Gaze Upon Jesus: A Q&A with Stephanie Landsem

Last night I posted about Gaze Upon Jesus. I was most excited to read an advanced copy of this book because I could not wait to read Stephanie Landsem's latest writing.

After reading Walk in Her Sandals, I went on to read her Living Water series. I have noticed that having read her writing has had a long-lasting impact on my interactions with scripture. The additional depth that provides an understanding of what the overall historical context was like and a plausible backstory sticks with me, and I recall possibilities from her imagination when the excerpts that inspired her writing come up as readings at Mass or through my personal Bible study.

I also believe in the power of mentors when learning something new. Approaching Scripture through a lectio divina lens is something relatively new for me. I have a lot to learn, and reading Stephanie Landsem's writing has served as an extensive glimpse into how someone can deeply ponder Scripture and imagine the possibilities and through the process be transformed by better understanding the narrative of God's love in our lives.

Because I admire her work so much, I am happy to share a Q&A with Stephanie Landsem.

Q: Considering point of view and perspective is something I love as a reader. Each chapter in this book, part of the building anticipation was to see how you would enter into the story, the lens through which you would capture the scenes. I appreciate the blend of people present in the Bible developed by your imagination alongside people fully from your imagination but authentic and plausible for the time period. What would you like to share about your process as an author or your author's craft related to perspective?

A: For both Gaze Upon Jesus and Walk In Her Sandals—as well as in the Living Water series—I really try to represent women from as many walks of life as I can. In Walk In Her Sandals, my characters are from all age groups, from Veronica, young and newly married, to the widowed Zilpah. In Gaze Upon Jesus, I wanted to challenge myself and the reader with an even more diverse perspective. With Anna the Prophetess, we see the wisdom brought by age and loss, and from Lila, we get the perspective of an orphan, handicapped and alone. Then we have Adrina, who looks upon the child Jesus with the eyes of a foreigner. My hope is to show that Jesus, even as a child, came for all of us, no matter our age, status, or religion.

Q: What was it like to write from Mary's perspective as opposed to other real people from the Bible or those that were completely from your imagination?

A: To write a story from Mary’s perspective was daunting, to say the least. Mary was, of course, a real person, and imposing my own ideas of her personality seemed presumptuous. Not to mention portraying the most important event to happen to a woman in human history, the Annunciation! So I thought and prayed a great deal, then I asked myself what it would be like to be a young woman in first century Nazareth and how Mary might feel about her family and her betrothal to Joseph. Then I tried to imagine what the Angel’s message might mean to her, both on a spiritual and practical level. I hope I’ve captured both the young woman of the time period and some glimpse of the new Eve that God chose to be the mother of his Son.

Q: What did you most enjoy about collaborating with others for Walk in Her Sandals and Gaze Upon Jesus? 

A: I was amazed at how all of us writers—with only a few conference calls—so fully complemented each other’s ideas. The way this book came together can only be attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit. And, of course, it was an honor to work with talented and holy women like Kelly Wahlquist, Sarah Christmeyer and Teresa Tomeo—women who have been my heroes for years!

Q: How did you discover your love of this specific type of writing?

A: When I began to write, I tried a few different genres and just wasn’t inspired. Then one Sunday I heard the Gospel reading of the woman at the well and I started wondering about her. Before I got home from Mass, I had a story in my head that turned out to be my first novel, The Well, and the beginning of the Living Water Series. Since then, I’ve discovered that I love imaging the ‘rest of the story’ about real people who are mentioned in the Gospel accounts, especially women who encounter Jesus and are transformed by that encounter.

Q: How do you nurture yourself as a writer over time?

A: I find that in order to stay motivated I have to nurture myself both spiritually and physically. I have a real love for the beautiful Adoration chapel at my parish. I find myself there when I’m stuck on a scene or mentally drained and I always leave refreshed. I’ve also taken up biking and find that a good ride clears the cobwebs and I often get a great idea while I’m cruising along the road or zipping along a trail.

Q: How has being a writer in this specific genre impacted you as a mom?

A: I often wonder what my kids would say to that question! This path—my novels as well as the short stories and being involved in WINE—has been a period of immense spiritual growth for me. Instead of what you would think—that writing would take away from my role as a wife and mother—it has actually increased my commitment to my vocation and, I hope, made me a better mom. I prioritize better than before. I’ve found that everything works better when I prioritize prayer and the sacraments, then my responsibilities as a wife and mother. The writing comes more easily and naturally after that.

Thank you, Amanda for having me on your blog! I hope you and your readers enjoy the stories in Gaze Upon Jesus as much as I loved writing them.

Thank you, Stephanie for sharing these glimpses into your life!

Gaze Upon Jesus

I loved Walk in Her Sandals during Lent 2017, so I was excited to read an advanced review copy of the new release Gaze Upon Jesus: Experiencing Christ's Childhood through the Eyes of Women. The book had a similar format to Walk in Her Sandals, a unique blending of different contributors with a consistent feel chapter to chapter.

A new element of this book in contrast to Walk in Her Sandals was visio divina linked to sacred art, linking perfectly with the title and cover image. While I could not fully appreciate this element of the book because I was reading it on a Kindle and didn't have access to the color images, I recognized the potential of this aspect of the book because a lectio divina book that I just started incorporates that element as well. It has been beneficial, so I know that had I been reading from an actual paper copy of the book (or a Kindle Fire or other e-reader that has color), the visio divina sections of the chapters would have been of great benefit.

I appreciated that the book centered on the joyful mysteries of the Rosary with the addition of the flight of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus to Egypt. I highly recommend Gaze Upon Jesus for Advent this year. It is set up to be a six-week Scripture study, providing plenty to read, view and reflect on, a chance to slow down and ponder the beauty of the liturgical season during a time of year that can often be associated with busy, busy, busy.

The Tomb

Like books one and two in the Living Water series by Stephanie Landsem, The Tomb captured and held my attention. Once I got to a certain point, it was hard to put it down. Using her imagination she pondered what could have caused Martha's worrying and then developed a concept that would give her plenty to worry about with no easy solutions, as well as painting a picture for her perception of her sister's life in comparison to her own. I especially liked that she imagined the dynamics of the family life of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.

At the start of the book, she reminded that she is not trying to write a factual, historical book as there are many details that were not documented. Instead, she took what we do know from the Bible coupled with her research into the time period to create something that was plausible, bringing the Scripture stories to life in a new way. Similar to her other books, there was the focal Scripture inspiration alluded to in the book description with other links to Scripture woven throughout showing glimpses into the bigger picture of how it might have all fit together, how different people from the Bible would interact with each other. I always love this element as sometimes they show up with an element of surprise, while other times I can anticipate them but still enjoy seeing how they unfold.

I appreciate that by having a deeper imagination of the bigger context of what the Biblical figures' lives may have been like also means having a stronger sense of them as people and a fuller weight of the Scripture. It helps me to make more meaningful connections to implications for the Gospel on my life. Like a good homily, Landsem's writing assists me in better conceptualizing the power of the Gospel to inform my life.

I still have not explored any other Catholic fiction authors' work, but I would like to do so soon, and I eagerly await new releases of Landsem's work as she is now one of those authors who I am confident I would love anything she writes.

The Thief

Just like The Well, Stephanie Landsem's second book in the Living Water series, The Thief, drew me right in. While reading, I realized it would be hard to write a review about it because so much of what I love is the element of surprise, and it is challenging to share the power of the reading experience without giving away the details that would lessen the process of discovery for other readers. As a result, I will attempt to convey the experience by sharing generalities, rather than specifics.

Landsem has a way of letting readers know what one of the focal biblical links will be fairly early on, but then that element occurs part way through the book and there is still a lot more that will happen and additional less obvious layers emerge. Or, in the case of this book, there was one element that I started to expect and anticipate, and it did happen toward the end but in a way I never would have imagined that carried so much more weight, provoking a stronger emotional reaction.

I love that there is depth to her characters - that the inner tensions and conflicts in their lives are palpable. I appreciate seeing how they develop and are transformed through the course of the novel. It is powerful to see how they are irrevocably moved by recognizing aspects in others that they are drawn to (such as inner peace in great trials) but that they do not understand at all, leading them on an inquiry process to seek understanding and ultimately grow through the process. 

I have always enjoyed novels from multiple perspectives and this one switched back and forth between two main characters, being able to see glimpses into what they both understood and areas where there were gaps in their understanding of each other. This also leads to feeling more deeply connected to both vs. a sense of distance from the one whose perspective we do not see as closely. 

I am looking forward to reading the final novel in the series, The Tomb, as well as anticipating the release of the Advent version of Walk in Her Sandals with her contributions. 

The Well

As part of the St. Teresa's Online Book Club, I read Stephanie Landsem's The Well. Before selecting the next book, the leaders of the club had a survey as to whether we wanted to continue with a non-fiction book (as we had with every other book) or if we should mix it up and have a Catholic fiction book. I responded non-fiction, but then started to think about how much I do miss fiction. A couple of years ago I shifted almost exclusively towards reading non-fiction books about the Catholic faith as that was the natural area of highest interest, leading to those books always rising to the top of my what to read next stack. After the book was announced as the next pick and someone made a comment that she was the one who wrote the fictional narratives in Walk in Her Sandals, I was even more excited.

As a middle school teacher, I loved historical fiction. Reading Landsem's book reminded me of just how much I love the genre - seeing how she took historical evidence documented in The Bible and then filled in a novel length exploration of what might have happened before and after the scene of the woman at the well. She also added in details of the actual encounter between Jesus and the woman, adding a new depth to how that life changing experience might have felt like from the woman's perspective. Another element that I loved is that I had never really imagined the woman as a mom, nor pictured what it would be like to be her children and what their context must have felt like. Novels from multiple perspectives often capture my attention as well, and I enjoyed that this novel switched back and forth showing the thought process of different main characters through third person point of view.

It is hard writing about the book because some of the elements that I most want to talk about would be spoilers; however, I can mention that it was suspenseful and hard to put down after getting to a certain point. Laurie Halse Anderson wrote about why the genre would more aptly be called historical thrillers and this definitely fits Landsem's style. Without giving away the ending, I can say that it spoke to my heart. It perfectly aligned with the Gospel reading the weekend I finished the book, so I had been tossing around what ended up being a central concept for the book in my mind. I appreciated that the character's lives and contexts provided inspiration for how to authentically live aligned to the Gospel. I look forward to reading more of Landsem's books.

Walk in Her Sandals

This Lent, I read a chapter from A Walk in Her Sandals: Experiencing Christ's Passion through the Eyes of Women each week alongside others in the St. Teresa's Online Book Club. After an introduction the book focuses six chapters on different days of Holy Week and Pentecost, followed by a conclusion. Each chapter focuses on a gift linked to the liturgical day, such as The Gift of Receptivity for Palm Sunday and The Gift of Prayer for Holy Saturday.

The book has a range of contributors with Kelly Wahlquist as the editor. Each of the main chapters incorporates an exploration of the gift and liturgical day through multiple angles. A consistent flow chapter to chapter makes it easy to navigate the different elements woven together as the pattern starts to feel comfortable. The components are: A Moment to Ponder, Enter the Scripture, Walk in Her Sandals, Unwrap the Gift of _____, Reflect on the Meaning of: ______ (Liturgical Day), Lectio, Questions for Group Discussion, and Walking in the New Evangelization. Some sections had a consistent contributor throughout all the chapters, while others rotated depending on the chapter. I loved the blend of different types of writing (fictional narrative, reflective writing, calls to action...).

I especially loved the final chapter focusing on Pentecost and the way that it linked to my one little word for 2017: filled.

Some of the names were familiar as they crossed over with The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion and Catholic Digest. Right around the time we started to read the book, I heard that Kelly Wahlquist is going to be a speaker at a women's conference in our diocese this summer, so I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know her through the book and anticipate the conference this summer even more.