VOICE OF THE ANCIENT - Connilyn Cossette - One Free Book
Bio: Connilyn Cossette is a Christy Award– and Carol Award–winning author whose books havebeen found on ECPA and CBA bestseller lists. When she is not engulfed in thehappy chaos of homeschooling two teenagers, devouring books whole, or avoidinghousework, she can be found digging into the rich ancient world of the Bible todiscover gems of grace that point to Jesus and weaving them into an immersivefiction experience. She and her husband currently call a little town south ofDallas, Texas, their home.Known for hercaptivating biblical fiction novels, Connilyn Cossette has successfully carvedout her own space in the genre by fictionalizing characters and storylines thattake place against the backdrop of major biblical events mentioned in scripture.Launching a new series marked by impeccable research and stellar writing, Cossette now brings tolife the first years of King Saul’s reign in Voice of the Ancient, book one in The King’s Men series, whichfans of Tessa Ashfar, AngelaHunt, and Jill Eileen Smith won’t want to miss.
About the story: As the eldest son of a Levite and aPhilistine, Avidan is torn between his duty to his family legacy and the desirefor something more. When Ammonites attack the city of Yavesh, he takes theopportunity to fight with his cousins for the newly crowned King Saul. But whenone of the cousins goes missing during the battle, Avidan stays behind tosearch for him in hopes that he’s still alive.
Keziah is the daughter of one of the mostpowerful clan chiefs in the territory of Manasseh. On the brink of a forcedmarriage to a loathsome man decades older than her, she has no choice but torun. Dressed as a boy, she takes her horse and heads south, hoping to findsanctuary with her mother’s family.
Struggling to survive the dangers surroundingthem, Avidan and Keziah make a pact to travel together. As Keziah’s trueorigins are revealed and Avidan’s search for his cousin becomes increasingly dire,they must not only rely on each other to stay alive but also learn to trust thetrue and eternal King of Israel to guide their every step.
Can you tell us a little about your new novel Voiceof the Ancient, book one in The King’s Men series? This first book in theseries is a spin-off of Between the Wild Branches, from the Covenant House series, and opens at thevery beginning of the reign of King Saul. We journey along with Avidan, one offour young cousins who run away from home to fight for the newly crowned king.Not only is Avidan not yet of military age, but he is also a Levite and thereforeforbidden from serving as a soldier. When disaster befalls the four cousins andone of them goes missing during a battle, Avi refuses to believe his cousin isdead and stays behind to search for him instead of traveling on with the others.He crosses paths with Keziah, a young woman who has also run away from home,because she is being forced to marry a dangerous man decades older than her. Theymake a pact to journey south together, searching for Avi’s cousin and Keziah’sfamily, and together they discover who the true king of Israel is and why hedeserves their full allegiance.
How are your books distinctly different fromother biblical fiction novels in the genre? Evenas a kid, I used to wonder about the people “behind the scenes” who interactedwith Moses and David and Rahab and Jesus—the villagers or servants in thepalaces and the nameless faces in the crowds—and so that is who I like to writeabout. I love to wonder what I would have done if I came face to facewith the pillar of fire in the wilderness or had to collect manna every day orfelt the ground shaking under me at Jericho. So that’s why my desire has beento write from the perspective of fictional characters who witness those biblicalevents and how those well-known happenings pointed “everyday people” toYahweh’s goodness and his beautiful grace long before he sent his Son to earthin human flesh. It sets me apart in the genre a little bit, but it also givesme some really fascinating white space to peer between the lines of scripture andwonder “what if . . . ?”
What led you to write your own brand ofbiblical fiction? Ireally didn’t set out to write biblical fiction, nor did I consider that myspin on it was a little different than the rest. I was fascinated with thehistorical context and culture surrounding the biblical narrative, especiallythe Old Testament time period, and found myself dreaming up a cast ofcharacters that led me on that first journey out from Egypt in Counted Withthe Stars. Once I found that biblical-era fiction was my passion, thestories began to flow and now I can’t keep up with all the ideas I want towrite! I may explore other genres in the future, but for now, I feel like theLord is constantly bringing me fresh inspiration for books that illuminate theancient world of the Bible.
What do you think readers gain by diving intothe history of their faith? Just like the Renaissance painters whodepicted Jesus and his disciples wearing current-era clothing and hairstylesamong European settings like their own, we westerners tend to look at the Biblethrough the lens of our own culture, experiences, and worldview. The more Ihave learned about ancient Hebraic culture, language, and customs, the more Iappreciate some of the deeper meanings found in scripture that have beenobscured or even ignored over time. I think it’s not only enriching forChristians to dig deeper into the roots of our faith and understand the historiccontext of the Bible and the world in which its authors lived, but it’s alsoimperative to understand more fully the nature of the Hebrew Messiah weworship, the culture in which he lived, and how to better align our distortedworldview with his perfect one.
How is this series different from otherbiblically based novels you’ve written? First of all, these books are primarilyhero-based stories, since four young men are at the center (although theirheroines have strong roles and voices through each book). I’ve written malevoices before, which I enjoy doing, but this series is really the journey offour young men who start out from a place of strong friendship. Through tragiccircumstances, they are forced to find their own way apart from the cousinsthey’d always relied on and instead lean into Yahweh for direction and growth.There’s also a bit of a mystery throughout the series, since it’ll be a goodlong while before we know what happened to that missing cousin, so that’s beenfun to develop and weave into these books. I’ve also now moved from the Judgesperiod of the Bible into Kings, which was such a time of transition andupheaval for the people of Israel.
Can you share a snapshot of the beginning ofKing Saul’s reign, the period in history in which this novel and series takeplace? BeforeSaul became king, the tribes had their own elder-run legacy leadership and someof them had even lived far across the Jordan River, separated from the centerof religious life, for hundreds of years. But after being harassed andoppressed by the nations around them, Israel was desperate to have a human kingto rule over them, give them some standing in the world, and protect them fromtheir enemies. They didn’t care that Yahweh had already promised his divineprotection and blessings or that he had warned them a human king wouldeventually become corrupt and self-serving. They wanted a good-looking tall guyto represent them and make those enemies shake in their boots. So, the Lordgraciously gave them exactly what they asked for. And, as prophesied, thingsdid not go well. Saul may have started out as the embodiment of all the peoplewanted in a good king, but it was not long before it became about him and hisown glory. My series explores this time of transition and the struggle tounderstand what it means to pledge our full allegiance to the Eternal King,regardless of what the culture around us looks like. It’s a lesson I think allof us who follow the true Anointed One must learn, especially in the time ofupheaval and uncertainty in which we now live.What inspired the idea behind a series setduring this famous biblical king’s reign? Honestly,I just had such a fun time getting to know the family in the Covenant House series that I wasn’tready to leave them behind. I was excited to explore a new era but also wantedto continue on with the next generation. Therefore, the idea of using a groupof four young cousins who showed up at the end of Between the Wild Branchescame to life in my mind. The era of King Saul’s reign tends to, in my opinion,get skimmed over a little bit when we are reading through the Bible, so Ithought it would be great to slow down and explore what it must have been likefor a group of tribes to change from elder-led government to a united monarchy,especially after being so independent for hundreds of years (longer thanAmerica has been under the Constitution). There was always strife between thesons of Jacob, and it is obvious from the contentious split after Solomon’sreign that nothing ever really changed. With humankind, there is never fullconsensus on anything—let alone politics and religion! Therefore, all thatstrife between people and nations gives me lots of juicy drama to play with in thisseries.
What lessons can the lives of your maincharacters Avidan and Keziah teach modern Christians today? Avidan and Keziahcome from vastly different backgrounds. Avi grew up in a Levitical family, in acommunity where Samuel the Prophet himself taught the Torah to his students. Heknows the stories of the Israelites and knows much about Yahweh, yet hestruggles to see his own place in those stories and understand his role in thelarger picture. Learning to listen to and obey the voice of the Ancient One bylaying down one’s own desires and following His will is an ongoing process forall who are called by His name. On the other hand, Keziah grew up in a placefar away from the center of worship, in a community that had largely forgottentheir heritage and had allowed pagan practices to mix with worship of the TrueGod. Her journey is one of discovering who Yahweh is, of separating truth fromfiction, and bowing her knee to the One True King of Israel for the first time.And don’t we all need to examine our hearts and determine whether we areholding onto false idols as well?
What are you working on next? I am writing Book Two of The King’sMen series and having so much fun exploring the story of yet another ofthe cousins who run off to fight for King Saul and the feisty woman he meets whowants nothing to do with one of Saul’s warriors. I’m going to keep the rest ofthe details on this one close to my chest for now, but I will say that I’ve hadthis book percolating in my head for over two years now and I am dying to getit on paper! And yes, I do mean paper, because I write all of my manuscriptsentirely by hand now and would never go back to my old way of drafting. There’sjust something magical about scribbling away with a physical pen on real paperthat sparks my imagination and gets my creative juices flowing!
How can readers connect with you? The best way tofind me is at my website, ConnilynCossette.com where readers can sign up formy periodic newsletter and keep up with all my writerly news. But I can also befound on instagram.com/connilyncossetteauthor and facebook.com/connilyncossette.I also have a special Facebook group page (Connilyn’s Bibliophiles) wherereaders can get the inside scoop and interact with me personally from time totime. Come find us, we’d love for you to join in the conversation!
Thankyou, Connilyn, for sharing Voice ofthe Ancient with us. It sounds like a wonderful read. Iknow my blog readers will love it.
Readers, here’s alink to the book.
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