Bio: Mesu Andrews
is an award-winning author and speaker who has devoted herself to passionate
and intense study of Scripture. As the daughter of a Quaker and a Charismatic
Protestant, Andrews’ personal testimony describes how her unusual spiritual
heritage led her to initially reject God. Her life changed however, when an old
high school friend shared with her the Gospel message and challenged her to
begin exploring the Bible for herself.
As her desire for God’s Word grew, so did her passion for
uncovering the truths found in Scripture. Andrews began teaching at Christian
women’s conferences until chronic illness made frequent travel impossible. In
that season of brokenness, she began digging deeper into the Bible, which
stirred her curiosity about biblical characters and their stories. Andrews’
approach to writing biblical novels is wrapped in awe for God’s Word and a
deliberate and careful examination of historical details. The result is a vivid
and mesmerizing retelling of some of the most treasured narratives in
Scripture.
Mesu Andrews’ understanding of and love for God’s Word
brings the biblical world alive for her readers. Her first novel, Love Amid the Ashes won the 2012 ECPA
Book of the Year for a Debut Author. Her three subsequent novels, Love’s Sacred Song, Love in a Broken Vessel, and In
the Shadow of Jezebel all released to great reader enthusiasm.
In her highly anticipated fifth novel, Andrews transports
readers to the fertile and often turbulent world of ancient Egypt . The
Pharaoh’s Daughter is an intimate and richly complex portrayal of the
woman who drew Moses out of the water and claimed him as her own. Its elaborate
detail will leave readers transfixed; its pace will no doubt leave them
breathless. Andrews says, “I love to write about the shadowy women of God’s
Word, those whom Scripture leaves nameless but who’ve made such an impact on
the heroes of our faith.”
Andrews has enjoyed 30 years of marriage to her husband Roy,
who incidentally, was the old high school friend who rescued her with the
transforming truth of Jesus Christ. They live in the Pacific
Northwest and have two adult daughters.
Welcome back, Mesu. God
has really been moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?
Oh, Lena , you’re asking me
to do something I seldom do—dream. The Pharaoh’s Daughter is the first
of two books in The Treasures of the Nile series.
Miriam (working title) is the second
book in the series, and I’ve just finished that rough draft. These books are
the first continuation series I’ve done and the last of my contracted books, so
I’m not sure what comes next. I’d love to pick up where Miriam leaves off (after the exodus and crossing the Red Sea) and
follow the Israelites to Sinai and into Canaan…but we’ll see what the Lord has
in store!
Tell us a little
about your family.
My sweet hubby, Roy, is the academic dean at Multnomah
Biblical Seminary, and we’re both big Indianapolis Colts fans. We’ve known each
other since third grade—though we didn’t start dating until we were sophomores
in college. He’s the reason I know Jesus personally, the one who led me to
Christ (after we’d been dating for about six weeks. (We’re a testimony that
dating evangelism can work. Tee-hee.) We have two married daughters and six
grandbabies, who live entirely too far away, so we’re racking up frequent flier
miles! I sorely miss my Rotti-pitbull, who died of cancer about a year ago, and
I hope to get another four-legged friend this summer.
Has your writing
changed your reading habits? If so, how?
Absolutely! I had never read a biblical novel (any
novel—except as required reading in high school) until I attended my first
writer’s conference. I was a non-fiction gal, hoping to write and publish Bible
studies and devotionals, using fiction as a tool like Jesus’s parables. In one
of my conference critiques, the editor told me to write one or the
other—fiction or non-fiction—and if I was going to write biblical novels, I
should start with The Red Tent. It
was one of very few biblical novels available in 2001 since few had been
published in the Christian market, so I read LOTS of general market
biblicals—and was horrified at what was done to God’s Word. Now, I read almost
exclusively biblical novels in the CBA market and promote as many other authors
in this genre as I can. It’s my prayer that readers won’t need to read a
general market biblical novel to gain insights into God’s Word. It makes more
sense to read authors who are guided by the same Holy Spirit that inspired the
text of Scripture.
That is so true. What
are you working on right now?
I’m working on Miriam,
the second book of The Treasures of the Nile series
(Waterbrook/Multnomah). It has been such a fun challenge. When I first pitched
the project to my editor, she laughed and said, “Even I’m bored. How are you
going to make Miriam—an eighty-six year-old single prophetess—exciting?” Well!
I assure you…ten plagues and the confirmed-bachelor Eleazar (who meets a lovely
harem slave) spice up the plot with enough romance and spiritual lessons to
keep us on our toes. The research into the plagues has been fascinating, and
the realization that the Israelites—including Miriam—didn’t truly KNOW Yahweh
until He began revealing Himself through the plagues has been a wonderful
personal journey for me. I think that’s what I love most about writing biblical
novels. I learn as much or more than the characters in our familiar Bible
stories.
What outside
interests do you have?
I love the mountains of the Pacific
Northwest . My husband and I had lived in the cornfields and flat
lands of Indiana our whole lives until he
accepted a teaching position at Multnomah
University Pacific Northwest seep into our bones. I’m
hooked. We hope to someday build a cabin, but for now we’re enjoying the quiet
beauty of our little patch of NW foothills.
How do you choose
your settings for each book?
The settings for my books are largely determined by
Scripture; however, oftentimes archeologists disagree on key sites. As I read
several resources on the geographical area in question, patterns form, and the
setting for the story emerges as I study the historical accounts. For instance,
in The
Pharaoh’s Daughter, the excavated city of Avaris
is believed to have been the biblical city of Rameses . Recent archeological evidence offers
rough layouts for that city dating back to 1500-1200 BC. Using those rough
drawings, I added a little imagination to situate the slave villages of the
Hebrews to create the area our Bibles refer to as Goshen—sort of a pauper’s
community on the outskirts of the larger Egyptian metropolis. Is my setting
exactly as it was during biblical times? Probably not, but it simulates the
culture, the climate, and the geography of the time—and hopefully transports
the reader into ancient Egypt .
That’s the most important thing.
If you could spend an
evening with one historical person, who would it be and why?
I think the Sunday school answer is “Jesus,” right? Wouldn’t
we all love to see Him, touch Him, hear Him, etc.? Someday that will happen…but
if I must choose someone other than Jesus, it would be one of two women—either
Eve or Mary (mother of Jesus). Each of them knew God intimately in their human
experience. They walked with Him, talked with Him, loved Him with a physical
presence that I can only dream of in eternity. What would it have been like to
“walk with God in the cool of the Garden” as Eve did—before she was marred by
sin? What would it have been like to wipe a tear from Jesus’s eye when He
skinned His knee, to comfort the One who would one day comfort all humankind?
These women experienced God as no other human beings ever did, and I can’t wait
to hear of their experience.
What is the one thing
you wish you had known before you started writing novels?
I wish I had known the importance of each word in a story. A
single word can set a mood, convey deeper meaning, or send a reader’s heart
racing. Word choice is an art that the best authors hone with forethought and
care. Some of my harshest reviews resulted from my careless choice of a single
word or phraseology. God’s Word warns us that the power of the tongue can kill
or destroy, and I’ve seen the power of a single word do the same.
What new lessons is
the Lord teaching you right now?
As I said, I learn the lessons of my characters, and right
now I’m writing the rough draft of Miriam.
One of the characters was trudging and complaining through the wilderness after
crossing the Red Sea . Then he looked at the
pillar of cloud ahead of him and felt convicted, thinking, if I insist on
viewing the holy as common, I’m doomed to a life of hopelessness.
This lesson hit me between the eyes. God’s presence indwells
me through His Holy Spirit, so I experience little miracles everyday simply
because of His constant Presence—whether I acknowledge those miracles or not.
If I insist on viewing those holy encounters as common, I’m doomed to
hopelessness. If, on the other hand, I recognize the holy in my daily
existence, even the flight of a sparrow can offer hope on a difficult day.
What are the three
best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?
Write something meaningful everyday. Whether it’s for a blog
post or in a prayer journal, write something that demands clarity and the
process of a beginning, middle, and end. Don’t let it become mechanical. Let it
flow from the heart as the Holy Spirit gives you the words. Write it
immediately after your quiet time with the Lord. When I stopped writing for
publication, I got published. I began working on craft and gave up hope of EVER
getting published—that’s when the doors opened. MY desire was to publish Bible
studies and devotionals. God’s desire was that I write novels. When I let go of
my agenda, He gave me the thing I never knew I wanted. Now, I love writing
fiction and can’t imagine writing anything else! His ways are not our ways.
They’re infinitely better.
Tell us about the
featured book.
Anippe has grown up in the shadows of Egypt ’s good
god Pharaoh, aware that Anubis, god of the afterlife, may take her or her
siblings at any moment. She watched him snatch her mother and infant brother
during childbirth, a moment which awakens in her a terrible dread of ever
bearing a child. Now she is to be become the bride of Sebak, a kind but
quick-tempered Captain of Pharaoh Tut’s army. In order to provide Sebak the
heir he deserves and yet protect herself from the underworld gods, Anippe must
launch a series of deceptions, even involving the Hebrew midwives—women ordered
by Tut to drown the sons of their own people in the Nile .
When she finds a baby floating in a basket on the great
river, Anippe believes Egypt’s gods have answered her pleas, entrenching her
more deeply in deception and placing her and her son Mehy, whom handmaiden
Miriam calls Moses, in mortal danger.
As bloodshed and savage politics shift the balance of power
in Egypt ,
the gods reveal their fickle natures and Anippe wonders if her son, a boy of
Hebrew blood, could one day become king. Or does the god of her Hebrew servants,
the one they call El Shaddai, have a different plan—for them all?
Please give us the
first page of the book.
The royal linen closet is a dark hiding place, but I’m
a big girl—almost five Inundations old—so I’m trying not to be afraid.
I wonder…is it dark in the underworld? Was my Ummi Kiya
afraid when she and the baby inside her crossed over this morning?
The priest ordered me and my little sister to the birthing
chamber. Ankhe is only three. She wouldn’t go.
The priest was angry, so he came to our chamber and grabbed
Ankhe’s hand. “You must see the beauty of Tawaret—goddess of childbirth!”
Instead, we saw Ummi Kiya’s blood poured out on the straw
under her birthing stool. Her light-brown skin was white as milk. The midwives
pulled out a baby boy, but he was as gray as granite.
The angry priest wasn’t angry anymore. He knelt before Ankhe
and me. “Anubis, god of the underworld, has stolen their breath. I’m sorry.”
I ran from the birthing chamber, screaming, before Anubis
could steal my breath too.
I’ve been hiding a long time because Anubis might still be
hunting. He knows my name, Meryetaten-tasherit. It’s hard to understand, but
I’m called a decoy—named after Queen Nefertiti’s daughter Meryetaten to confuse
Anubis should he prowl the palace grounds. If I stay in this linen wardrobe all
day and night, perhaps the dark god will take the Great Wife’s daughter
instead.
Nefertiti, the Great Wife, hates me because Abbi Akhenaten
loved my mother. Ummi Kiya was his Beloved Wife, and she gave him a son—my
brother, Tutankhamun.
Intriguing. How can
readers find you on the Internet?
Author Website: http://www.mesuandrews.com/
Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MesuAndrews?ref=hl
Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/MesuAndrews
Author Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/mesuandrews/
NovelCrossing: http://www.novelcrossing.com/activity-feed/userid/1863
Thank you, Mesu, for sharing your life and this new book with us.
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The Pharaoh's Daughter - Christianbook.comThe Pharaoh's Daughter: A Treasures of the Nile Novel
- AmazonThe Pharaoh's Daughter: A Treasures of the Nile Novel - Kindle
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