For readers of my blog looking for a word of faith and hope for today, what can you share with us from your book?

That we need not worry about feeling small and helpless, both because we necessarily are those things, and because the One who made, loves, and keeps us is great, good, and completely in charge. Everything God does is about love. A favorite line of mine in the book is about how in God’s hand “we  are not held captive, but held, captivated.”

The title of your book comes from Julian of Norwich, who lived in permanent seclusion and died in the 15th century. Why have you been so drawn to her, and what can we learn from her today?

Julian lived in a time of war, social upheaval, plague, and religious violence. It sounds very like the world we see around us today! After receiving her visions she became an anchoress, a vowed solitary shut away from the world (just as I am shut away being housebound by chronic illness). Yet Julian sought not to find refuge for herself, but to contemplate the things she had been shown precisely in order to help her fellow Christians make sense of suffering.

Julian concluded that God was the only real security or safety in life, and that he had shown her that eventually, at the end of life, all sin and pain would be made right. That, as her famous quote goes, “all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”

Your previous book was historical fiction for kids, and before that, a collection of poetic prose. How does All That Is Made compare and contrast with your earlier books?

My published work is like the tip of an iceberg really, but Recital of Love is a book of things received in prayer, so is like my own little version of what Julian would call “shewings.” All That Is Made is a natural follow on from that after loving and relating to Julian’s work for a long time, though it wasn’t my idea to write it. There are four more books of those pieces ready and more to collate. Young Bloody Mary was commissioned after I won a writing competition with the publisher, Mogzilla Books, and though it’s not ostensibly a Christian work, it taught me a lot about research, plot, and writing for kids, which I love to do.

What do you hope for readers of your book?

That they will be reassured of their value to God, despite their worries, questions, and smallness. Also that they might be inspired to spend more time praying, reading the Bible, and getting to know God more deeply.

In addition to your writing, I’ve seen some of your artwork, and you’ve been described as a “contemplative creative.” What does that mean for you, and what are some of your next steps?

I do sometimes wonder if it might be useful to have an agent, both for art and writing, to help me field everything. I’m hopeful of getting more of my children’s books out in the world, and to find a way to license my art. I’m also writing more on my Substack. But what I really want is to bring a smile to God’s face and be a blessing to my ‘evenchristen’ (fellow Christians).

Thank you, Keren, for your beautiful book and for blessing many with your prayers, writing, and art. May God’s face continue to smile on you.