meet Maggie Woychik

Chila “Maggie” Woychik has had over 75 published articles, poems, and book reviews in magazines such as Young Salvationist, Christian Home and School, Woman’s Touch (Leadership Edition), Purpose, Christian Women Today e-zine, Seek, Women Alive!, Evangel, Cross & Quill, Wesleyan Life, War Cry and others. She has been a staff writer for GotQuestions.org, one of the most visited Christian sites on the internet with well over a million hits a month; written dozens of teen and adult Bible studies; led a Christian writers' group; and won a Roaring Lambs Award from the Amy Foundation.

Also, her first book, “I Run to the Hills: Reflections on the Christian Journey” has just been published by Port Yonder Press.

You can visit Maggie at her website and her blog, Encouraging Emerging Authors.

I Run to the Hills is a relaxed, thoughtful, journey from the Plains of Humanity, through the Forest of Deep Shadows, with stops at Liberty, License, Tradition, and others, on the way to the Mount of the Lord, with the Master as our guide. It’s a collection of 39 essays, poems and allegory loosely draped in traveling garb.

Here's a short snippet from I Run to the Hills...

The thought, the muse, invades the mental process, imposing and confident. One, dull of heart and slow of mind, acknowledges the flash but credits it to nature’s course, a sort of cerebral lightning, an electrical storm in the passage of life. He is amused, albeit, bored. Or, maybe, distracted by the touchability of “real” life surrounding him.

Across the way, or pew, or book, another realizes he has just privileged a glimpse through the curtain of status quo into the arena of Truth. Scrawled across the dividing shroud are the words:
ONLY THE BRAVE, ONLY THE BOLD, ENTER HERE.

And he does.
And he is never the same.


Welcome to Patterings, Maggie!
Tell us about your epiphany moment when you decided you were going to seriously pursue writing.
It was 1993. I had just undergone the first of two back surgeries. At the same time, a friend was struggling with a life-dominating sin and asked for my help. As I prayed and labored over how to assist them, I was compelled to not only write out my thoughts but send them off for publication with the earnest prayer that others could be helped, as well. “To Be Pure” and “Pure Like Jesus” (same article) were the result. It was published in at least four different periodicals within a couple of years and led me to realize the need for non-fiction pieces calling Christians to serious commitment and discipleship.

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?
I sometimes have trouble balancing life and writing. I have to push myself away from the computer and remind myself how important it is to live so I can write about life.

What would a perfect day for you look like?
Sitting on a sunny shoreline in Bar Harbor, Maine, or maybe PEI (or some such friendly seaport), and writing.

Oh my. Those are definitely beautiful spots! It relaxes me just thinking about them and my years on Maine's coast. :]
Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.
Literary non-fiction (Annie Dillard is my favorite), gentle fiction (Lucy Maud Montgomery), author biographies (Brontes, Montgomery, Dickinson, etc.). Emily Dickinson’s poetry. I also love the old Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series!

Are there certain foods or snacks that keep the words flowing for you?
A cup of tea and good healthy food, at least until nightfall when I finally allow myself some small delectable treat such as a piece of good chocolate. In this way I keep a clear mind.

What lesson is the Lord teaching you right now or recently taught you?
He is sovereign. He is ultimately in control of what I can’t control. I might as well get used to that fact.

When is your next book due out and can you tell us about it?
“A Mingling of Sand & Sea: Collected Poems and Tales” may be released next year. It’s a mix of poems and short stories, some of a sea-faring nature, some for children, some inspirational. The book contains something for everyone and would be especially beneficial for home educators.

Thank you, Patty, for hosting me on your blog! I’ve enjoyed it immensely.

And thank you, Maggie for being here with us!!



Maggie is giving away a copy of I Run to the Hills. To be entered in the book giveaway, leave a comment and check back on Sunday, October 25th to see if you've won. If you want to guarantee that you're notified if you win, then leave your email address in the comment, otherwise, you can just check back and email me through the button in my sidebar.
**Annoying little disclaimer: This giveaway is void where prohibited; open only to U.S. addresses, odds of winning depend on number of entrants. No purchase necessary.

Don't forget Leann Harris' book giveaway that's going on right now, too! Be sure to leave a comment to be entered in the drawing for Guarded Secrets by Leann!

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