I was recently able to talk to Elissa Elliott, a gifted blogger, novelist, and author of Eve: A Novel. Most of all I’ve been privileged to get to know her a bit these past few months and call her friend. Here’s the first part of our exchange:

David Group: What inspired you to write this novel?

Elissa Elliott: It was an email from my agent, who asked, on a whim, “What about Eve?”  Of course, my immediate response was, “You mean the Eve?  Hasn’t she been done already?”  But no, she hadn’t been written the way I wanted to write her, which was as a mother, wife, and woman with the same human emotions we experience today.  I wanted to tell the story (partially) in her voice, since Bible and Torah stories are notorious for leaving women in the shadows.

DG: That was one of the interesting aspects of the story I found as I read – here you are, a 21^st century wife and mother – attempting to let us in on an entire realm of thought, feelings and challenges of what Eve must have been confronted with. How difficult was it to place yourself so far back in time and yet connect with present-day readers?

EE: Well, the research, of course, allowed me my framework (of how things were back then).  But when it came to the emotional makeup of Eve and her daughters, I went no further than my sisters, my girlfriends, my mother, and me.  Human emotions are exactly that—human—so I drove close to the bone, as it were, while writing.

To read the rest – where we go into comparative creation stories, and much more – click here!

When reading Judeo-Christian sacred literature, it’s astounding how quickly the idea of religion and violence merge. In the earliest part of the Book of Genesis there is this odd account about a sacrifice that eventuates in murder. After reading this text, many questions remain as we’re given scant detail – did God command the sacrifices or is it just a story about two brothers following rituals similar to those performed by the surrounding culture(s) of the day? [I guess you figured out I don’t take the story literally…] Continue reading…