Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
A1. Hello, this is where I become incredibly awkward, but bear with me. Iโm RM Watters, a literary historical fiction and fantasy writer and author of โThe Book of Jezebelโ. Iโm also an editor, creative director, and managing partner of Frequency 3 Media. Apart from that, Iโm a mother and a cat-person. I like video games, true crime documentaries, British cozy mysteries, and solving cryptograms. While Iโm a homebody, I love going out with friends from time to time and staying active: biking (usually on my stationary indoor bike, because Floridian humidity is a thing), hiking outdoors, yoga, things like that. I also have a somewhat dry, dark sense of humor that can just pop out at any moment without warning.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing โThe Book of Jezebelโ?
A2. The biggest challenge was the lack of reliable sources, which historical fiction authors are dependent upon to keep their stories as historically accurate as possible. Researching the Iron Age Levant, particularly the world and characters of Jezebel and Ahab, one is limited mostly to tertiary sources. Iโve done painstaking research, starting with the Biblical accounts and the Midrash, then combing libraries, academic journals, etc., in an effort to better understand the world in which Jezebel lived and to portray her and her story accurately. But when it comes to understanding her and the people in her life, we have very few primary and secondary sources.
The only true primary sources relating to Jezebel and Ahab that have, thus far, been found are Jezebelโs seal and the Stele of Shalmaneser III (also known as the Kurkh Monolith). The stele was constructed by the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, to commemorate a battle against a group of kings, one of whom was Ahab of Israel. It confirms Ahab was King of Israel and had quite a substantial army of chariotsโhe made the biggest contribution toward the campaign, if the numbers are to be believedโ but other than that, it doesnโt give us much information. On the contrary, one can glean a lot from Jezebelโs seal about her understanding of herself and her place in the world, but itโs still pretty limited and dependent upon modern interpretations. Modern people cannot fully see the past for what it was, because our own cultural and personal biases will always get in the way, and that makes historical accuracy a challenge in both scholarly and creative endeavors.
Nevertheless, those two archaeological finds are amazing. They have, at the very least, proven Jezebel and Ahab were real, living people, backing up their existence in relation to the stories about them that are found in the Biblical books of Kings and Chronicles, and in the Midrash. The problem with the Biblical stories is that they were written by people who were incredibly biased against Jezebel and her โforeignโ customs, and even more against her religion. And, despite commonly held beliefs, the Biblical books are NOT primary sources. They are actually tertiary sources, as they were likely written by people who were not direct witnesses to the events and people they discuss. They were based on other possibly secondary sources that have been lost to modern researchers, but thatโs the closest we can get. Primary and secondary source material for the Iron Age is incredibly scarce and, of those archaeologists have uncovered, few are readable. That is changing now with AI technology being used to translate ancient texts, and itโs very exciting, but for me itโs too little too late because Iโve already finished the book.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
A3. Thatโs a hard question to answer. I read so widely in both fiction and non-fiction. I think the biggest influences for my writing style have come from โclassicโ literature: Jane Austen, Leo Tolstoy, Emily Bronte, and JRR Tolkien. For more โmodernโ authors (20th centuryโpresent), Iโd have to say Sylvia Plath, Agatha Christie, Ursula K. Le Guin, Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver, Shannon Chakraborty, Terry Goodkind, George RR Martin, and Bernard Cornwell. Itโs such an eclectic mix of writers, but Iโve analyzed their works a great deal to better understand the craft of writing. Influences depend more on what Iโm writing, although when it comes to length, one can certainly see where Martin, Chakraborty, and the classic authors have had the biggest influence on my writing. My writing is not for light-reading, but itโs deep and thought-provoking and incredibly character-driven. I doubt my novels will ever become mainstream, but my goal isnโt to become popular or famous. I want my books to be enjoyed by the people who find meaning in them. I know thatโs not a very โmarket-savvyโ way to approach writing, but Iโm more interested in remaining authentic than reaching a wider audience.
Q4. Whatโs your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
A4. While I live in the state of Florida in the United States, I grew up in the state of Wisconsin. My favorite place to visit is a small state park called Devilโs Lake. Itโs a great place to go camping and hiking in the bluffs with many amazing views of the lake. Itโs a very peaceful, beautiful place that was sacred to the native communities who originally populated the area before European settlers. It also has a lot of history, which is something I love about it. The lake and the surrounding bluffs were created by the glaciers during the Ice Age, which is just something really fascinating to think about.
Q5. What inspired you to write ‘The Book of Jezebel’?
A5. Well, I grew up hearing about how evil Jezebel was, and sheโs become the archetype of a โbad woman.โ As a woman, and one who doesnโt always follow the rules, that has always intrigued me. When one digs a little deeper and begins to analyze the tales of Jezebel and Ahab and their supposed โwickedness,โ one finds the
condemnation of them ratherโฆodd. When you compare Jezebel and Ahab to other kings and queens of the Bible, you find that their opponents based their assessment on them on some rather paltry incidents: the โmurderโ of Naboth the Jezreelite, the worship of different gods and constructing temples to them, the persecution of Yahwistsโฆ Itโs all rather flimsy, when you compare it to King David who literally had a man murdered so he could take his wife, and all the other great and heroic kings who did a lot of really awful things to people but were given a pass because they worshipped the same God as the people writing the Biblical narratives. When it comes down to it, the ONLY reason Jezebel and Ahab are considered wickedโthe โmost wickedโ king and queen to have ever lived, as the Biblical narrative statesโis because they worshipped Baโal and Astarte instead of Yahweh/Jehovah. That is initially what made me feel the need to rewrite their story from their perspectiveโspecifically Jezebelโs perspective, because I felt it was time to give her back her voice.
Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘The Book of Jezebel’?
A6. Not including research: from the first line I wrote to the last, it took about seven months to write the book; a year, if editing is included. I suspect it would have taken less time had I not been raising my family, struggling with the loss of two close friends to cancer, and working on a graduate degree. Once I committed, the book pretty much wrote itself, despite the many challenges of this past year.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your books?
A7. As of March 2024, the complete โThe Book of Jezebelโ will be available on Kindle and in paperback format on Amazon, and also by direct sale through my website http://www.rmwatters.com. In the coming year, we will also be releasing it in 3 volumes through IngramSpark, which may allow us to get it into brick-and-mortar bookstores and offer hardcover editions. We may expand the market, depending on interest.
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘The Book of Jezebel’?
A8. The book named itself. The title was based on the style of naming Biblical writings: โBook of [Author/Protagonist]โ. Since itโs supposed to be Jezebel telling her own story, โThe Book of Jezebelโ was the only way to go with the title, especially because I do sometimes mimic the storytelling styles found in the Biblical books. (My editor actually observed that itโs less literary than my usual style, and I had to remind her thatโs because itโs written more in that Biblical matter-of-fact style. However, I daresay it reads more excitingly and with far more detail and โfeelingsโ than one finds in even the most exciting of Biblical stories.)
As for the cover, the design was a combination of trying to appeal to the historical fiction fan-base and portraying the character of Jezebel authentically based on my version of her story. Predominant on the front cover is my representation of Jezebel, from a beautiful artwork of an ancient Persian princess by a digital artist on Shutterstock. After licensing it, I used photo-editing software to remove the background, so I could instead have the symbols of ancient Levantine gods as the backgroundโkind of like itโs carved on a sandstone wall or something of that nature. The papyrus scroll with real Phoenician script surrounding the title, and the awesome font (LHF Ascribe Regular) continue to reinforce the idea that itโs like a โlost book of the Bibleโ written by Jezebel herself. (Obviously, itโs fiction, and so it was necessary to put โa novelโ under the title just to be sure thereโs no confusion with someone thinking Iโm trying to pass this off as non-fiction.) The purple strips on the top and bottom represent the purple dye that was produced by Jezebelโs people, the Phoenicians as we call them today. (โRoyal purpleโ gets its name from the expensive and rare purple textiles that were once only produced in the cities of Tyre and Sidon.) The image of Jezebelโs true seal used on the back cover not only gives a visual representation of the seal I describe in the book, but it also again reinforces that idea that this is her true story, as told by her. Finally, the peacock feathers not only represent the royalty and luxury to which she was accustomed; peacocks play a pretty significant role in the story, particularly concerning the story of Naboth of Jezreel, whom the Biblical narrative accuses Jezebel of having murdered.
How they tie into his part of Jezebelโs story youโll find out by reading the novel.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
A9. Hmm, how to answer this question. I mix it up. Iโm always trying something new. Read and watch things outside my regular genre, get inspired creatively, clear my head by going out into nature, spending time with my familyโฆ Just doing things that pull me away from itโespecially because, when Iโm writing something historical like this, I can get so entrenched in the time and place that I could almost lose myself in it. In a way, I had to โbecome Jezebelโ in order to tell her story: to think like her, to feel like her, to move like herโฆetc. So, I just step away and keep in touch with who I am, and then I go back into it when I feel refreshed enough.
For my readers, I use dividers in the middle of long chapters so they can also stop and step away from it when they need to. The story is long because it basically covers Jezebelโs entire life. Itโs pretty intricate with a lot of subplots all woven together, but I think that helps to keep it interesting. โThe Book of Jezebelโ deals with many difficult and dark and even traumatic topics at times. I try to inject some humor and lightness, and thereโs definitely a fair bit of romance, so itโs not too heavy. I donโt want it to be depressingโand if you know how Jezebelโs story ends in the Biblical narrative, if you grow to love and understand her as I hope readers will, it could be pretty depressing.
I like tragedy, but I always want to find the silver-lining or put a positive spin on it, and I think I managed that. My editor was blown away by the final chapter and how I dealt with the ending. That was great to hear, because I spent A LOT of time on that ending, and endings are so hard to do in general. Itโs hard to get an ending โrightโ. I impressed my editor. Only time will tell if my readers are also impressed by the ending. I hope they will be, but itโs a long road to get there, and theyโll need to go through a lot of emotional turmoil as well as moments of joy and even ecstasy before they reach the conclusion.
Donโt skip to the endโeven if you know how it ends, donโt skip anything, because the ending will only make sense and be truly meaningful if youโve read the whole story and understand the relationship between Jezebel and Ahab as I portray them.
Q10. What is the most valuable piece of advice youโve been given about writing?
A10. Above all, let the characters be in charge of their own story. Get to know your characters as real people, even if theyโre entirely a figment of your imagination, because itโs the only way youโll ever write convincing, realistic characters. Anne Lamott said it best in her book, Bird by Bird: โIf you stop trying to control your mind so much, you’ll have intuitive hunches about what this or that character is all about.โ Each character has their own story, even the minor ones, and sometimes our characters have different ideas about what they want to do or experience, and they might even surprise or horrify or disgust us from time to timeโbut at the end of the day, unless there is a good reason to do otherwise, we must let them be who they are and do what theyโre going to do whether we like it or not. One must always remember that a writer is NOT their charactersโnot usually, anyway, and certainly not the majority of them. In order to โpeopleโ the literary world with authentic and believable characters, we canโt just write ourselves and make the characters like us. As a rule, there should be as much variety and individuality in our characters as there are in the real worldโunless weโre writing characters as allegory.
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