YOU ASKED! Part I of Your FB LIVE Questions

Of Fire and Lions release day was almost a month ago. Can you believe how fast time flies? On that Tuesday, my team and I gave away prizes every hour and frantically prepared for the Facebook Live event that evening! And, WOW! It was so worth it! The most successful release ever, and y’all made it so FUN!!!  

Eighteen prizes were sent out the following Monday, and hundreds asked FANTASTIC questions on the FB Live event! If you missed the event, you can watch the video by clicking HERE and hear the answers to the following questions: 

• How do you do your research? 
• Any thoughts on having your books made into movies?  
• What did you most enjoy about writing this book? 
• Do you have any plans to write about NT characters? 
• How long did the book take to write? 
• Do you work from an outline? 
• What surprised you the most while researching the book? 
• Do you create an inspiration board or notebook when beginning a new novel? 
• If you could place yourself into one of your stories, which would it be and what scene?  
• What is your favorite part of the book? 
• How did you decide to give Daniel a wife? 

Though I answered that last one on FB Live, it’s a question that comes up in many interviews, so I wanted to address it here. In early research, I read many scholars’ interpretations of 2 Kings 20:18 as Daniel & his 3 friends were made eunuchs when taken captive to Babylon. Since I like a little romance in the stories I write–which would be tough to do with four eunuch characters–I gave up on a novel about Daniel. But I couldn’t shake the idea. So I did a little more research and discovered the Hebrew word used for eunuch in Daniel (cariyc), can also be translated “chief official” as it was in Gen. 37:36 to describe Potiphar. Hallelujah! Daniel suddenly became the most eligible bachelor in the OT! However, since he has no named descendants in any biblical record, I gave him daughters in Of Fire and Lions (since daughters were seldom recorded). 

More Questions on Of Fire and Lions: 

As you might expect, we had several more questions on OFL that night that I didn’t have time to answer. I’ve given them some thought and answered here: 

• Who is your favorite character in the book? 

   

I know I should say Daniel or Belili, since they’re the hero and heroine, but I almost always fall in love with a minor character. I adore Mert. She’s that stoic voice of reason we all need in our lives. Tough yet tender. Steady as a rock. A little inappropriate at times but always well-meaning. 

• Why do you think Daniel kept his Hebrew name when the other three were called by their Babylonian names? I always wonder!

   

This is something I pondered a long time before writing the book because it made a HUGE difference in how I wrote the adult relationship between Daniel and his 3 friends. I can’t answer completely here because it might give away spoilers, but I think some of it had to do with how Daniel felt about his friends’ choices in their later years. I think he began to see them as more Babylonian than Hebrew though he never seemed to question their strong faith. 

• How long did it take from start to finish? 

I think the first draft took me about 5 months from the time I started serious research to the day I sent it to my editor. That seems to be the quickest I can write a first draft. 

• You tweeted that you preordered an Audible copy of the book. How do you like the narrator’s performance?

   

I’ve only listened to the first 5-6 minutes so far, but PRH Audio was fantastic to work with. They let me help choose the audio actor and then went through a list of over 200 names and tricky words to check pronunciations before recording began. I’m pretty confident in this recording’s quality. The voice actor was phenomenal in the samples.  

• Who would play Daniel if OFL was made into a movie?

   

I love Ryan Gosling—and his sort of calm strength for Daniel—but I’m not sure we could pass off his blonde hair and blue eyes as a Jewish man in ancient Babylon! LOL! I’m not sure who would be a good Daniel. What do y’all think? I think it should be someone rather calm and quiet, but very strong and determined. Dark and handsome, right? Maybe early to mid-30’s so he could be made younger or older with makeup? 

• What was the most difficult part of writing this book? 

   

At first, I had a hard time setting aside my preconceived ideas about the places and characters formed from my childhood years. I needed to let Scripture tell me the Truth of Daniel’s life and let history define the facts of the circumstances around him. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing a little about the writing of Of Fire and Lions. I’ll answer the remaining FB LIVE questions about my other books and writing in general in the Bargain Lover’s newsletter on April 15th. Stay tuned!

Tweet-A-Licious!

•  Today, Mesu addresses the unanswered questions from her Release Day FB Live about OF FIRE AND LIONS! #OfFireandLions #biblicalfiction
• How did Daniel get a wife in ancient Babylon? Find out on her blog! 
• Questions for #MesuAndrews about OF FIRE AND LIONS? Ask in the comments of this post.

Today’s Question:

• Did you find any surprises in my answers? Any questions you still have about OF FIRE AND LIONS?