Kadlecek, Jo

PERSONAL:

Married Christopher Gilbert. Education: University of Northern Colorado, B.A.; Regent University, M.A.; University of Colorado, M.A.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY. Office—Department of Communications Arts, Gordon College, Wenham, MA 01984. E-mail—jo.kadlecek@gordon.edu; jok124@comcast.net.

CAREER:

Freelance writer and teacher. Taught at the high school and college level, 1982-92; freelance writer, 1992—; Gordon College, Wenham, MA, assistant professor of creative writing, 2006—. Also teaches at retreats, conferences, and writing workshops; worked variously as a waitress, soccer coach, and camp counselor.

MEMBER:

American Society of Journalists and Authors, National Writer's Union.

WRITINGS:

(With John M. Perkins) Resurrecting Hope, Regal Books (Ventura, CA), 1995.

Feast of Life: Spiritual Food for Balanced Living, foreword by Kelly K. Monroe, Baker Books (Grand Rapids, MI), 1999.

(With Pamela A. Toussaint) I Call You Friend: Four Women's Stories of Race, Faith, and Friendship, Broadman & Holman (Nashville, TN), 1999.

Fear: A Spiritual Navigation, WaterBrook Press (Colorado Springs, CO), 2001.

Winter Flowers and Other Signs of Redemption, Broadman & Holman (Nashville, TN), 2001.

(With Ruth Stafford Peale) A Lifetime of Positive Thinking, Guideposts (Carmel, NY), 2001.

(With Taylor Field) A Church Called Graffiti: Finding Grace on the Lower East Side, Broadman & Holman (Nashville, TN), 2001.

Reckless Faith: Living Passionately as Imperfect Christians, Shaw Books (Colorado Springs, CO), 2003.

The Sound of My Voice (novel), WaterBrook Press (Colorado Springs, CO), 2005.

Desperate Women of the Bible: Lessons on Passion from the Gospels, Baker Books (Grand Rapids, MI), 2006.

A Mile from Sunday (novel), NavPress (Colorado Springs, CO), 2006.

A Quarter after Tuesday, NavPress (Colorado Springs, CO), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals and journals, including Columbia University Record, Barnard College Magazine, Religion News Service, Forecast, Discipleship Journal, Inklings, Saturday Evening Post, Clarity, Virtue, Christianity Today, New York Post, Washington Post, Pacific News Service, Mars Hill Review, and Prism.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jo Kadlecek is a freelance writer who published her first novel, The Sound of My Voice, in 2005. The story finds Jordan Riddle leaving her Mississippi home to study playwriting in New York against the wishes of her pastor father. He argues that New York City and theater have no place in his view of the world. The two remain on nonspeaking terms until they are forced to reconcile at her mother's deathbed five years later. Calling the book "an interesting character study" in a Blether review, Harriet Klausner added that "Jo Kadlecek provides an interesting family drama played on a two-state stage but with universal implications." Jill Elizabeth Nelson labeled the story "a thought-provoking tale" in her Romantic Times Online review. Nelson added that the "secondary characters are especially enjoyable."

In Desperate Women of the Bible: Lessons on Passion from the Gospels, Kadlecek gives seven stories from seven secondary and nameless women mentioned in the Bible and the life-changing moments they shared with Jesus. The book is organized like a study guide, offering a set of questions for reflection at the end of each chapter and showing how each story is still relevant today. There are also personal testimonies from contemporary women who turned to their faith during desperate times of their own, including the author herself. Lisa Ann Cockrel in Today's Christian Woman commented that Kadlecek joins "fluid prose, personal vulnerability, and biblical acumen" in the telling of the stories. In a Library Journal review, James F. DeRoche noted that "the writing is clear and thoroughly thought out and the subject well worth considering." In a review posted on the Evangelicals for Social Action Web site, Laura Good took note of the "warm, conversational tone" Kadlecek uses. Good continued: "Kadlecek's sincerity and amiable writing style are the book's strongest assets."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Christianity Today, July 9, 2001, Edward Gilbreath, review of Fear: A Spiritual Navigation, p. 56.

Library Journal, December 1, 2006, James F. DeRoche, review of Desperate Women of the Bible: Lessons on Passion from the Gospels, p. 131.

Midwest Book Review, January, 2007, Harriet Klausner, review of A Mile from Sunday; March, 2007, review of Desperate Women of the Bible.

Publishers Weekly, April 18, 2005, review of The Sound of My Voice, p. 45.

Today's Christian Woman, January 1, 2007, Lisa Ann Cockrel, review of Desperate Women of the Bible, p. 10.

ONLINE

Armchair Interviews,http://www.armchairinterviews.com/ (August 21, 2007), Jamie Driggers, review of A Mile from Sunday; Linda Lee, review of A Quarter after Tuesday.

Blether,http://reviews.blether.com/ (August 21, 2007), Harriet Klausner, review of The Sound of My Voice.

Evangelicals for Social Action,http://www.esa-online.org/ (August 21, 2007), Laura Good, review of Desperate Women of the Bible.

Freelance Success,http://www.freelancesuccess.com/ (August 21, 2007), author profile.

Gordon College Web site,www.gordon.edu/ (August 21, 2007), author profile.

Jo Kadlecek Home Page,http://lamppostmedia.net (August 21, 2007), author biography.

Romantic Times,http://www.romantictimes.com/ (August 21, 2007), Jill Elizabeth Nelson, review of The Sound of My Voice; Melissa Parcel, review of A Quarter after Tuesday.