Yesterday, amid my wishing for an HBO series on Hatshepsut, Amalia wrote that she wanted people to think when they read her book.
Okay, so that's much more noble than an HBO miniseries. :)
In Stephen King's book, On Writing, he mentions that one should never start off writing a book with a theme in mind, but instead that the theme should come later. I gave myself a gold star when I read that because I feel like HATSHEPSUT: FEMALE PHARAOH definitely has a coherent theme, but it wasn't something that I planned to write. I just wanted to tell her story, but discovered during the revision that the whole novel revolved around one key question.
How much do we control our own destinies?
For those of you who critiqued my query, you probably picked up on the fact that Hatshepsut has a lot of obstacles in her path to becoming Pharaoh. Some are of her own making and others are blamed on the gods (although that's open for interpretation as well). I rewrote the ending, leaving the final message open for the reader to decide. I like books that make me think, ones where I'm left pondering long after I finish the story (Life of Pi!).
So that's the overarching question in my book, what I hope readers will think about. Does your book have a theme, some big question hidden within its pages?
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