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Ahab's Bride, Ahab's Legacy Series #1 Interview by: Mary Connealy The premise for Ahab’s Legacy is so interesting. I think it’s one of the most original ideas for a book I’ve heard. You said you did a Master’s Thesis on Moby Dick, but what piqued your interest in his wife? Ahab's Bride was my master's thesis at Rollins College, a prestigious liberal arts college here in Florida. While earning my master's degree, I took a course in Herman Melville and read Moby Dick. What a surprise to find out that Captain Ahab had a wife and son! Even in the midst of his mad quest to kill the great White Whale, Ahab longed to be back home in Nantucket with his loved ones. But his madness compelled him to continue his quest. When I read about his family, I decided to create a story about the woman Ahab loved and their son. It became my three-book series, Ahab's Legacy, which was my own original idea and labor of love. My master’s thesis, Ahab’s Bride, was written in 1998/99 and published in February 2004; Hannah Rose was published in January 2005, and Son of Perdition will be released in Spring 2006. I would like to add the date that I wrote Ahab's Bride because late in 1999 another novel on the same subject came out entitled Ahab’s Wife. It is a secular novel, and some people may be familiar with it. I want to make it clear I had completed my first novel before ever hearing about that book. This is archived in the Rollins College library. Louise, You’re an Adjunct English Professor at Valencia Community College. You earned your Master’s in Liberal Studies from Rollin’s College with your thesis which is the book Ahab's Bride – Was Ahab's Bride Christian Fiction from the beginning? Yes, I planned Ahab's Bride as a Christian novel. In Moby Dick, Captain Ahab’s great battle is against God, whom he sees embodied in the White Whale. He makes the choice to defy God, whom he sees as cruel and unjust. Hannah becomes his antithesis. She has her doubts about God to begin with, but then she realizes that He is a God of love, goodness, and redemption. Try though she may, however, she cannot win Ahab either to God or away from his quest to kill the whale. How did your find your way to Christian Fiction? Did you always aim for that or was it a process that led you there? I can’t imagine writing anything but Christian fiction. I’ve been a Christian since I was very small child, and I’ve loved to imagine stories ever since seeing Mary Martin portray Peter Pan on television. While my children were growing up, I started writing church plays and a few short stories. Then in 1985, I wrote my first novel. Was Ahab's Bride the first book you ever wrote? I published a two-book series with Crossway Books in the 1990s: Once There Was a Way Back Home, 1994, and The Homecoming, 1998. These were the first and second books I ever wrote. Did you have the whole series written before it sold or did you sell the series on a proposal? Ahab's Bride was finished and Hannah Rose was near completion when Ahab's Bride sold. Then the other two books were sold by proposal. Tell us about that moment, when you heard Ahab's Bride was getting published. How did you react? Who did you tell first? How long did it take to get you down off the ceiling? Instead, let me tell you about my third book: I received an email from my agent that Jeff Dunn at RiverOak liked the proposal for Ahab's Bride and wanted to see the complete manuscript. I cried and thanked the Lord for His affirmation. Then I called my dear husband at work. I don’t think I’ve come down off the ceiling yet. I’m so very grateful for this huge, huge blessing. What’s your cruelest rejection or comment? I don’t really remember, but I will tell you about my most painful experience. When I finished writing Ahab's Bride in May 1999 and began to look for an agent, I learned from a New York agent that another novel would be coming out that October entitled Ahab’s Wife. I was so completely shocked that I couldn’t help but ask God “Why?” I knew He had inspired me to write Ahab's Bride. I knew it contained His message of redemption and hope. So why would He permit a humanist writer to succeed with a best-selling novel based on the same premise as my story, yet completely lacking any redemptive message, in fact, just the opposite. Then, although I did find a Christian agent who accepted me as a client, he was as frustrated as I was when Christian publishers would say they liked my story but would not touch it for fear of competition with this other woman’s book. Yet God does everything on His schedule, not ours. He brought my book to Jeff Dunn in His perfect time, and Jeff liked it. He didn’t worry about the other book at all. One of my life verses is “He shall choose our inheritance for us” Psalm 47:4. In His wisdom, He has my writing future all planned. If I, as a Christian, can’t base my life on that, then I’m just wasting time, no matter what I’m doing. What’s the nicest thing someone’s said about your work? When I joined ACRW/ACFW, Andrea Boeshaar emailed me and told me she had become a writer because of reading my first novel, Once There Was a Way Back Home. She is such a gifted author and insightful agent, so her comment meant the world to me. When I get discouraged, I remember it and it still warms my heart. The second book of Ahab’s Legacy, Hannah Rose is newly released from RiverOak. Son of Perdition is coming out in Spring 2006. Where are you in the writing process? Is Son of Perdition finished? What’s next for you after Son of Perdition? Hannah Rose has just been released. Son of Perdition is finished, and I’m waiting for copy edits. After that, I have nothing under contract. So I’ve written an uncontracted novella, I’m developing a new series to propose to RiverOak, and I’m promoting Hannah Rose with some upcoming book signings. Tell us a little about yourself and your faith. I became a Christian as a very small child. Never in my life have I ever doubted that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that I have eternal life in Him. Now in my daily life, I can stumble all over the place – and often do. But my patient heavenly Father keeps His eyes on me, comforts me when I’m hurt, and forgives me when I fail. What would YOU like to say in this interview? If I have one message of encouragement for others, it is that we should never give up on our dreams and trust the Lord to bring things to pass according to His wisdom. I’m very happy to confess that I’m sixty years old and my dream of becoming a writer is finally coming true. Not everyone has to wait that long, but this is the portion my all-wise Father has given me. If I had given up when my writing career stalled after my first two books, I never would have returned to graduate school – at fifty-two! – solely for the purpose of expanding my world view and improving as a writer. If I had not gone back to graduate school, I never would have written Ahab's Bride. If I had given up after learning about that other novel, I never would have been published. God was leading my all the time. So now, whatever the future holds for me as a writer or as a Christian, I want so much to seek His guidance and follow Him. “He who began a good work in [me] will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” Philippians 1:6. Our responsibility is to seek God’s inspiration, do the work, and let Him prosper our efforts. “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He will bring it to pass” Psalm 37:5. 
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