I talk about research and why I switched from the 3rd to the 1st person: “It’s nice to leave a character a lot of room for growth at the beginning of a novel, but not if she ends up turning off readers.”
Danger and Opportunity in the Esther Narrative full article in Lilith
I retold the story of Esther so that beauty and obedience weren’t her most important characteristics. I was inspired by looking at paintings of Anne Boleyn and reading descriptions of Cleopatra (as well as looking at pictures of the coins that feature her). While these women are widely believed to have been gorgeous, they were not actually pictures of traditional physical perfection. Their personalities, including both wit and charm, are what I believe accounted for much of their attractiveness. We have continued to mythologize their beauty as an explanation for their success (however short-lived it was for Anne Boleyn), instead of focusing on their intellects. – See more at: http://lilith.org/blog/2016/03/rebecca-kanner-retells-the-biblical-story-of-esther-in-her-new-novel/#sthash.CQTCkbUd.dpuf
Rebecca Kanner 