BLOGWORDS – Tuesday 6 June 2017 – TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY – NEW RELEASE EVENT – BREAD OF ANGELS BY TESSA AFSHAR

BLOGWORDS – Tuesday 6 June 2017 – TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY – NEW RELEASE EVENT – BREAD OF ANGELS BY TESSA AFSHAR
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TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY – RELEASE DAY EVENT – BREAD OF ANGELS BY TESSA AFSHAR

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Purple. The foundation of an influential trade in a Roman world dominated by men. One woman rises up to take the reins of success in an incredible journey of courage, grit, and friendship. And along the way, she changes the world.

But before she was Lydia, the seller of purple, she was simply a merchant’s daughter who loved three things: her father, her ancestral home, and making dye. Then unbearable betrayal robs her of nearly everything.

With only her father’s secret formulas left, Lydia flees to Philippi and struggles to establish her business on her own. Determination and serendipitous acquaintances—along with her father’s precious dye—help her become one of the city’s preeminent merchants. But fear lingers in every shadow, until Lydia meets the apostle Paul and hears his message of hope, becoming his first European convert. Still, Lydia can’t outrun her secrets forever, and when past and present collide, she must either stand firm and trust in her fledgling faith or succumb to the fear that has ruled her life.

 

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I have never served as a soldier, yet I have the strange sense that most of my life I have stared down the blade of a sword, the face of my adversary haunting me. General Varus once told me that Roman soldiers prefer to use the singled-edged sword they call the makhaira for the killing stroke: having a short blade forces them to come close, so that as your body gives way to the thrust of that unforgiving edge, all you can see is the face of your assassin. You forget the world, you forget the ones you love, you forget hope and lose your fragile grasp on any remnant of a fight lingering in your heart. You see only the visage of your adversary.

I know what it’s like to have a makhaira at my throat. I know my enemy’s face. I know the scent of his breath, the stinging quality of his speech, the poison of his taunts. He has cut me more than once with his short sword. I know his name.

He is called Fear.

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rem:   Hullo Tessa, and congratulations on your new book! If you could live anywhere in any time period, where would you go?

TESSA:   Any period my hubby was in works for me. It’s the people that make the time, not time the people.

rem:   Best | answer | ever. Where did you find this story idea?

TESSA:   Bread of Angels is based on the story of Lydia, the seller of purple goods from Acts 16. When I thought about Lydia, a woman in a man’s world, a woman bearing the burdens of a lavish business with many dependents, I felt that perhaps more than anything, the weight of responsibility might have pressed her down. She either had to rely on her own gifting and strength, or learn to trust in God’s provision.

 

I liked this concept, because it seems to me that most of us struggle, at least to some degree, with the same choice, especially when it comes to our jobs. The work of our hands has so many complex emotional threads attached to it. We long to be useful. To make a difference. To use our gifting. Add to that the reality that in our world, our stability is attached to work. There are layers of fear running through our jobs. Layers that are, to some degree, beyond our control. We may fail, let others down, not meet expectations, harm someone in the process, and suffer financial loss. Who shall we trust with this overwhelming burden? Our own strength or God’s provision?

 

rem:   Oh my goodness, yes! I can’t tell you how long or how many times I felt that way with my writing! Who was the easiest character to write and why? The most difficult?

TESSA:  I think I found Paul the easiest. He has left so much of himself in his letters. Lydia was the hardest for me because she was a blank canvas. A paradox of strength and fear.

rem:   And you painted quite the portrait, if I do say so. It’s what I love about Biblical fiction—especially yours! What do you munch on while you’re writing / researching / editing?

TESSA:   Chocolate. If I am being good, fruit. Then chocolate.

rem:   Chocolate, always go for the chocolate. What do you do to recover once you’ve typed “THE END?”

TESSA:   I usually fall into bed unconscious. It seems with every novel that I am down to the wire and, toward the end, have to write late into the night. When I finish, all I can think of is sleep!

 

Thanks for inviting me to hang out with you and your readers, Robin!

rem:   Your blood, sweat, and tears—and shear exhaustion—pays off, and your readers appreciate every word. Thanks for taking a moment from your next story to chat with me today.

 

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Tessa Afshar is an award-winning author of historical and biblical fiction. Her novel, Land of Silence was voted by Library Journal as one of five top Christian Fiction titles of 2016, and nominated for the 2016 RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Inspirational Romance. Harvest of Gold won the prestigious 2014 Christy Award in the Historical Romance category. Her book, Harvest of Rubies was a finalist for the 2013 ECPA Book Award in the fiction category. Her first novel, Pearl in the Sand, won her “New Author of the Year” by the Family Fiction sponsored Reader’s Choice Awards 2011. Tessa was born in Iran and lived there for the first fourteen years of her life. She moved to England where she survived boarding school for girls and fell in love with Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, before moving to the United States permanently. Her conversion to Christianity in her twenties changed the course of her life forever. Tessa holds an MDiv from Yale University where she served as co-chair of the Evangelical Fellowship at the Divinity School. She serves on the staff of one of the oldest churches in America. But that has not cured her from being addicted to chocolate. Contact Tessa at tessaafshar.com or on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTessaAfshar/

 

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Her father pulled Lydia sideways until she toppled into his arms. “Child, let me tell you the secret to victory in the hard life. Strive valiantly. Dare to try, knowing that you will make mistakes. You will fall short again and again, because there is no effort without error. In the end, you will either know the triumph of high achievement, or if you fail, you will fail while daring greatly. Embrace the knowledge that you will make a mistake sooner or later. Your work will have flaws—some grave, some superficial. Learn to accept this truth, and you will master your art.”

 

“Hope.” Eumenes gave a faint nod. “There is never so much sorrow in a life that it should become devoid of hope. Hope may grow fragile as a thread of silk; it may get stuck inside the box of your misfortunes. But it is there. Don’t misplace your hope, my sweet child, not even when all of Pandora’s monsters chase you. You must hold to that treasure after I am gone.”

 

The prophet’s words carried a weight that even Virgil’s prose lacked, Lydia had to admit. They contained a promise that pierced her heart like a sharpened arrow, for shame and disgrace were her constant companions…

 

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Fear. A cruel task master.

 

And fear is Lydia’s constant companion. Crippling fear. Demanding fear. Hounding and haunting voice of fear.

 

For all Lydia’s talent and ability, she constantly dreaded the worst.

 

And yet, she was continually blessed with favor and miracles.

 

As a woman in Biblical times, Lydia’s options were nonexistent; women were totally dependent on men. And yet, her life unfolded and prospered in spite of such restrictions. Born in a pagan society, Lydia was drawn into faith until hope collided with her old nemesis, Fear.

Would faith rise to conquer fear once and for all? Will she grasp at her position of wealth and honor in a male driven society? Will she embrace the sweetness of hope that only faith can bring.

 

 

Bread of Angels is a perfect example of why Biblical Fiction is my favorite genre; characters whose names are etched in faith-memory now have a story, a history. Ms. Afshar writes with precision and skill, dying a story to the perfect hue of the culture of the time. The Bible doesn’t speak to Lydia’s childhood or her struggles as a merchant, but Ms. Afshar has woven a beautiful story that could very well be pages of history.

 

 

 

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