Big news y’all! Line edits are finished on my May 2023 release, In Feast or Famine, so I’m ready to start sharing some inside information about the story and writing/research process with my newsletter subscribers and blog followers!
What Do You Want To Know?
Because your time is as valuable as mine, I want to share interesting information with you! Sometimes, I have a good handle on what you might consider blog-worthy or fascinating enough to share ONLY with my newsies (exclusive to newsletter subscribers). However, I like to survey readers to see if there’s something specific that maybe you’ve always wondered about this particular story.
The Story in Scripture
In Feast or Famine covers Joseph’s years as Egypt’s vizier beginning with the day he interprets Pharaoh’s dreams and is released from a long and unjust prison sentence:
“Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.’ Joseph answered Pharaoh, ‘It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.'” Genesis 41:15–16
Elohim revealed that Egypt would experience seven years of plenty (feast) and seven years of famine. He also provided Joseph with a plan to manage the feast years in order that Egypt would not only survive the famine but also become provider of grain for the rest of the starving world. Pharaoh was so impressed that he made Joseph Egypt’s vizier who would manage every facet of the fourteen-year disaster to come:
“Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.’ . . . And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.” Genesis 41:39–40, 45
The Story in History
As many of you know, the research aspect of writing biblical fiction is my very favorite part. With this project, I discovered an ancient biblical short story–YES! Ancient biblical fiction–about Joseph and Asenath’s courtship and marriage! (CLICK HERE to read one of the same pdfs I read. But keep in mind…this story is ALSO fiction!)
The Fiction that Fascinates You
What other parts of Joseph’s final years have always made you stroke your chin and say, “Hmmm, I wonder . . .”
Place yourself in Ancient Egypt during the time of the Hyksos Dynasty. (Granted, no one can definitively prove when Joseph sojourned in Egypt, but if you’d like to know why I placed him during the time period of foreign kings, CLICK HERE.)
Egypt is called the Two Lands, divided into Upper Egypt in the south with Thebes as its capital. Joseph lives in Avaris, Lower Egypt’s capital city, located in the fertile Nile Delta.
And What About Those Brothers?
Yep, Joseph’s brothers show up when the grain runs out in Canaan. This is one of the most dramatic scenes in Scripture! How does Joseph hold it together? Well, he doesn’t. LOL! What questions do you have about that whole thing?
PLEASE ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ON THE GOOGLE FORM BELOW!
I’ve created a simple Google form for y’all to fill out that will categorize the questions for me. Simply CLICK HERE and fill in the questions you’d like to answer. Easy-peasy!
Thanks so much for your help! I can’t wait to begin the journey with you into Joseph’s years In Feast or Famine and share some insights from research and writing.
