Author: C.A. Gray
Narrator: James R. Cheatham
Length: 10 hours 37 minutes
Publisher: C.A. Gray⎮2021
Genre: Christian Fiction
Release date: Nov. 24, 2021
One of the most common arguments against Christianity is that the God of the Old Testament seemed so drastically different than the God of the New Testament. In the Old, many claim He seemed cruel and capricious, while in the New, He suddenly became a God of love and tolerance. Yet Jesus said, “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father” (John 14:9), and the writer of Hebrews tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). If God hasn’t changed, how do we explain the apparent difference? The answer lies in a long-forgotten word: covenant.
Covenants play little to no role in our world today, but in ancient times, they were all-important. Treaties between individuals, tribes, and kingdoms took the form of blood covenants. These were much stronger than our modern concept of a contract, which can be broken by finding clever legal loopholes or sometimes simply by a decision not to honor one’s word. By contrast, covenants were bonds broken only by death, and at times extending to the progeny of the two making the original agreement. Ancient covenants entailed unending loyalty and faithfulness, and often included the union of all assets, liabilities, and responsibilities between the parties. Most cultures had such a concept. They got the idea from God, who keeps His covenants to a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 7:9). But in order to make such treaties with mankind, God had to find a willing human participant.
This collection of biblical retellings explores the covenants between God and Adam, Noah, and Abraham, and how these covenants (or the lack of them) affected His dealings with mankind at various times. Each chapter begins with a fictionalized retelling, followed by an afterword discussion of commentaries and why I made the choices I did in the stories. Finally, they include the original scriptures. God’s ultimate goal was always love and grace for all mankind, and yet He had to balance this with justice, as well as with honoring His own original word. Blood Covenant Origins is the story of how He began the process that ultimately led to the cross.
Covenants play little to no role in our world today, but in ancient times, they were all-important. Treaties between individuals, tribes, and kingdoms took the form of blood covenants. These were much stronger than our modern concept of a contract, which can be broken by finding clever legal loopholes or sometimes simply by a decision not to honor one’s word. By contrast, covenants were bonds broken only by death, and at times extending to the progeny of the two making the original agreement. Ancient covenants entailed unending loyalty and faithfulness, and often included the union of all assets, liabilities, and responsibilities between the parties. Most cultures had such a concept. They got the idea from God, who keeps His covenants to a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 7:9). But in order to make such treaties with mankind, God had to find a willing human participant.
This collection of biblical retellings explores the covenants between God and Adam, Noah, and Abraham, and how these covenants (or the lack of them) affected His dealings with mankind at various times. Each chapter begins with a fictionalized retelling, followed by an afterword discussion of commentaries and why I made the choices I did in the stories. Finally, they include the original scriptures. God’s ultimate goal was always love and grace for all mankind, and yet He had to balance this with justice, as well as with honoring His own original word. Blood Covenant Origins is the story of how He began the process that ultimately led to the cross.
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About the Author: C.A. Gray
C.A. Gray is the author of three YA Amazon bestselling trilogies: PIERCING THE VEIL (magic and quantum physics meet Arthurian legends), THE LIBERTY BOX (dystopian metaphysics and mind control technology), and UNCANNY VALLEY (dystopian coming-of-age with neuroscience and super intelligent A.I). She starts with some scientific concept that she’s interested in learning more about herself, and then creates lots of epic chaos and high-stakes action to go along with it. Her stories are free of gratuitous violence, language, and sexual content, and she abhors depressing endings… but they’re not all kittens and rainbows either. She also listens to and reviews audiobooks on her website (here), Goodreads, Instagram, and on her podcast, Clean Audiobook Reviews, where she also occasionally interviews other authors.
By day, C.A. Gray practices naturopathic medicine, podcasts, and writes medical non-fiction under her maiden name (Dr. Lauren Deville). She lives in Tucson, AZ with her husband Frank, and together they maintain an occasionally contentious film review blog (under her real name: Lauren Baden. Three names. Yes.) She’s kind of the queen of multitasking—so in her spare time, she creates whatever meals or crafts she found most recently on Pinterest, drinks lots of coffee (Aeropress btw) and occasional wine (reds—and she saves the corks for craft projects), works out (while listening to audiobooks), makes jewelry (and sells it on Etsy, here), and studies the Bible—about half of the podcasts on Christian Natural Health are scripture meditations.
Website
C.A. Gray is the author of three YA Amazon bestselling trilogies: PIERCING THE VEIL (magic and quantum physics meet Arthurian legends), THE LIBERTY BOX (dystopian metaphysics and mind control technology), and UNCANNY VALLEY (dystopian coming-of-age with neuroscience and super intelligent A.I). She starts with some scientific concept that she’s interested in learning more about herself, and then creates lots of epic chaos and high-stakes action to go along with it. Her stories are free of gratuitous violence, language, and sexual content, and she abhors depressing endings… but they’re not all kittens and rainbows either. She also listens to and reviews audiobooks on her website (here), Goodreads, Instagram, and on her podcast, Clean Audiobook Reviews, where she also occasionally interviews other authors.
By day, C.A. Gray practices naturopathic medicine, podcasts, and writes medical non-fiction under her maiden name (Dr. Lauren Deville). She lives in Tucson, AZ with her husband Frank, and together they maintain an occasionally contentious film review blog (under her real name: Lauren Baden. Three names. Yes.) She’s kind of the queen of multitasking—so in her spare time, she creates whatever meals or crafts she found most recently on Pinterest, drinks lots of coffee (Aeropress btw) and occasional wine (reds—and she saves the corks for craft projects), works out (while listening to audiobooks), makes jewelry (and sells it on Etsy, here), and studies the Bible—about half of the podcasts on Christian Natural Health are scripture meditations.
Website
Where are you from? Where do you live now?
Originally I was born in Baton Rouge, LA, but I’ve been in Tucson, AZ for more or less my whole life.
How long have you been writing? How did you start writing?
I've been writing since I was in elementary school... although back then all my main characters were cats (go figure). I've got about 12 shelves' worth of journals throughout my life, and have always felt that words are incredibly powerful. I minored in Creative Writing in college. I guess I always knew I'd end up writing eventually.
What is your writing process?
I brainstorm a world and a general gist of the story, and then I outline the story in broad strokes. Next I outline the nitty gritty, down to what happens in each chapter. Then I write from the outline, in roughly 20 page chunks, editing as I go. I send each set of 20 to my primary editor (my mom, whose maiden name I borrowed as my pen name) and make whatever edits she recommends as I go. Then when I finish the story, I reread the whole thing and edit it to the best of my ability before shipping it off to her and to my other editors!
What do you find to be the most difficult part of the writing process?
Most difficult are those days when I have to make myself write, but I’m really distracted by something else. It’s super hard to focus, and I don’t feel like I’m writing anything worth saying, but I do it anyway. My favorite part is also the easiest—that feeling of ‘flow,’ when I’m really identifying with my characters and I feel immersed in my world. Problem is, when my writing time is up on those days and I have to switch to something else, it’s really hard to do!
Where are your books set? Why?
Piercing the Veil is set in Norwich, England, because that’s where I studied abroad when I was a junior in college. That experience changed my life, and in many ways I left my heart there. Of course much of it is also set in Carlion, the fantasy world of the former Camelot, too. That was more incidental: they’re British and Arthur is a story everyone is familiar with, so it was easy to borrow! The Liberty Box trilogy is set in what used to be the United States of America, but in a future where the U.S. has fallen. I chose that because I was fascinated by dystopian stories, but I wanted it to feel a little closer to home than if I’d set it in a fictionalized universe… and I also wanted to briefly touch on the economics of how and why the U.S. collapsed in the first place. I like to take the opportunity to educate the reader here and there when possible, if it doesn’t take away from the story… physics in Piercing the Veil, and a little economics in The Liberty Box.
Are your characters based on real people?
Not intentionally. :) I think all of my main characters (Peter and Lily, Jackson and Kate) have aspects of me in them, because I imagine how I would react in a given situation or how I might say something, and I put that in their heads or their mouths. But I suspect I’m pulling all of my characters from experience, whether it be myself, others, or fictional archetypes. You write what you know.
Where do the ideas for your books come from?
The germ of the idea comes from other stories I love, always. The rest comes from very intentional brainstorming sessions, usually over a period of days or weeks… they definitely don’t fall into my head complete.
Who is your favorite author?
I’d have to go with the proverbial JK Rowling. LOOOVE the Harry Potter series. But C.S. Lewis would probably be a close second… The Chronicles of Narnia is fantastic, and I also love his non-fiction. When you aren’t writing, what do you like to do for fun? I love spending time with friends and family, working out (yoga and running), watching movies (my husband and I have an occasionally contentious movie blog: westsidehecklers.wordpress.com), reading fiction or non-fiction, having coffee or a glass of wine after a long day... and I don't get to do this nearly as often as I'd like, but I love to travel!
Do you do school visits?
I haven't yet, but I’d definitely be open to that! Shoot me an email if you'd like to discuss... What’s next? At the moment, I’m working on “The Potentate”, the third book in The Liberty Box trilogy. But my sister-in-law had a really interesting idea for another story with a similar theme—what life do you want to live, the real one, or a far more glamorous fantasy that only feels real in your mind? Seems appropriate for our society with budding Virtual Reality technology. I’ll flesh that one out and see where it goes next!
Lightning Round!!!
Favorite Dessert: Flourless chocolate cake or chocolate ganache cake from Trader Joe’s. Basically anything dark chocolate, though.
Favorite Color: Depends on when you ask me… at the moment, probably pastel lavender, but hot pink is a consistent favorite.
Cats or Dogs?
CATS (mostly because I am allergic to dogs, though). v If you couldn’t be an author, you’d be… An actress, assuming I could be that instead! Should I say doctor? I’m guessing in this question I can’t be that either.
Favorite Food: Fried shrimp. Unless I haven’t had veggies in awhile, because then I literally crave them.
Coffee or Tea? COFFEE! (Is this even a question???)
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