Goodreads asked Mike Billington:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Mike Billington The idea for my most recent book - The Third Servant - actually came to me while I was attending Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Wilmington, DE. The reading was the Parable of the Third Servant in Matthew and it struck me that we never find out what happened to him after he was cast into the night for failing to increase his master's wealth. As I sat there in my pew this whole story started unfolding in my mind: What if that unlucky servant was a young boy - that would explain his reluctance to invest his master's money for fear of losing it. And what if, after he was cast into the night, he went on a 20-year adventure that took him from Palestine to the steppes of present day Russia, to India, along the ancient spice trail to Egypt then to Rome and, finally, back to his homeland. Further, what if along the way he met some famous folks - Mary Magdalene for one, an Indian emperor, some Romans of high rank, scholars, warriors and even a widowed woman. I began writing as soon as I returned home from Mass and now, finally, I've finished it. The Third Servant is a far cry from my usual mystery and Steampunk novels but it's something that I felt I had to write.

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