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Mesu Andrews | Title Challenge: ISAIAH’S LEGACY
Author Guest / February 21, 2020

My new release is called, Isaiah’s Legacy. Here’s a little bit about the story: At eight years old, Shulle has known only life in a small village with her loving but peculiar father. When Uncle Shebna offers shelter in Jerusalem in exchange for Shulle’s help tutoring King Manasseh, Judah’s five-year-old co-regent who displays the same peculiarities as her father, she’s eager to experience the royal court. But Shulle soon realizes the limits of her father’s strict adherence to Yahweh’s Law when Uncle Shebna teaches her of the starry hosts and their power. Convinced Judah must be freed from Yahweh’s chains, she begins the subtle swaying of young Manasseh, using her charm and skills on the boy no one else understands. When King Hezekiah dies, twelve-year-old Manasseh is thrust onto Judah’s throne, bitter at Yahweh and eager to marry the girl he adores. Assyria’s crown prince favors Manasseh and twists his brilliant mind toward cruelty, beginning Shulle’s long and harrowing journey to discover the Yahweh she’d never known, guided with loving wisdom by Manasseh’s mother: Isaiah’s daughter, the heartbroken Hephzibah. Amid Judah’s dark days, a desperate remnant emerges, claiming the Lord’s promise, “Though we’re helpless now, we’re never hopeless–because we serve…

Mesu Andrews | The Many Colors of Mother-Daughter Relationships
Author Guest / May 8, 2019

In my recent release, Of Fire and Lions, I explore the biblical story of Daniel, who was exiled to Babylon. Remember the guy thrown into the lions’ den who escaped unharmed? Because the Hebrew Bible usually records only male descendants and Daniel has no recorded offspring, this novel gives Daniel only daughters. Five, actually; and a significant part of the story involves his fictional wife’s strained relationship with them. Why add a seemingly insignificant conflict when the story already includes Daniel saved from lions, three men’s escape from a fiery execution, a king’s transformation into a beast, and a wealthy nobleman’s rescue of a lovely woman from a degrading priesthood? Because the emotional struggle between a mother or daughter affects about half the women I meet—and I have two daughters of my own. The moment they slipped squalling from my body, they’ve been a conundrum. They’re like yin and yang. Black and white. Completely opposite yet best friends. But it hasn’t always been that way… At first, daughters seem a kaleidoscope of colors—impossible to sort out for a young mom. “Why is she crying? Why won’t she sleep? My daughter won’t share—will she ever have friends? She did WHAT to…