Writing Update

My third draft of Not by Sword is complete and submitted to my editor! She sent me an encouraging message after reading the first few chapters, so I’m excited to receive the rest of her feedback and find some ways to make my first novel even better before I publish it! Still planning to do that later this year. I’ve only got two classes left in my MA, so I will have much more time to devote to writing and publishing after that’s done!

House of David

As you likely know by now, Not by Sword is a space opera adaptation of the story of King David from the Bible. As such, I have avoided watching Amazon’s new show House of David because I don’t want to deal with any anxiety of influence. I decided to put it off as a little reward for myself for finishing the third draft, and now that that’s submitted, I’ve finally started watching the show. It’s been really fun so far! The sets and costumes are great (though I suspect there’s some anachronistic architecture going on), and the actors have done a great job bringing the characters to life (a couple moments of stilted dialogue notwithstanding). I’m two episodes in at this point, and I’m excited to see the rest of the season!

One of the features that I find most interesting in the show is the way it leans into the spiritual aspect of the characters and events. The trend I’ve noticed in discussion of the David story has been to emphasize the historical-critical-scientific perspective. Goliath may have been a giant due to a tumor on his pituitary gland or a genetic disorder. Saul may have had bipolar disorder. House of David leans the other way. Goliath is a giant because he’s descended from the Nephilim (Jonathan even quotes Genesis 6:4 to explain the huge handprint he finds on a city wall, interpreting the passage as a reference to fallen angels mating with human women rather than the more commonly accepted view). Saul is clearly cursed by Samuel, not suffering from a mundane mental illness. King Agag is clearly doing some kind of witchcraft on Michal until Joab (I think it was Joab) disrupts him. This emphasis on the spiritual makes a nice change of pace from the modernist influence that has dominated biblical scholarship and adaptations for so long.

It’s also been fun to see how the writers have made similar and different interpretive choices to form their narrative. I put the anointing right at the beginning of my story; House of David is still leading up to it as of the second episode. We’ve chosen opposite personalities for Saul’s two daughters. One striking similarity is that we both made David’s musical instrument a link to his deceased mother, and we both decided to make his brothers into half-brothers, stressing the conflict he faces at home.

I’m excited to keep watching House of David, and if you find yourself at the end of the series wishing it had more spaceships, plasma pistols, and four-armed aliens, check out my book Not by Sword!