Mesu Andrews ~ Interview + Giveaway!

*You can earn up to 4 entries in this giveaway. Read below for details*

Today author Mesu Andrews is telling us about her new book, Love Amid the Ashes. She has offered an autographed copy of her book to one lucky commenter. She will also be stopping by throughout the week to answer your questions! So if you have anything you want to ask her, you can leave a comment on this post to find out the answer!

Welcome, Mesu! Tell us a little about yourself.

I lived in Indiana most of my life until my husband accepted a teaching position at Multnomah Bible College in 2007. Now we love the Pacific Northwest and have convinced our two grown daughters to start their married lives here, too! I have a PhT degree…that’s a “Putting Hubby Through” degree for those unfamiliar with the term. We were married just before Roy’s junior year of undergrad. He taught and coached in high school for a few years, and then he attended seminary when our girls were six and four. When he wasn’t in school, I was blessed to be a full-time mom and part-time everything else, putting my Associate’s Business degree to work in a variety of settings. Our first pastoral ministry began in 1993, and we served in two churches over fourteen years in Northern Indiana. We lived in a small town completely surrounded by Amish farms, and our daughters went to school with many of the Amish children (in public school). It was a fantastic (and unique) place to raise our kids. Great memories!

Tell us about your salvation experience.
I was raised in a Christian home. I knew without a doubt that there was a God…I just wasn’t quite sure who He was. I call myself a spiritual mutt – Dad was Quaker, Mom charismatic, grandparents were Pilgrim Holiness turned Nazarene and finally settled into Wesleyan. Life was interesting when we talked Bible. I rebelled and was an alcoholic by the time I was nineteen. A failed relationship put me on the edge of eternity. Then my best friend set me up with a good friend of ours from high school. He’d been as pagan as the rest of us in school, but he’d gone down to a Texas Christian college on a basketball scholarship and “got religion,” so she warned me that he was a little nuts now. I thought I could handle him like I handled all the other crazy Christians around me…but he was different. I saw a peace in him that I wanted. I needed. Within three weeks, he led me to a saving relationship with Jesus, and within seven months we were married! (Nine months and two weeks later, we had our first child; but that’s another story)

How do you handle disasters/BIG problems? Do you have a funny or interesting story showcasing how you handle them?
I handle disasters really calmly – while they’re happening – and then I fall apart when everything resolves. I’m strong, resourceful, all “we can do this!” in the moment, but I end up in a puddle of “help God!” by the time it’s over.

Tell us something surprising about yourself that readers may not know.
My favorite thing is Wick’s Sugar Cream Pie. They make it in Richmond, IN, and I think they only sell it in the freezer section of central Indiana grocery stores. It’s FABULOUS! But probably 2000 calories per slice!

What is one book that you recently read and would recommend to your readers?

I love Jill Eileen Smith’s, Wives of King David series and I’m looking forward to reading Bathsheba because the second book, Abigail, was one of my favorite reads.

What is your favorite time of day to write?

ALL DAY! The time of day doesn’t matter as much to me as the amount of time in one sitting. To write my characters at the level of emotion they need, I must be fully invested in the scene; and that takes time.

If you compared your writing style to any other Christian Fiction author, who would it be? Also, how would you rate the romance in your books?

I really admire Francine Rivers and Lynn Austin. Both women have written biblical novels that captured my attention and my heart. I’m not sure I write like them, but I’d like to! I think my novels are PG simply because of the subject matter. In Love Amid the Ashes, Job is inflicted with very serious health issues, and Dinah’s history at Shechem is a mature topic. I never describe any sexual scene, but the love between a husband and wife is understood when I close the door on a scene.

What are you working on now or going to write next?
We’re in the editing and marketing phase of my second novel, Love’s Sacred Song. It’s the story of King Solomon’s early years and the love of a shepherd girl that shaped his character and his nation. It releases with Revell in March 2012. I’ve also started research on four more biblical novels. I love to find famous (or infamous) male figures and then search and dig for interesting information about the women in their lives. Stay tuned to discover which shadowy characters are revealed in the next four Old Testament tales!

Back cover blurb:

An epic story of love and forgiveness, suffering and restoration

When scandal and murder rock Dinah’s life, the daughter of the great patriarch Jacob is sent away to Job’s household. After Job’s own world comes crashing down, Dinah finds herself drawn to this great man brought low. What will she risk to fight for his survival?

What research did you have to do for this book?
It’s important to remember that commentators differ on many details about Job. Since there are so many possibilities broached by various theologians (all of whom are WAY smarter than me!), I read a variety of commentaries on Job and his friends. I then came to a conclusion that seemed most common to the majority. This lead me to study rabbinical tradition, preserved through the ages more by verbal tradition than written. In those cases where rabbinic tradition contradicted Scripture, I used the biblical truth; however, in those cases where Hebrew tradition filled in missing information, I included it and let it fuel the fictional rendering of my story. But it’s very important to remember that Love Amid the Ashes is FICTIONAL. I have maintained every detail of Scripture (to the best of my knowledge), but the story built around God’s Word is strictly my imagination.

Who would you pick to play the lead roles if this book was made into a movie?

 Job – George Clooney

Dinah – The woman on the book cover, or Katherine Heigl

Sitis – Katerine Zeta Jones

Nogahla – Dakore Egbuson

Do you have a link to a place to read the first chapter or an excerpt of this book?

First Chapter link: http://mesuandrews.com/books-by-mesu/love-amid-the-ashes/read-the-first-chapter/

Discussion questions: http://mesuandrews.com/books-by-mesu/love-amid-the-ashes/discussion-questions/

Bible study questions: http://mesuandrews.com/books-by-mesu/love-amid-the-ashes/bible-study/

How can readers get in contact with you?
http://mesuandrews.com/

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**USA addresses only, please**

Okay readers, here is your chance to win an autographed copy of Love Amid the Ashes!

TO ENTER:

*Leave a comment with your name and email address (so I can contact you if you win). The comment is mandatory. You will not be entered unless you leave a comment AND your email address.

*If you leave a comment you will be entered unless you specify that you do not want to be entered.

*Here are the ways to get entries:

(First entry) The mandatory comment saying you would like to be entered with your email address.

+1 Become one of my followers OR subscribe to my blog by email.

+2 Read and leave a comment on my review of Invasion

**You can earn a total of 4 entries if you do all of the above entry options. Make sure to tell me in your entry comment on this post which of the things you did to get extra entries. (You can put them on one comment if you want to, you don’t have to separate each entry into its own comment or anything like that.)**

*The contest will run from today (March 18) until 6:00 CST on Thursday (March 24). I will announce the winner that night. The winner is always randomly drawn. I will contact the winner either directly after choosing him/her or on Friday the 25th, and then that person will have one week to reply. If the winner doesn't reply within that time period, I will pick a new winner.

Good luck! Thanks for visiting.