Havah

I've said recently that writing Havah is the second hardest thing I've ever done. I wrote it with love, pain, joy and fear... and so many questions.

How does one comprehend death if one has no experience with it? Why would anyone living in perfection crave something expressly forbidden? Why would God accept the sacrifice of one brother and not another? What was the mark of Cain?

And it went on: How does a mother love a child who murders her other? How does a marriage survive the betrayal of perfection? How does a tale of death not become a tragedy?

Much as with Demon, I wrote Havah (the Hebrew name for “Eve”) to explore the story in a way that made sense to me. But unlike Demon, I left writing it with more questions than I began with. Eventually, I concluded that while some details may never be known, some truths remain the same:

* There can be no true morality without the option to choose wrong.
* Barring the tragedy of the fall, we would not know the triumph of redemption.

Join me for the story the way it might have gone.

Join me for the genesis of hope.


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Leave a comment here or on a post in days to come with your e-mail address and I will enter you in a drawing for one of several things: a copy of Havah; a copy of Legend, in which archaeologist David Rohl explores the possible location of Eden's garden (fascinating to me in my research); or one of two previewed documentary DVDs (A&E and History Channel, I believe)--one on Adam and Eve, and another on Cain and Abel.* Specify which ones you're interested in and in the next couple weeks I'll notify the winners.

Also, if you write a review of Havah (or Demon, for that matter) on Amazon, B&N, Christianbook.com or another retail site, I will enter you twice. Just post a note or send me an e-mail with the link.


* I thought about making these giveaways a clearing house of resources I used in my research--some two thousand dollars' worth of books and DVDs--but somehow the Pentatuch as Narrative, field survival guides, and books on ancient basket weaving and plant propagation seemed a lot less sexy.