My Friend JoAnn – Interview & Giveaway

My Friend JoAnn – Interview & Giveaway

by | Feb 4, 2011 | Uncategorized

Today’ I’m pleased to welcome new author JoAnn Durgin to my blog to chat about her new book, Awakening. JoAnn has been generous in offering a copy to one reader, so please leave a comment below with an email address for a chance to win.

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About JoAnn

JoAnn is a member of ACFW and its Indiana chapter. Awakening is her debut novel. She was a finalist in the long contemporary romance category of the 2010 RWA/FHL Touched by Love contest, and is a regular blog contributor with Hoosier Ink and Reflections in Hindsight. JoAnn is also an active member of the My Book Therapy Voices and has won or placed in several of their quarterly Flash Fiction contests. She loves to share her passion for the redeeming love of Christ through her stories.

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About Awakening

Lexa Clarke signs up for a short-term summer mission in San Antonio with TeamWork Missions, hoping to make a difference in the world. TeamWork director Sam Lewis has a job to do and can’t afford to be distracted by the petite, feisty blonde. But when she tumbles into his arms from the top of a house they’re rebuilding, Sam suspects his life will never be the same. A God-fearing man. A God-seeking woman. It’s a combustible combination.

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What’s your latest book?

My debut novel, Awakening, was published by Canadian publisher, Torn Veil Books, in late 2010. This particular story is precious to me because it was written more than a decade ago and is loosely based on my own love story with my husband, Jim. Sam and Lexa are uniquely special to me and become my core characters and mentors in a continuing series as they minister and interact with volunteers in Sam’s TeamWork Missions organization. A lot of the strength of character, unwavering faith and goodness in Sam Lewis is based on my Jim. Some of the feistiness and stubbornness in Lexa Clarke (yes, Lewis and Clarke – they are adventures, after all) is based on yours truly, but I choose to believe I also share my heroine’s resourcefulness and resilience.

Awakening was also the last story I wrote before putting my writing aside for a decade to raise my children. When I unearthed it (literally from beneath the bed and blew off the dust bunnies) in late 2008, I only found half the story. It was like someone else had written it, but as I read it again with fresh eyes, I felt this was the story the Lord wanted me to pursue getting published. Jim and I prayed about it, and I knew He’d give the story back to me if it was, in fact, in His will. Not only did He give it back to me in a dramatic way, but the Lord confirmed it was the one. I hope you’ll read all about my writing journey on my website at www.joanndurgin.com. 

What a fabulous story, JoAnn! So now we know how you came back to it—would you tell us how you knew you wanted to write fiction, and romance in particular, to begin with?

I’ve been an avid reader my entire life, and ideas for novels simmered in my imagination for years. However, it wasn’t until I was a young, stay-at-home mom in Philly that I tried my hand at penning one. I love creating characters and their stories, and making them so real they jump off the page and into the hearts and minds of readers. I write what I call contemporary romantic adventures. Romance is my first love, but as both a reader and an author, I also need more than romance for a novel to be fully-developed and emotionally satisfying. Throw in humor and some witty banter, dramatic conflict, a moving plotline with adventure and a hint of intrigue, and you’ve got my kind of book. That’s what you get with Awakening! It may be a cliché, but I write what I like to read. Following your passion as a writer does make a better book. One of the most precious things in life is that first blush of love, that rush of adrenaline at a glance, a touch, a kiss… I love the hope and Joy to be discovered in an uplifting romance.

We are, as Anne Shirley would say, kindred spirits. =) How do your faith and spiritual life play into the picture and affect your storytelling?

Faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. God first loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins, and it’s through His boundless love that I write. My stories depict people who often stumble and fall but they find grace, forgiveness, love, redemption and hope when they seek to follow the Lord’s will for their lives. The Lord has been so faithful to me in this writing journey, and I know He’ll continue to open the doors of His choosing in the proper time. He’s truly my Partner. Matthew 5:16 is my personal theme verse, and it’s my prayer that my light will Shine through the words in my books, giving light and hope to a hurting world. It’s my high honor and privilege to share the stories the Lord has laid on my heart to share with others.

What do you think makes your style of storytelling unique?

I’ve been told I have a fresh, unique voice. I try to infuse my sense of humor and unique way of phrasing and expression into every book. I especially love getting into the male psyche, and I’ve been told (by those of the male persuasion) that I do it quite well. That’s high praise! I don’t necessarily follow the “three kiss rule” or formula pathway to romance. But that doesn’t mean there’s not conflict and roadblocks along the way to lasting love. I personally feel it’s a greater test of faith and bonds a couple more when they work through issues and confront problems together instead of keeping them apart until the very end where they share a kiss, proclaim their love and ride off into the sunset. That’s a very simplistic way of putting it, but I’m sure you get my point. I am a firm believer in happy endings, and tying up loose ends of a story, although sometimes I carry storylines over from one book to another in the series. But each book can certainly stand alone.

I don’t kill major characters. I just can’t do it. Peripheral characters sometimes die (and a few are maimed along the way), but I just can’t kill ‘em. Although I realize life isn’t always rosy and can seem downright hard and unfair at times, I don’t believe killing beloved characters is something romance readers respond to positively. From a personal perspective, I don’t like it. At least at this early point in my writing career, I want readers to weep tears of Joy or because I’ve struck an emotional chord deep inside, but I don’t want them to cry because they’re grieving the loss of a beloved character. You can have drama and realism without all the killing. Christians can laugh as easily as they can cry.

Very true! (Says the girl who, yes, killed off two main, beloved characters in her Biblical fiction . . . but hey, it was part of my premise! I had to! 😉 That doesn’t mean I like it when other people do it, LOL) Okay, back to you. What’s one of the oddest or most interesting things someone has ever said about you?

When I once told someone about all the places I’ve lived and visited, she made the comment, “Wow, you’ve certainly been around.” Given the connotation of that statement, I wasn’t pleased, until I realized that yes, I have been around, but in the nicest sense of the word. Now, it’s actually one of my catch phrases when describing myself. By way of explanation – I was born in IN, moved to TX after college, met my husband (a student at Dallas Theological Seminary – he’s from RI), moved to CA, married in KY, honeymooned in HI, had our first child, moved to PA, had two more children and then moved to MA, then took my (thankfully highly-adaptable) family back to IN in late 2005. While I have a great appreciation for each place we’ve lived, Kentuckiana (where southern Indiana meets Louisville, KY at the Ohio River) is truly “home in my heart.” Jim and I have always followed where the Lord leads, but in our case, He made it abundantly clear in each instance where He wanted us, and we tried to bloom where we were planted. So, in another important sense, “home in your heart” is so much more than simple geography.

I feel so un-traveled. 😉 What lessons have you learned through the publication process that you wouldn’t have guessed as a pre-published writer?

Especially working with a new, small, Canadian publisher, I’ve learned that a large part of the post-publication marketing process rests squarely on my shoulders. I understand that’s often the case now even with the big, major CBA publishers. Although I understood I’d need to do certain things to promote the book – establish a website, write guest blogs, do interviews, book signings and speaking engagements – I never guessed the amount of time it takes. But it helps that I’m a born marketer. I always said I missed my calling in my daytime job, even though I’ve always loved working in the legal field. But the Lord knew the best marketing job for my heart – telling others about my characters and my books.

What writing goal have you set for yourself that would be the hardest (or unlikeliest) but most rewarding to achieve?

It’s a dream to be able to stay home full-time and make a living writing. Very few writers have the opportunity and the ability to do that. But, dreams do come true, and I’m living proof. I honored the Lord and my family by putting aside my passion for writing for years, and in turn, I feel that He has honored me by opening the proper doors on this writing journey – and closed a few doors along the way, as well. Ironically enough, I credit being published to rejection (twice!) by a major Christian literary agent and being told by an award-winning, multi-published author to leave Sam and Lexa on the proverbial cutting room floor. Then a layoff from one paralegal job for four months was a gift from the Lord in giving me the time I needed to make the necessary contacts in the Christian publishing market. The agent and author only looked at those first few chapters, which I believe are the hardest to nail down and get just right. I knew that if that one entity of God’s choosing could review the entire manuscript, they’d certainly see the value of the work as a whole. Plus, it helps that I’m tough and don’t like being told I can’t do something. So, I’ll keep plugging away toward my goal of making my writing a full-time, paying occupation.

Gotta be tough in this industry for sure! Do you remember where you were when you got your first or most important call about a book contract?

On Saturday, May 1, 2010, I indulged in a rarity – sleeping in! It was glorious. When I awoke, I did the usual – brewed coffee, started a load of laundry – the normal stuff of life before settling in front of the computer. As usual, I checked my e-mail. When I saw the e-mail from Torn Veil Books, I stared, and my heart rate increased tenfold. If I’d been fully awake and really paying attention, I would have noticed the paper clip indicating an attachment. Holding my breath, I clicked on the e-mail and read the words that changed my life, “We have decided to publish your book, Awakening. Your contract is attached.” So, long story short, I was in my nightgown, still half asleep and then…I gasped and ran to get my husband and family and tell them the news. It was a banner day. Getting my first contract truly was one of the most important days of my life. It was the culmination of years of reading, writing, editing and studying journalism and English in school…and a dream come true. I am so thankful.

Who/What spurs you to write? Where do your story and character ideas come from? 

I write because it’s my passion. It’s what I love, and what I feel called by the Lord to do. Put it this way: I can’t not write, although I put my writing aside for a decade for something more pressing – raising my children. But the ideas were always formulating, simmering beneath the surface. Maybe that’s why I’ve never had writer’s block, and hopefully never will. Most of my story ideas are inspired from newspapers, magazines, television or radio programs, my kids, church sermons or Sunday school lessons, snippets of conversations in the grocery store…you name it. Practically anything is fodder for my fertile imagination.

Kindred spirits indeed. =) What’s your biggest challenge in balancing writing time with your other responsibilities?

No question – finding the time to write is my biggest challenge, especially with a full-time job, a part-time job, and a busy family. The only way I can write is generally to do it between the hours of 11 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. It helps that I’ve always been a night owl. I was literally one of those girls under the sheets with the flashlight, devouring the latest Nancy Drew mystery (my $5 weekly allowance would buy three hardback books – it was the highlight of my week!). So, it’s not so much a question of balancing as whether or not I’m feeling creative during those hours. If I can’t sleep and feel the inspiration, I’ll crawl out of bed at 4:00 a.m. to write. Writing keeps me sane. Seriously. It’s my solace, my peace and my time to connect with the Lord. Thankfully, the words just flow. The slogan, “I’d Rather Be Writing” was made for someone like me.

And there the “kindred” ends—my brain shuts off at 9 p.m., LOL.  If you could take your family on a vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I’ve been blessed enough to travel to Europe several times. Of all the countries I’ve visited, Italy was my favorite. My husband has visited the Holy Land and several countries I’ve never seen, but he’s never been to Italy. As a college student, I studied in London for ten weeks before touring the Continent for three weeks and then returning home (with much of an appreciation of our country and the freedoms we often take for granted). Italy impressed me so much with the incredible art work, sculptures, the history of the city with the Roman Coliseum, the Forum, the Spanish Steps and the Vatican, the gorgeous landscape of the Italian Riviera and the simple Joy of living so apparent in the Italian people.

My day spent in Venice was one of the most idyllic days you can ever imagine, in every possible way. In Venice, there was not a cloud in the sky – sunny, about 70 degrees, a balmy breeze, absolutely picture perfect. American music has always been such an influence there, and I’ll never forget the handsome gondoliers cleaning their gondolas to the tune of Rod Stewart’s, Do You Think I’m Sexy? That’s an image I’ll never forget. I developed an appreciation of the gorgeous Murano glass and still wear the necklace I purchased there. During the afternoon siesta, we bought fruit in the fresh air market, and sat around a centuries-old fountain eating strawberries (until an enterprising shop owner invited us into his shop sensing we were Americans and figured we probably liked to shop – Earth, Wind & Fire was playing on the radio there).

My oldest daughter has had the opportunity to visit Italy, but I’d like to take the rest of my family there so they can perhaps better understand why I always speak so fondly of my visit there. And my younger children might understand and also gain more of an appreciation for everything with which we’ve been blessed here in the United States.

Would you believe that just this week we were considering a trip to Sicily? My former-foreign-exchange-brother has just moved there from Germany and is campaigning to get our family over for a visit. =) We would LOVE to go . . . our bank account isn’t so sure though, LOL. Anyway. What are you writing right now?

I’m two-thirds of the way through the seventh (yes, seventh!) book in the second series, but have been stalled since March when the contest season began, and then with the contract from Torn Veil, the editing process began. I miss the creativity of writing. About two months ago, I started something totally new (and a stand-alone) simply because I had to write. No matter how I work it, this one is a romantic suspense. I have intrigue in my other novels, but this one is different. It’s good to stretch as a writer and try different things. It might work, it might not, but I’m following the Lord’s leading and my instincts. I’m hoping I can continue with it, but I really need to finish the seventh book first. Normally, I write chronologically, but this one, it’s the first time I’ve already written the ending and need to go back and fill in the blanks. I know where it’s going, but it’s been so long since I’ve worked on it that I have to read it from the beginning again to get into the story again so all the details work and it’s cohesive.

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Thanks so much for visiting, JoAnn! Readers, check out her website at http://www.joanndurgin.com, and you can find her book at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Void where prohibited. Entry into the contest is considered verification of eligibility based on your local laws. Chance of winning depends on number of entries. Contest ends 2/11/11. Winner will have two weeks to claim prize.

Thoughtful About . . . Comparisons

by | Feb 3, 2011 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized

So, the other day, when my kids were with a grandmother for the first half of it, I achieved some amazing results in the realm of word count. When I’m actively working on a novel, my goal for every day is to write 2,000 words. Now, some days this is like pulling teeth. But on a good day, I far surpass that. When I was writing pivotal scenes in Jewel of Persia, I was putting down 5,000 words a day and feeling darn good about it. On Monday, I managed just over 6,500 words in my Annapolis story. 
Is this a record for me? No, but it certainly is since I had kids! And it left me feeling great. Like I accomplished something. Like I was ready to tackle the rest of the manuscript and bring it home.
Then Tuesday came along, and I only wrote 2,400 words. Only–did you catch that? That’s still above my daily goal, but it felt disappointing after that amazing 6.5K. And then yesterday, I didn’t even bother doing a word count. There was no point, I only wrote two pages. And I was grumpy and grumbling all afternoon because of it, taking most of that frustration out on the five loads of laundry I so did not want to fold but had to. (Yes, the socks got flung into the basket a little harder than necessary, LOL.) But then after I put the kids to bed,  I did manage to get through the scene I was having trouble ending, and into the next, so I’m at a good starting point today. I then jotted down my ideas for the next several scenes, leading up to the climax.
Here’s my point in sharing all this–if the rest of you are anything like me, we like to judge ourselves, and we have little to judge on but comparisons. We tend to think “I didn’t do as well today as yesterday” or “I’ll never be that again.” And maybe, in a way, that’s true.
But what I need to remember is that today is not yesterday. Yesterday was not Monday. None of those are tomorrow. Goals of one day, season, year, whatever, are not necessarily what we need to be shooting for the next day, season, year, whatever. For instance, I only have another 6,000 words to work with before this manuscript is supposed to be finished (though I might overshoot and have to go back and trim. Big surprise for me, right?). So my goal for today shouldn’t be “Write 6K in words.” It should be to write the next scenes as succinctly as possible, leaving myself as many words as I can for the conclusion.
It’s the same with anything else in life. Sometimes our goals have to be revised for the point of our story we’re in right now. Sometimes it’s enough to shoot for quantity. But sometimes it’s not about more, it’s about better-fitting.
This lovely insight brought to you by my inability to think of anything but finishing this book right now, LOL.

Remember When . . . The Snow Wouldn’t Stop?

by | Feb 2, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized

Weather. Always a bother, right? We’ve had a fair amount of the inclement variety lately, but frankly, it’s nothing like last year, when we didn’t see bare ground from Thanksgiving until March–and here in our part of Maryland, that’s unusual.
So when writing my story of 1783-84 Annapolis (which takes place in the months of November through March), I drew on my 6 years of experience in said city to come up with my weather. So, you know. Cold wind. Nasty cold wind, actually. The occasional just-above-freezing rain, a few days of ice. Snow once a year or so. Overcast aplenty, but some days of nice sunshine too.
Seems perfectly reasonable, and so far as I’d found in the sources I’d read on the months in question–and I had many sources–there was no reason to think my standard incorrect.
Until Sunday, that is. I was trying to find exactly which delegates signed to ratify the Treaty of Paris on January 14, 1784. And I came across an article that finally explained why they had such trouble getting enough of them there to begin with (something everyone mentioned, but no one gave the reasoning for). Wanna take a bet?
Yeah. The worst winter in recorded history. AAAAAGGGGGHHHH! What? What of all those mild days I’d mentioned? What about the fact that my characters travel to Annapolis, yet the delegates couldn’t get there because the city was locked in snow? AAAAGGGHHHH! Needless to say, Monday morning was spent in revisions, and now my manuscript is covered in snow and ice (fictionally speaking).
But aside from the hour and a half of additions and deletions, this was a really fabulous fact to FINALLY come across. First, it explained the facts I’d wondered about. Second, it’s the kind of distinctive thing that really brings a story to life. Third, it’s just cool (no pun intended) because the writer of the article was quoting Jefferson and Franklin’s opinions on this “long winter of 1783-84” which the former called “severe beyond all memory.”
Yes, I’m geeky enough to find weather patterns cool, but here’s why it’s really neat. This winter not only ravaged the eastern seaboard of the U.S., but it also hit Europe just as severely. And Franklin, who was in Paris awaiting the return of the aforementioned Treaty that he and his compatriots had penned, hypothesized that this great winter was a result of a series of volcanic eruptions in Iceland. It was the first time anyone had thought to associate volcanic activity with weather patterns, but modern scientists are now very certain that he was right, and that Mt. Laki’s continuous eruptions had led to gases being trapped in the upper atmosphere, which in turn resulted in this awful, seemingly-endless winter. (There were also toxic fogs recorded in Northern Europe. Awful . . . but cool that I get to mention it, mwa ha ha ha.)
So while I sit here in my snowy, icy Maryland of today, it’s kind of nice to be able to commiserate with my characters of yesteryear, who are experiencing the worst winter in the memory of even the oldest man alive at the time. I can pity them . . . but you can bet I’m also reveling in it. =)

Story Time . . . under construction

by | Feb 1, 2011 | Uncategorized

My Story Time day itself isn’t under construction, mind you. There are books I’ve read and have yet to talk about. But I can’t really concentrate on those right this minute, because I’m caught up in my own story. (The fictional one I’m working on, I mean.)

I had an editor ask to see something ASAP, and so I’m putting all else on hold for the next week or two so I can get this manuscript finished. Hope y’all understand. Moreover, I hope y’all will say a prayer for me, that I finish this thing off quickly but well, and that, if this is the next step the Lord has in mind for me, it finds favor with the publishing house.

I’ll have a usual post tomorrow, though, as I discovered some cool (and kind of frustrating, ha ha) history that made me spend and hour and a half revising yesterday, so come back then. 😉

Thoughtful About . . . Praise

by | Jan 27, 2011 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized

There are days when my prayers are all supplication. When I barely remember to thank the Lord for anything before launching into my litany of things I need His help with. Most days, I try to balance it out, to start and end my prayer time with thankfulness, with worship, and to put into the middle my requests.
On Monday, I had the Joy of getting so caught up in praising my God that I felt no need to talk to Him about my requests, because I knew that through that communion, my heart had been laid bare. He had heard all the cries of my heart, that gave tenor to the praise of my lips. It’s been a long while since my private prayers were so . . . joyful, and for no reason. I didn’t sit down thinking, “I’m just gonna praise the Lord today.” I sat down with that list of prayer requests in mind. But then I started thanking Him for all He is to me, and, well . . .
I wanted to share some of my reflections that I wrote down, simply because we can never praise Him enough.
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You are faithful . . . just yet merciful. You are awesome beyond compare, yet humble enough to become man. You orchestrate all of history, yet still care to number the  hairs on my head. How infinite you are, O Lord my God, in every direction! You fill me to bursting with love for you, with amazement at your glory. You hear every cry of my heart, even if my lips can’t give it utterance. You hear, and you respond in ways I cannot see.
How often we ask to see–yet could our mortal eyes, our finite minds ever contemplate the vastness of your hand? We look for reason in the coporeal, yet never could we truly understand all that lies beneath.
O Lord, my Lord, I worship you and adore you. I adore you for all you are that I cannot comprehend, and I praise you for the glimpses you reveal to me!
And I am humbled to think that though I might give you my all, it is nothing. Nothing compared to what youetdo, what you orchestrate, what you give for me. I am nothing. You you love me enough to be my God and Father. I am a speck. Yet you created this universe and placed me just so within it, with loving care. You hold everything in the palm of your hand, yet you give me the will to choose my own path, my own way.
I want your path, my Lord! I want The Way, Yahweh. I want to walk only beside your footprints, I want to pull only so far as I can go and still be holding tight to your hand. I want to warm myself by the light of your countenance and bathe your feet with my tears. I want to give you all and praise you for leaving me, not with nothing, but with arms open and able to embrace you and your children.
Show me what you have for me, Lord, so that I might blow away the chaff and better serve you. Hew me, chisel me, refine me. Polish me, O God. Shine through me. Shine so hotly that the impurities are incinerated. Shine so brightly that I’m blinded to all but you.
Thank you, Father. Thank you for all, for every. Thank you for knowing, and for doing. Thank you for ministering to this pathetic woman on this cold morning and filling me to overflowing . . .
With you. Always, only with you.
Amen
Remember When . . . It Was Fun to Discover Facts?

Remember When . . . It Was Fun to Discover Facts?

by | Jan 26, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized

This is actually a post I created for Inkwell Inspirations, which went up yesterday. I had fun chatting with the inkies about it, and though I’ve already done something very similar to this here one Wednesday . . . well, the snow’s coming down and the inspiration for the next chapter in my current story is stirring, so I’m cheating. 😉

~*~

I love history. For as long as I can remember, I would sink my teeth into each detail I learned, and usually gnaw on it until it turned into a story in my mind. One of the things I love most about the Old Testament is the history it brings to us. Better still? When third-party history and archaeological evidence backs up the Bible stories I’ve heard since I was a child.
One of my favorites was always Esther. Last winter I was thinking about how I’d love to write a novel about Esther—yet my style isn’t to use real people as my main character, it’s to explain real events through fictional characters. Now how, I wondered, could I do that with the story of Esther? I was standing in the shower when it came to me—Esther was one of many young women brought to the king. What about the other wives?
As the idea brewed, I got out my study Bible and got a few facts straight. Like, you know, which king of Persia this was. I found that historians can’t quite agree on this. Some insist it’s Xerxes, others Artaxerxes, some pose others altogether. I like the arguments put forth for it being Xerxes, so I ran with that one with quite a bit of excitement—see, I already knew something about Xerxes. In college we had to read Herodotus’s Histories, which details the Greco-Persian war and so the king who waged it.
 Over the course of a few weeks, I reread Esther for the umpteenth time and reread the Histories, taking notes like crazy. Brought in some other historical data too, of course, and watched some documentaries on Persia. And you know what? The way it all clicked made me giddy.
In the book of Esther, the king is absent from the main story much of the time and seems fairly distant when he is there. We get only a few glimpses into his character—he had a temper on him, he was a fan of beautiful women (shocking, right?), and he was generous with those in his favor and impatient with those who weren’t. Can the same be said of every king? Er, no, not actually.
In Herodotus, we get to know Xerxes pretty well. He’s beloved by his people to the point of being revered as a god, though they were in a fact a monotheistic society. He was a man of passion and temper, who ordered people executed left and right when he was in a rage and offered them cities as rewards left and right when he was happy. And some of the things he’s most remembered for are his affairs, one of which led to the deaths of a few of his closest family members.
Sound familiar? Yeah, I thought so too.
A few other facts snapped into place so beautifully that I became really convinced it was Xerxes in Esther. First of all, the timing. If you line up the events of Esther with the events of Xerxes’ reign recorded by Herodotus and Persian historians, you get a few really cool clicks. First, that 180-day-long feast, where Vashti of the Bible refuses to come before his guests in her crown? That would have been when all the nobles were gathered to plan out the war. And the queen would have been about 8 months pregnant with her final child—pretty good excuse not to want to go before all the men in the empire and be judged for your beauty, eh?
There’s a three-year gap between when Vashti is dethroned and when new young women are brought to the palace. Did it really take the king that long to cool off and think, “Gee, I better name a new queen?” Well, sure—because that’s when he was at war! Pretty neat, huh? Herodotus has him arriving back in Susa (Shushan) within months of when the new virgins were scouted.
Maybe to some these things are small, but to the historical novelist, they’re like candy. I had so, so much fun combining two history sources into one story—and yes, explaining it all through a fictional character. See, in my version, Kasia is the real reason the queen is deposed (let it be noted that Esther never says she’s put to death, though that’s the common notion). She’s the reason for much of what happens during the war. And she’s the unifying force behind the scandalous affair mentioned above and the arrival of new potential queens at the House of Women.
Because, you see, she was the one who held Xerxes’ heart all along. And when a king with countless wives places his heart into the hands of a poor Jewish girl, trouble is bound to brew.
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