Jo Kadlecek

Jonna Lightfoot MacLaughlin isn't your typical character in a Christian novel. She smokes, drinks beer, and covers the religion beat for a local newspaper. She's covered stories on everything from a Mosque burning, to a ministry that's hiding something. But all Jonna really wants is good coffee, good chocolate, and a good man.

Jonna is the brainchild of Jo Kadlecek, a journalist and professor of creative writing at Gordon College in Massachusetts. Kadlecek's A Quarter After Tuesday (NavPress) is the second book in her Lightfoot Trilogy. The latest book takes place in New Orleans. Book one, A Mile From Sunday, was set in Denver, and the third installment (to be released next year) finds Lightfoot continuing her journalism career in the Big Apple. In each city, Jonna searches for a good news story. Today's Christian spoke to Kadlecek about her flawed heroine and what she has learned from the character.

How would you describe Jonna?

She's this quirky, very quirky, cigarette smoking—but they're organic—chocolate-loving, caffeine-addicted reporter who's in search of good news and a good man and she can't find either.

She thinks religion ought to be good for you—like oatmeal and exercise. But she keeps finding bad news in the world of religion

She's basically a non-threatening way to talk about religion, because you see her flaws very clearly and yet she cares deeply. So I'm hoping that she helps readers navigate their way through the pluralism of our culture.

How would Jonna describe you?

Oh, wow, that's a fun question. I think she would describe me as a frustrated journalist who also cares about this dialogue. But I think she's a lot braver than I am.

How is Jonna different than other kinds of heroines we might find in Christian fiction?

I feel that if I can't maintain a sense of integrity about what I'm doing and who I am, then who's going to care? Why should they listen to me? So I think the thing that obviously has come out in Jonna is that she's a real character. She's a lot like people we know who might sit across from us in classes on college campuses or who might be work colleagues. She's real. She's come from a great family but a really wacky family. She wants to quit smoking and exercise more—but it's hard. It's hard for all of us. So it's her realness, her real humanity that probably makes her unlike many of the heroines in other Christian novels.

You described Jonna as a character who can help us navigate through the religious pluralism in our society. As an author, how do you help your readers navigate these issues?

A big part of my responsibility has been to be accurate, obviously, in portraying the details of various religions, but also not to reduce them to stereotypes or one-dimensional characters. A white guy who joins a Buddhist monastery in Denver has very complex reasons for doing that. You can't peg him into a stereotype. He's in search of something. And so I'm really hoping that people get out of the stereotypes and generalizations, and that means I've got to do my homework.

Book three is set in New York City and deals with Wicca and witchcraft. Many Christians want to completely dismiss anything that has to do with witches. As I did research and spoke to people involved in this religion, I realized that it's just another form of New Age spirituality. So it's my job to do my homework, and to make sure that I'm educating my readers in the right ways and helping them think differently and see the people involved in other religions as real people who need Jesus and not just evil pagans.

You said you hope readers come away from this trilogy respecting the beliefs of those who are different without compromising their own beliefs. How do you do that?

I probably could stand to learn a lot more from Lightfoot about that. I think one way is living in cities. You can't—and especially in a city like New York—bump up against other people and say, "Ah, that's one of those fill-in-the-blanks"—whether it's a Muslim or an atheist or whatever. You can't just treat them as if they're untouchables, because you're sharing a subway with them.

So I think living in big cities has been helpful for me. It has helped me learn what it means to be more respectful, to just try to be a good neighbor. That's really the heart of that question, I think. I feel like I'm forever asking, "How do I be a good neighbor?"

Also, the character of Jonna Lightfoot has helped me be more aware of the depths of my own depravity, how far I have to go, and how much I need a Savior. It's harder to want to get down on somebody else for their religion when you know what a wretch you are. And maybe that's why Lightfoot is so good at her job—because she's so aware of how flawed she is.

Jonna spends her time searching for things that are good. What good things have you searched for?

I didn't grow up a Christian. I came to faith through the youth ministry of Young Life. Scripture has changed who I am. God used writers to perpetuate the 2,000-year-old faith. I love that! It confirms who we are as writers. Because of Scripture, I've looked for excellence in my profession. I've tried to be a good writer. I've tried to be a good professor. And I've tried to be a good journalist. God's Word has set the standard for me.

You're giving the proceeds from A Quarter After Tuesday to Christian charities.

Yes, I want my writing, in part, to be about building community. So all of the proceeds from the book are going towards two ministries: Desire Street Ministries in New Orleans and Habitat for Humanity.

Like Jonna Lightfoot, you've had several location changes, yourself. How have those affected your story?

I think we're a product of our place. Augustine said the world is a book and he who doesn't travel only reads the first page. I find I'm a restless soul—"prone to wander, Lord, I feel it." And I, without question, have been a product of the places where I've lived—places like Denver, Jackson, Mississippi, and New York City.

Flannery O'Connor is my hero and a line of hers that has always stayed with me is that the writer never has to apologize for staring, because there's nothing that doesn't require her attention. And so I think when you're paying attention and you're aware of your surroundings, it affects you more. It finds its way into your own story.

For more on Jo Kadlecek, visit www.lamppostmedia.net. Jennifer Schuchmann is an Atlanta-based writer and the author of Your Unforgettable Life: Only You Can Choose the Legacy You Leave (Beacon Hill Press), visit her at www.jenniferschuchmann.com.

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