I’ve got a little cushion of time before I need to start work in earnest on my third Culper Ring book–and need to take another week or so before diving into edits on Whispers from the Shadows–so I thought I’d enjoy using my writing time to revisit the biblical world. =)
Though neither Jewel of Persia nor A Stray Drop of Blood are exactly new anymore, I still get a lot of reader feedback about them, and I’ve heard quite a few times that my readers are waiting for another biblical fiction from me. Well, I’ve got some ideas!
Of the four or five jotted down in my Ideas folder, I decided to dedicate some time to the one most fully developed in my little ol’ brain. Want a sneak peek? Eh? What was that? Well, okay then. A quick look at what I’m playing with. 😉
The idea started, as my bib-fic ideas often do, with a sermon my dad preached. Actually, in this case, with two. He did a sermon on Melchizedek which I found oh-so-interesting, but it didn’t make any ideas really pop in terms of story. But then a couple weeks later he preached on one of Jesus’s parables. And that got the juices rolling. What if, I thought, the story were true? What if it were set in Old Testament days? What if (a light goes off) it were in the times of Melchizedek? Oo! Oo! Oo!
And LOL–I’ve never written anything that takes place quite that early in the Old Testament, and let me just tell you, I’m already learning, only 10 pages in, that it’s a whole different world than Persia or Jerusalem of Jesus’s day. Oh, the research I have to do! But I’m having fun. And my hubby is rubbing his hands together at the thought of another biblical for WhiteFire someday. 😉
I’m still debating titles and would love some feedback! My heroine, Aziza, is Egyptian, from the house of Pharaoh. My hero is the son of Melchizedek, who most OT scholars believe to be Shem, son of Noah (which is so interesting in and of itself!). And thus far (again, only 10 pages in here), I can tell you that a song is very important to the story–it seems Aziza hears a mysterious melody half the time, calling her away from Egypt. Symbolic, of course, of the Lord calling her. So. My title ideas thus far.
Leading the votes…
The Song of Midnight
Midnight Song
I really like these, but WhiteFire will have Veiled at Midnight by Christine Lindsay in the next year or so, so I want to have some other options in case they end up sounding too similar. So…
The Princess of Salem (bleh)
The Pharaoh’s Sister
Daughter of Egypt
Egypt’s Daughter
Song of the Night
Song of the Sands
Song of the Stars
Any other brilliance? Well, to inspire you, I’ll share the cover I created to inspire me. 😉 Whenever I finish this baby, she shall look like so. Well, the title will obviously read whatever I decide. But you know. The design will be this, LOL. Isn’t it fun? I had a blast going all Ancient Egypt on it. 😉
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.
The mysteries make it so much fun! And good for you, going back to the Hebrew! I go back to the Greek, but I don't know a lick of Hebrew, LOL.
When my dad preached on Mel, he gave a source that explained that by "no ancestry" it likely meant no recorded history. And you're welcome to pick my brain any time, Joanne!
I have to come up with my own title. I'm not too good at that. I like Song of the Night.
Don't you love all these hidden mysteries within the Bible? I'm trying to go back to the original Hebrew texts to get a better understanding of things.
WOW – that IS fascinating! Thought it ruins the whole Melchizedek having "no ancestry" as it talks about in where? Hebrews, maybe? I REALLY need to pick your brain at some point about sources and stuff for my biblical 🙂
The theory is that Melchizedek is a later name for Shem, who lived to be almost 500 years old, which makes the times line up.
And you're very welcome. 😉
Oooooh – Write it. PLEEZZZ 🙂 You KNOW how I love your Biblicals! And the story sounds SO intriguing!
BUT – I'm confused. How can the son of Melchizedek also be the son of Shem? Or am I scrambling thoughts?
Besides Song of Midnight (my favorite), I like Song of the Night and Song of the Stars.
Thanks for teasing me like this 😉