Interview with Mesu Andrews 2025

What message do you hope readers take away from this book?

Brave is for any reader who feels ill equipped for any task to which God has clearly called them. Though the Bible tells us very little about Ahinoam, common sense tells the kind of woman she must have been by showing who his first wife was. Saul’s daughter, Michal—lowered David from their bedroom window to help him escape her father’s assassins. But when she was brought before Saul’s royal council to be questioned, rather than creating a benign story that could save herself and her fugitive husband, Michal puts a target on David’s back by accusing him of threatening to kill her. Threatening to kill a member of the king’s household was a treasonous offense. After learning of Michal’s betrayal, don’t you think David’s heart would have been broken? What sort of woman could mend his heart and find acceptance among David’s army of four hundred misfits? In Ahinoam’s misfit journey, I hope readers will find courage to step into God’s plan for them and do the things that seem impossible. Ahinoam knows she’s brave to save David’s life with her dagger-throwing skill, but she learns to be courageous of heart—and allows love and friendships to take root and grow.

Reflecting back, what do you see as most significant to your publication journey?

Writer’s conferences and networking face-to-face are vital. At my first writer’s conference (way back in 2001), I attended the first morning’s devotional and was so encouraged by the woman’s words. It was Wendy Lawton, who was “only an author” at the time, and she was a huge encouragement at the worst train-wreck-of-a-conference I’ve ever heard of. One editor told me that I should stick with speaking because I’d never make it as a writer. Ugh. But Wendy told me not to give up and invited me to Mt. Hermon’s conference in California. So I saved up (and healed up) for four years—and went to Mt. Hermon’s conference. I was still trying to publish non-fiction at the time, and guess who took me on as one of her first clients as an agent. Yep. Wendy Lawton. Though I now write novels and am with another agent, I still love Wendy dearly for not letting me give up. Writer’s conferences are where we meet our best cheerleaders, the people who “get us.” It doesn’t matter how many years you have to save to attend a conference. Do it. ACFW’s national conference is the best of the best because you’ll meet only other fiction writers, and you’ll meet the best of the best novelists. It’s sooooo worth the wait!

What’s your biggest challenge in balancing writing time with your other responsibilities?

Ya know…I’ve been asking God to make the sun stand still to extend my deadlines like He did for Joshua when he fought the Amorites (Joshua 10:12-14). So far—it’s a no go. 2024 was a super busy year for us. Hubby and I moved from NC to IN, then he accepted a position as operations pastor at Blackhawk Ministries in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We’re closer to aging parents but farther from grandkids, so we make a lot of short trips and long trips. We’re still trying to learn names and love our church body well by using the gifts Holy Spirit has given us. It’s tough to balance a full-time writing career and…life! Thankfully, my husband is the best man on the planet. He does all the laundry (yes, you read that right), and we cook big meals so we can eat lots of leftovers. The crockpot is my friend.

How do your faith and spiritual life play into the picture and affect your storytelling?

If I’m not in God’s Word, I have nothing to write. If I’m not living my life to the full (John 10:10), I have nothing to write. Occasionally, I’ll go away for a writing retreat and get LOTS of words on a page, but if I did that for a month or more straight, my heart would shrivel. Jesus usually teaches me exactly what my main character is learning while I’m writing the novel. While writing Brave, we moved to a new city. I had to open my heart to new friends, which isn’t easy for me after thirty years of leadership roles in Christian ministry. I constantly have to buff off those calluses to keep my heart soft and pliable. Can you relate? The same happened to Ahinoam. Her mother abandoned Ahinoam and her father when “Nomy” (her nickname in the book) was only five years old. It was unheard of for a little girl to be raised by a single father in ancient Israel but, through it, she’d learned to be brave. She’d also closed off the part of her heart that allowed women close—any woman. I had started to do that, too. So, the Lord put us in a church with a lot of incredible women, and I’m slowly, cautiously opening my heart to trust again. It’s scary, but God calls us to love one another. Whew. If I write it, I gotta live it, y’all. It’s real stuff!

Who/What spurs you to write? Where do your story and character ideas come from?

It sounds trite, but I mean it—Jesus. I’m answering this interview while writing the first draft of Loyal: The Story of Haggith (Bk #3) in the series. The Lord proved to me in the fall that He was completely in charge of my writing—not me. I had a window of creating time in October. It was my schedule, and I expected Him to show up. He did but with ideas to edit Book #2. Oh, how my editors hate that. Now, it’s November. I have a two-week window to create. Nothing. I’ve got Haggith’s name. Her father is Jehoiada, the chief priest of Hebron. Her brother, Benaiah, becomes one of David’s men. Mother’s name, Johanna. Ummm, that was it. Silence. Thanksgiving. Still nothing. Now, I’m sweating because I’ve blocked out all of December to write this thing! Lord, what are You doing? In the second week of December, I read and re-read David’s story in my Chronological Bible, and Jesus began to fill in the details, possible conflicts, additional characters needed, and Haggith’s journey from beginning to end. Looks like this one will deal with spiritual pride—so all of us Pharisees in the crowd better get on our knees. Oh, don’t think you’re a Pharisee? Yah, this one’s definitely for you (and me).

What is your writing routine? Any quirky habits or must-have snacks?

I try to do all my admin work with my VA on Mondays (newsletter, blog, scheduled social media, interviews, etc.). Hypothetically, Tuesday through Saturday is for writing and research. Of course, there are various appointments, family visits, church stuff, and phone calls that steal my attention, but I use the “work focus” feature on my phone and computer to cut down on the bells-and-whistles distractions during the day. Regarding quirky habits or must-have snacks: 1) coffee with yummy creamer is a must; 2) a boiled egg for breakfast; 3) fruit for snack around noon; 4) lots of water all day; 5) early supper (because we’re old) around 4:30-5pm. If I’m close to deadline, I work until my brain is scrambled. Otherwise, I hang out with hubby for the evening (or do dinner with friends).

If you could have coffee with an author, dead or alive, whose work you admire, who would that be? What would you ask him or her?

I usually say Liz Higgs because I’ve always admired both her writing and her humility/integrity as a person, but this time I’m gonna go with a Bible character: David. While writing this series about his lesser-known brides, I’m really stumped as to his reason for marrying each of these six women mentioned in 2 Samuel 3:2-5. Each of them gave him a son during his seven-year reign in Hebron (before he and his men conquered Jerusalem and made it “the City of David”), but we know very little about them except that they were so-and-so’s mother. Only three of the mother/son combos are mentioned as grown men (Ahinoam/Amnon, Maakah/Absalom, and Haggith/Adonijah), and all three showed the awful consequences of David’s choice to marry multiple wives. Because Christian readers need to have a relatively positive hero/heroine to stick with a story, I’ve tried to use fictional situations to imagine how David and these six early brides might have thought their decisions to marry were approved by God—the way we justify our sins sometimes. But in Bk #3, Haggith is going to expose that justification and really call them all to question how God could approve sin. So, that would be the writer I would LOVE to sit down with and ask for the Truth! Is it anything like the fiction I base on the historical facts and other biblical Truth?

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you as an author?

I was asked to speak at an event, and the emcee didn’t ask beforehand how to pronounce my name. She got to the mic and looked rather panicked, then glanced at me, then back at her little card, then smiled at the audience and said, “Please welcome Moosey Andrews.” The room was stone silent. I grinned while walking to the mic and caught her arm before she sat down. Putting my arm around her, I asked the audience, “Who among you would want to stand in front of this mic and try to pronounce my name?” I went through the litany of other ways people had mispronounced my name and then gave the poor woman a free book. Now, when I explain that “Mesu” is just a nickname for my legal name, Maralasu, I add, “I’ll answer to just about anything, but please don’t switch the “u” and the “e” and call me Moosey. I’ll have to correct you on that one.”

What do you think makes your style of storytelling unique?

I love to tell of famous biblical men who were impacted by lesser-known or unnamed women. It’s so fun to go digging into Jewish history and rabbinic literature and discover the legends that still live in their tradition. Some of the stories are way too far-fetched—much like Disney fairy tales—which is the reason they’re not included in the sacred text of the Tanakh (Jewish Bible)—or what Christians call the Old Testament. I consider Josephus’s writings, Ginzberg’s Legends of the Jews, and other famous writings to be reliable sources to give some relevant insight into the foundation of TRUTH on which my novels firmly stand.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?

Family. Movies. Research. In that order. If I can do a movie with family, I’m really in my happy place. Research has always been so much fun. I often tell folks that I only write books to satisfy my research habit. I’m only partially kidding.

What books are on your nightstand right now?

Right now I’m reading Carol Ashby’s recent release, River of Life, another in her Light of the Empire series. I try to read all the newer releases in biblical fiction to stay current on what’s out there in the biblical fiction or early-Church genre. I’m committed to keeping this genre strong since, back when I started publishing, there were so few houses publishing this era of historicals. Thanks to all the readers who are faithful to this genre!