This week I’m hosting Pam Meyers with Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Cynthia Ruchti with When the Morning Glory Blooms, and Ginger Garrett with Reign. If you want to enter the drawings for the books, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don’t want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (April 21st) evening.
Heroine Interview from Reign by Ginger Garrett:
Jezebel, tell me the most interesting thing about you.
I’m a beach babe, born and raised on the beautiful Mediterranean shores of Phoenicia. I grew up as the daughter of the High Priest of our national religion, the worship of Baal and Asherah. But since we had so many merchants from all over the world visiting us, we have seen how many religions there are. We honor all gods and refuse none.
What do you do for fun?
Since I was married off against my will to the son of a mercenary soldier, a hired killer, “fun” is not a word in my vocabulary. “Survival” is what I know. I am not a Hebrew, and neither is my husband Ahab, but we rule the Hebrews. Those people hate my gods, and think there is only one.
What do you put off doing because you dread it?
Late one evening, I went to the edge of the royal complex to study the golden calf that Ahab had allowed the Hebrews to keep. It is their god and there they worship. The cow did not impress me. I have a dread of finding out that the Hebrew god is not a cow at all, but something much, much more frightening.
What are you afraid of most in life?
Bigots. And the Hebrew god, who hates me without reason.
What do you want out of life?
To make my name great, my husband’s throne secure, and to see my way of life honored.
What is the most important thing to you?
I’ve done some terrible things in the name of my god, and I desperately want to receive a sign of approval. I’ve sacrificed so much, literally, that I fear I will go mad if I do not hear her voice.
Do you read? If so, what is your favorite type of book to read?
Ironically, my people, the Phoenicians, invented the alphabet, so reading comes from us. However, the real reader in the palace is Obadiah, the palace administrator. He keeps the records of the king, and the history of the people. His fingers are always stained with ink, and he has stories that make the hairs on my neck stand up. He tells tales of a god who comes near. Very near, and too close, perhaps for me.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I wish I knew how to be tender-hearted like other women. I wish that my god had not demanded I sacrifice my twin sister. I wish that I had been loved as a child. But wishes are poison to my soul. I am a woman of action, not dreams.
Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?
At home in Phoenicia, we had many animals. Merchants traded them. But in Israel, the land is dry and I am despised. I do not want to care for a defenseless animal. My own survival requires all my wit and attention.
If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?
Obadiah has told me the story of Eve. If I could go back in time, I would pluck the apple myself and hold it out to her. Her mistake wasn’t eating the apple; her mistake was allowing her husband to join her awakening.
