Hi Anna, welcome to the blog please tell us a little bit about yourself.


I am a debut historical fiction author from Australia. My novel Asenath is set in Ancient Egypt and is about the little-known wife of Joseph of the coat-of-many-colours. Many people tell me, "I didn't know Joseph was married!" Given that she is only mentioned in passing, I suppose this reaction is expected. After all, even I didn't know about Asenath until later on in my life. I am an ancient history buff. I love Egypt, Israel, Greece, and Rome, and hope to know more about the Ancient Near East. I've read about it mostly in terms of its relation to Egypt and Israel, but from the little I've gleaned, it sounds extremely fascinating. I travelled to the Middle East last year - Lower Egypt (Cairo and the Sinai), Israel, and Jordan. When not writing, I love to read (being a writer, I guess this is by default); listen to music; watch movies; and do some photography. Also, I am a dog lover.

What inspired you to write ASENATH?

I have been an enthuasiast of the Joseph story for the longest time. Sometime ago, I grew curious about the woman he married. Like I said, Genesis mentions her only in passing; all we know about Asenath is that she was the daughter of a priest and that she was given in marriage to Joseph as his reward for interpreting Pharaoh's dreams.When I looked her up, I found hardly anything on her. I then thought it would be interesting to imagine what she might have been like.

Did you have to do any major research or traveling to write your book?

Certainly, what with this being a historical novel and all. I went through my old notes and syllabi from university (I did Ancient History for my degree), then perused the library of my alma mater. There were some grey areas, however, which is typical of ancient history. For instance, we don't really know, for how Ancient Egyptian wedding ceremonies were like. There are some conjectures about this but nothing seems to be certain. So here, I employed artistic licence. My Middle Eastern trip helped as well - when I was doing the edits, I was able to truly describe the sights, sounds and smells of Egypt.

What song would you choose to fit the mood of your book and why?

Hmmm... probably Loreena McKennitt's 'Marco Polo.' It has a very nice Egyptian feel to it.

What are you reading right now?

I have just begun Maria Dahvana Headley's 'Queen of Kings.' I was intrigued by the plot: Cleopatra turning into a vampire. So far, it seems pretty interesting. I just finished Mary Renault's 'The King Must Die' which a friend recommended to me. It was a bit dragging but beautifully written. I love Renault's style; it is very descriptive and poetic.

Whats on the horizon for ANNA PATRICIO?

I am currently researching for my second novel which is still set in Ancient Egypt but hundreds of years after the events of ASENATH. To be more specific, it is set during the time of Moses. It probably seems intentional that after writing about Joseph, I would write about Moses. But actually, the idea came to me at a really random moment (the same thing happened with ASENATH, by the way). Some people have also been recommending I write a sequel to ASENATH. And I really did have a lot of fun with that story, so I see no reason why I shouldn't. This could be after my Moses novel though. Also, I will be returning to Egypt in the next year or so. My recent Middle Eastern trip had Israel as its main event, so my time in Egypt was very brief. I am definitely not complaining though, as Israel was the other must-see place for me. Now that I've had an in-depth tour for it, it's time to see more of Egypt.