Read chapter 1 below & quickly scan table of contents
Then below that is how I write biblical historical novels.
Crooked investors in Corinth, pirates in Crete, barbarians in Dalmatia. How does Titus handle them all with his posh upbringing?
Click above to read chapter 1
1 ~ I Am Titus……………………………………………………… 1
2 ~ The Earthquake……………………………………………. 11
3 ~ Masks………………………………………………………….. 22
4 ~ Stephan……………………………………………………….. 35
13 ~ Plague……………………………………………………….. 47
5 ~ The Ghost…………………………………………………….. 57
6 ~ The Undead………………………………………………….. 67
7 ~ Discovery……………………………………………………… 76
8 ~ Turning Point……………………………………………….. 86
9 ~ Ammonius……………………………………………………. 96
10 ~ Ice Queen…………………………………………………. 106
11 ~ The Return……………………………………………….. 116
12 ~ Goddesses………………………………………………… 128
14 ~ The Apostle Paul……………………………………….. 138
15 ~ A New Reality……………………………………………. 149
16 ~ Challenges………………………………………………… 158
17 ~ Confusion…………………………………………………. 167
18 ~ Failure……………………………………………………… 176
19 ~ The Temple……………………………………………….. 186
20 ~ Astonishments………………………………………….. 197
21 ~ Unspeakable…………………………………………….. 207
22 ~ The Meeting………………………………………………. 217
23 ~ Cries for Help……………………………………………. 227
24 ~ Chloe……………………………………………………….. 238
25 ~ Untouchables……………………………………………. 248
26 ~ The Letter…………………………………………………. 258
27 ~ Turns and Twists………………………………………. 269
28 ~ False Apostle…………………………………………….. 278
29 ~ Real Apostle……………………………………………… 290
30 ~ Face-Off……………………………………………………. 299
31 ~ Confusion…………………………………………………. 309
32 ~ The Impossible………………………………………….. 320
33 ~ Groping……………………………………………………. 330
34 ~ Needed…………………………………………………….. 340
35 ~ Brothers…………………………………………………… 351
36 ~ Aftermath…………………………………………………. 360
37 ~ Of Pirates & Priestesses……………………………… 371
38 ~ Messages………………………………………………….. 381
40 ~ Breaking Away………………………………………….. 400
41 ~ Fame……………………………………………………….. 410
42 ~ Surprises………………………………………………….. 421
43 ~ Miracles……………………………………………………. 430
44 ~ Homecomings……………………………………………. 440
45 ~ The Attack………………………………………………… 450
46 ~ Change of Plans………………………………………… 460
47 ~ Discoveries……………………………………………….. 469
48 ~ To the Ends of the Earth…………………………….. 478
JUST WHAT IS A BIBLICAL HISTORICAL NOVEL?
It definitely is not adding to the Bible. That would be sacrilegious and disloyal to God who told us just exactly what he wanted us to know. I have too much respect for the Bible.
A biblical historical novel is a COMMENTARY IN NARRATIVE FORM. I spend an average of 300 hours researching for each novel I write.
What I do is give A POSSIBLE PREVIOUS LIFE to the Bible character that might have caused him to do and say what the Bible says he did and said. All my novels begin in the character’s youth, sometimes even their childhood. I sometimes add what their attitudes may have been at their death as a result of their earlier encounter with God.
(By far the most difficult death scene I ever wrote is what Stephen’s thoughts may have been as a young deacon, possibly 29 years old, leaving behind a wife and small children. I struggled with that and walked the floor for two days before writing it.)
Yes, in some ways I play PSYCHOLOGIST. I try to convey how the character possibly grew spiritually through the years before the events we read of in the Bible.
I also play SOCIOLOGIST. I research each city the character lived in or even traveled through, along with the ancient highways that existed then. I learn the languages spoken, the street layout (from archaeological digs), who the magistrates were then, how they dressed, what they ate, what form of transportation they used, what other religions were prevalent there, who the country’s king was, what wars were they involved in at the time, etc.
I play LINGUIST. As I study deeply into the Bible account, I look up major words in the original Hebrew or Greek. Translators do not have the luxury of doing more than giving a single English word. If they gave a phrase for each word translated, the Bible would be zillions of pages long and we’d have to carry it in a wheelbarrow. For example, when the Bible says the soldiers took Jesus up the hill of Golgotha, the word “took” in Greek is to carry like a bowl.
I try to both educate and entertain.
“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him [Jesus] because he always lives to intercede for them.”
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
“You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.”
“How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.”
“Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ “
“There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.”
“For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do ~ this I keep on doing.”