Sybel Herring asked Jean Hoefling:

How did you come up with Cain's wife's name? What inspired you to write this story?

Jean Hoefling Sybel, I apologize for not answering your great question until now! I'm afraid I simply did not see it for whatever reason. I so appreciate your interest! I named Cain's wife Akliah, because it proceeds naturally from stories from an ancient text called The Forgotten Books of Eden, which is a fascinating account of the life of Adam and Eve's family outside Eden. In the 74th and 75th chapters of that book, Cain and a twin sister, Luluwa, are born to Adam and Eve; later, Abel and a twin sister named Akliah are also born. Cain wanted to marry Luluwa, just like in my story. That Akliah loved Cain is my fabrication, with all the tension and heartache that it brought her. As to what inspired Gold in Havilah, all my life I've been fascinated with the early chapters of Genesis. I'd always wanted to read a good book about what it might have been like to be Adam and Eve after the Fall, and what family and community life might have been like in those early generations of the earth. The Forgotten Books of Eden does a pretty good job, but I wanted more detail. So I wrote Gold in Havilah, and on November 2, 2018, I published a sort of sequel, Ashes Like Bread. This is the story of another generation of Adamites, based on the story of Lamech and his two wives found in Genesis 4. I hope you'll read both books and enjoy them, and look forward to several more books in the series!

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