Carlene HavelAs
of this date, Carlene has eighteen active books.
She and her mother, Billie Houston, co-authored four of them, and fellow
author, Sharon Faucheux collaborated on five others. Carlene has been published
by traditional publishers, and now she is self-published.
Let’s
find out more from Carlene. Tell us how you organize your advertising. What
sort of records do you keep?
Carlene: I’ve always been a fan of Microsoft Excel. My marketing
workbook consists of several spreadsheets that track ad history for each book
to include ad site, date, price, and the number of books sold through the
campaign. I also chart Kindle Unlimited
expiration dates and miscellaneous data such as the number of pages in each
book. It’s helpful to be able to see all of this information at once and to be
able to sort by various factors. At the end of each month, I compile a
spreadsheet containing stats for each book, number sold, pages read, amounts
earned; expenditures during the month, such as advertising, copyright, isbn
purchase, etc., and amounts paid to editors and a virtual assistant. These
really come in handy when I do the taxes for my LLC.
Gay: You and Sharon Faucheux write together. What happens if you disagree about a plot or
a twist?
Carlene: Sharon and I have a very workable division of labor. I do
most of the plotting, while Sharon specializes in historical research. That
line gets blurry at times, but so far, we have been able to talk through any
disagreement to find a solution we’re both happy with.
Gay: Both you and Sharon
do a lot of research, do you both attend a lot of Bible studies?
Carlene: I love attending women’s Bible studies. I occasionally
facilitate discussions, but I’m no teacher. Nor is Sharon. She’s more inclined
to hole up with a stack of books and not be seen until she’s finished reading.
Gay: Have you ever tried cooking some of the dishes
the people ate in the OT?
Carlene: I gave up cooking a few years ago, when my husband took over the kitchen. He does the meal planning, grocery shopping, and food preparation. My only job is cleaning up the kitchen. We eat a lot better than we ever did when I was the family chef!
Gay: Let’s talk about your book, Mother’s of a Nation. I love the title. How did you come up with it?
Carlene: I wish I could answer that question, but I don’t know how titles get into my mind any more than I understand where book concepts come from. Sometimes when I’m doing something unrelated to writing, an idea overtakes me. The shower is one of my favorite think tanks. It might be a title, a scene, or a line of dialogue I fall in love with. The idea just appears, and from it the rest of a book takes shape.
Gay: The story of Jacob’s
wives in the Bible blows my mind. Which of the sisters did you feel the most
sorry for?
Carlene: I felt some sadness for all four of the women who bore
Jacob’s children. Their situation was difficult, made worse by each woman’s own
human failings. We are so blessed to live in a time and place where we are
valued for more than our ability to give birth.
Gay: Which sister did you like the most?
Carlene: I didn’t know
this when I started writing the book, but Leah turned out to be my favorite
character. She was so loyal and so dedicated to being a good mother. She never
allowed Jacob’s favoritism to make her bitter. I admired how Leah soldiered on
unselfishly, regardless of the circumstances.
Gay: Which maidservant did you like the most?
I felt sorry for Bilhah’s tragic life, but my heart is drawn to Zilpah. She was optimistic, kind, and always looked for the best in others.
Gay: In the book, all four women are related. Zilpah
was Leah’s maidservant and Bilhah was Rachel’s maidservant. These servants were
given to the ladies by their father. How did you determine all four women might
have had the same father?
Carlene: There’s a whole body of Jewish lore, tradition, and history, known as rabbinical literature. The notion that Laban fathered the two maidservants came from those writings. We know from the Bible that a handmaiden could be the surrogate mother of children that would belong to her mistress, as Hagar was for Sarah. It may or may not be true that Bilhah and Zilpah were Rachel and Leah’s half-sisters, but it is possible. I thought the family tie added an interesting layer to the relationships among Jacob’s women.
Gay: All four women called Jacob “husband.” Even
though the handmaidens never married Jacob. I can’t imagine sharing my husband with
another woman. Do you think it was hard for these four women? I can’t imagine giving my husband to another
woman.
Carlene: I’m right there with you, Gay. I’m not willing to share my
husband with another woman! Ancient traditions were vastly different from ours.
Women were viewed more as possessions than as individual human beings, which is
still prevalent in some places in our “moden” world. Jesus did a great deal to
elevate the status of women.
Gay: Do you think Jacob would have ever said to the
women, “This is enough. Don’t offer me anymore women.”
Carlene: It would have been his duty to give his wives the
opportunity to bear children. It does appear he carried out his assignment with
enthusiasm.
Gay: I’m sure he did! Do
you think Jacob loved each of the four?
Carlene: Our concept of marriage is based on love. Theirs was
based on family strength and honor. I believe the New Testament admonition for
a man to love his wife the way Christ loves His church was a radical idea for
that time. In the context of that
difference, I believe Jacob did love the four women who gave him children, for
that reason if no other.
Gay: Not counting Joseph, which son was your favorite?
Carlene: I like Judah’s
character. He seemed to me to be more compassionate than his brothers. All of
the sons were imperfect, but Judah took responsibility for his sin instead of
trying to shift blame onto Tamar.
Gay: Genesis records the
death of Rachel and Leah, but it doesn’t mention the deaths other two women,
but in your book, they all die. How did you come up with their final words? I
also love that Zilpah, the surviving “wife” was accepted by the family as
Jacob’s companion.
Carlene: The death of each woman felt like a natural way to close
out her part of the narrative. As for final words, I tried to put myself in
each character’s place, thinking what she would have wanted to say.
Thanks Carlene for
visiting with us. This is a wonderful new take on an old story.
Carlene plans to give someone a $10 Amazon gift certificate, so
please leave a comment! Names are drawn for the winner.
Carlene on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carlene.havel
Book: Mother's of a Nation
Carlene's email: CHAVEL@satx.rr.com
