The title is in deference to the 50th anniversary of “The Wizard of Oz,” which for those of you who live anywhere near Southwestern will be shown this Saturday night at Wharton Auditorium. But enough commercials. What I really want to talk about is the message behind the message. You know what I am talking … More “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”

Samuel Johnson once wrote, “No man but a blockhead ever wrote for anything but money.” Well, excuse me, Mr. Johnson, but in today’s market you have to have more than money to drive you along if you are willing to invest the time necessary to be a professional writer. Someone else wrote, “The process of … More Why I write

One of the thoughts that I try to remember to share each fall when I teach Digital Photography is the concept of art. “What is art?” I ask them, and the answers range from blank stares to “Nobody knows,” to “Everything is art.” I end up by telling them that, for the purposes of the … More “Daddy, where do ideas come from?”

I don’t know about other writers, but when I am writing something, often I am talking to myself. This especially goes when I am writing a sermon or working on a novel. Novels, after all, are about the human condition, and believe me, I am very human. A book I was working on last summer … More It’s not what you do….

A few years ago, while I was still director of the Honors Program at Southwestern Adventist University, I agreed to team teach an Honors Seminar with my friend, Dr. Renard Doneskey. We had already successfully taught a scriptwriting class, and had a ball doing it. This new endeavor was entitled “Christianity and Science Fiction.” It … More Christianity and Science Fiction