Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Virtual Book Tour + #Giveaway: Stumbling Toward God by Margaret D. McGee @RABTBookTours




A Prodigal’s Return, 2nd ed.
Spiritual/Religious
Date Published: March 11, 2020

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STUMBLING TOWARD GOD traces a woman’s spiritual search with an unusual twist – from an “atheist who prays” to unorthodox membership in two contrasting churches: Unitarian and Episcopal. In the second edition of her forthright memoir, McGee shares new adventures on her spiritual quest, culminating in personal encounters with a God of love. An honest, satisfying read for anyone questioning or seeking a spiritual path. First Place for Nonfiction Book in the PNWA Literary Competition. Includes Reading Group Guide.

"An offbeat, engagingly written, appealingly uncertain spiritual memoir." – Publishers Weekly





Interview with Margaret D. McGee

What was the hardest scene from your book to write?
The one that stands out is a story is about a spiritual support group I attended in my early weeks at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. I was reluctant to join the group, afraid that I’d be the oddball doubter among a bunch of Christian believers. But at the very first meeting I was surprised to learn just how odd we all were, and how welcoming and generous the other people in the group were to an outsider like me. My interactions with the members of the group, which are detailed in Chapter 5, led me to a close examination of what it really means to love another person, particularly someone who was troubling me at the time. I came to the point of asking, If “God is love,” then looking at the world God made, what is love really like? That support group transformed my understanding of the phrase “love your neighbor as yourself.” Describing how it happened became a key section of the book.

The hardest part of writing about it had to do with confidentiality within the group. We had agreed at the first meeting that everything said in the group would remain confidential, and I agreed with no idea of what was to come. Then our time together turned into a linchpin for my spiritual memoir. So I explained the dilemma to the group and asked their permission to share parts of their stories, while disguising their identities. When I asked their permission, I gave each of them an early draft of the relevant material. If any had objected, I either would have removed that person from the story, or in one crucial case, would have had to delete the entire section from the book. Thankfully, they all agreed. The rector had formed the group and couldn’t reasonably be disguised. He agreed as well, and so the story appears in the book.

Resolving the confidentiality issue, then writing the scene fairly and honestly while disguising the group members, was a struggle. I’m grateful to each of them today for their generosity to me and my work.

Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre? 
I’d say the genre chose me. Through adolescence and early adulthood, I fantasized that I’d become a famous novelist. But that was not my path. After writing a lot of fiction that few editors were crazy enough to publish, I started to earn my living as a technical writer, a field that suited my talents much better. Then in my middle years, I underwent a transformation in spiritual life that was so unexpected, I had to write about it just to try to understand what was happening. Pieces of that writing found their way in various magazines in the spiritual/religious market, and eventually came together in the first edition of Stumbling Toward God. Since then, I’ve published two additional nonfiction books with spiritual/religious themes.

If you write in more than one genre, how do you balance them?
Over the years, I’ve written highly technical material for corporate websites and user guides, books and blog posts in the spiritual/religious field, and occasional poetry. One of my books, Haiku – The Sacred Art: A Spiritual Practice in Three Lines (Skylight Paths Publishing), melds poetry writing with spirituality. But I don’t juggle writing projects easily, and have usually been entirely focused on one genre or another for any period of time. While writing technical material, which I did to earn a living, I wasn’t writing much else. It was only when I could take breaks from making money that I wrote about my spiritual life or had the bandwidth to write poetry. I admire writers who can move fluidly between genres—I’m not one of them.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
In the publication of the first edition of Stumbling Toward God, I was fortunate to work with a great editor and publisher: Marcia Broucek at Innisfree Press. Marcia gently and firmly helped me turn my manuscript into a real book. There is no greater gift to a writer than a good editor. Later Marcia joined SkyLight Paths and was also the editor of my next two books, Sacred Attention and Haiku – The Sacred Art. I still cherish our time working together.

What book that you have read has most influenced your life?
I’m debating between the Bible and the World Book Encyclopedia, which my dad bought for the home when I was a kid. For influence as a young person, I’d have to vote for the latter. Marvelous illustrations from botany, anatomy, geography, human history—the stories of our world. I paged through it again and again with intense pleasure.

Tell us a little about yourself? Perhaps something not many people know?
I have a round scar on my right knee, the remains of a nasty fall off my bike on a gravel road near our house when I was 10. My mom tried home treatment at first, but the wound got infected, and we ended up at the doctor’s office. With my knee treated and well wrapped, I walked with a distinct limp for weeks. An adult family friend took to calling me “Hopalong McGee,” after the TV Western “Hopalong Cassidy,” which I did not appreciate at all.

Can you tell us something about your book that is not in the summary?
It’s funny in places. To me, if Stumbling Toward God succeeds in its mission, it will be because the reader laughed at least once while reading it, recognized themselves at least once through my struggles, and closed the book thinking, If she can take her own path, I can too. I have truth inside me, and I’m not alone. There are good people out there willing to help. I don’t have to do what other people think I ought to do. I can take the path that’s laid out in my own heart and come to the place where I belong. 


About the Author

Margaret D. McGee writes books about being alive in the cosmos, paying attention, and making connections. Her parents were both preacher’s kids, and her father pursued a successful career in public education. These two themes—applied faith and applied intellect—returned in her middle years when she joined the Episcopal parish and Unitarian Universalist fellowship in her small town. She says, “Going back and forth, week on, week off, between the “prayer-book” Episcopalians and the free-thinking
Unitarians provided an essential bridge in my spiritual path—a bridge that led me to a new place.” McGee has had a varied career, including a time at the Microsoft Corporation, where she was employed as a master writer. She now lives in the Olympic Peninsula with her husband, David. In addition to Stumbling Toward God, her books include Sacred Attention and Haiku – The Sacred Art, both published by Skylight Paths Publishing. Her liturgical prayers and skits have been used by faith communities across the United States, and can be found at her website, InTheCourtyard.com.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for hosting!

Margaret D. McGee said...

Thank you, Avid Reader, for hosting. I enjoyed the interview process.