After working on my novel about King David's wives for a year and setting it aside when the publisher rejected it, I started working on another novel about Adam and Eve. Could I have picked characters that were any more daunting? I wrote in first person, alternating between Adam, Eve and Satan's point of views.
Four hundred pages later and lots of patience and guidance from an awesome critique group, I came to realize that my Adam character was flat and boring. While Eve's voice was pretty good, I found myself (and the readers in my group) becoming more interested in a side character: Abra, a daughter of Cain. I also kind of enjoyed writing from Satan's point of view.
For now, the novel sits on a shelf, awaiting major rewrites. I did rip a scene from the novel and made it into a short story that got published this fall in Write Place At the Write Time.
So, this novel may be doomed to dissection. I can take my favorite parts and make them into short stories while I return to Abra and give her the space for a novel all her own.
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