isle of Crete alongside her mother in the absence of their seafaring husbands. But when tragedy nearly destroys Crete, Zuleika must sacrifice her future to save the Minoan people she loves.

Zuleika’s father believes his robust trade with Egypt will ensure Pharaoh’s obligation to marry his daughter, including a bride price hefty enough to save Crete. But Pharaoh refuses and gives her instead to Potiphar, the captain of his bodyguards: a crusty bachelor twice her age, who would rather have a new horse than a Minoan wife.

Abandoned by her father, rejected by Pharaoh, and humiliated by Potiphar’s indifference, Zuleika yearns for the homeland she adores. In the political hotbed of Egypt’s foreign dynasty, her obsession to return to Crete spirals into deception. When she betrays Joseph—her Hebrew servant with the face and body of the gods—she discovers only one love is worth risking everything.

You can find out more about Mesu Andrews on her WEBSITE.

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 161: A Chat with Christian Women's Fiction Robin W. Pearson
byChautona Havig

Nothing says good, Southern women’s fiction like a feisty granny or a family secret, and Robin W. Pearson’s got you covered on both fronts. Stir in a pot of faith, and well… you’re bound to find a story you’ll never forget. And isn’t that a blessing? Award-winning, bestselling, and aspiring yodler on the other side of the Rockies, Robin writes stories of faith, family, and it sounds like some seriously delicious food.

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

What’s Better Than a Great Women’s Fiction Novel on a Summer’s Day?

New-to-me (or she was!) women’s fiction author, Robin W. Pearson writes God-centered, family-focused fiction. Robin is a delightful homeschooling mom of seven and if that wasn’t job enough, her debut novel won a Christy award! I mean, that takes some serious skills! Not to mention, it has a killer kick-off synopsis on Amazon. I was hooked from the first paragraph.

Robin says she wants people to see love in her books–how to love well even when we don’t know how. How to see each other as God does.  I think that sounds pretty amazing.

Her debut novel, A Long Time Coming, is more than just a great-sounding book, it really deals with family issues and I’ll just say I fell in love with the narrator of the audio.

The next book, Till I Want No More, rips your heart out with the synopsis, stomps on it, and says, “There. Now what’ll you do about that?  Well, I don’t know what I’ll do, other than read it of course!

And her latest novel?  Oh, my gravy. It released just last week and it’s amazing.  Well, the part I’ve read already is. Walking in Tall Weeds promises to keep your heart on tenterhooks as it takes you through a family’s pain and trauma.  And what more could you want?

Walking in Tall Weeds by Robin W. Pearson

From award-winning author Robin W. Pearson comes a new Southern family drama about one family who discovers their history is only skin-deep and that God’s love is the only family tie that binds.

Paulette and Fred Baldwin find themselves wading through a new season of life in Hickory Grove, North Carolina. Their only son, McKinley, now works hundreds of miles away, and the distance between the husband and wife feels even farther. When their son returns home, his visit dredges up even more conflict between Fred and Paulette.

McKinley makes it no secret that he doesn’t intend to follow in his father’s footsteps at George & Company Fine Furnishings or otherwise. Fred can’t quite bring himself to accept all his son’s choices, yet Paulette is determined McKinley will want for nothing, least of all a mother’s love and attention—which her own skin color cost her as a child. But all her striving leaves Fred on the outside looking in.

Paulette suspects McKinley and Fred are hiding something that could change the whole family. Soon, she’s facing a whirlwind she never saw coming, and the three of them must dig deep to confront the truth. Maybe then they’ll discover that their history is only skin-deep while their faith can take them right to the heart of things.

You can learn more about Robin W. Pearson on her WEBSITE.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

  • Apple 
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  • RSS
  • Spotify
  • Stitcher
  • Amazon
  • and more!
Episode 161: A Chat with Christian Women's Fiction Robin W. Pearson
Episode 161: A Chat with Christian Women's Fiction Robin W. Pearson
July 26, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 160: A Chat with Liz Johnson about The Last Way Home
July 22, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 159: A Chat with Biblical Fiction Author, Mesu Andrews
July 19, 2022
Chautona Havig
A Chat with Historical Christian Fiction Author, Stephanie Landsem
July 12, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 157: A Chat with Historical Christian Fiction Author, Lynn Austin
July 8, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 156: The Fragrance of Violets by Susan K. Beatty
July 5, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 155: Chatting with Heather Day Gilbert & Jen Cudmore
July 1, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 154: A Chat with Romantic Suspense Author, Sami A. Abrams
June 28, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 153: A Chat with Historical Author, Tracie Peterson
June 21, 2022
Chautona Havig
Episode 152: A Chat with Contemporary Romance Author, Amy Anguish
June 14, 2022
Chautona Havig
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