The world is made of stairs, and there are those who go up and those who go down.

I began using pseudonyms early in my career, when I was being paid a quarter a cent a word for my work, and when I had to write a lot to earn a living. Sometimes I had three or four stories in a single magazine without the editor knowing they were all by me.

Depending on what I'm working on, I come to the writing desk with entirely different mindsets. When I change form one to the other, it's as if another writer is on the scene.

The rise of the prosperity gospel is one of the great challenges to the true message of Jesus Christ. While not an expressly Western problem, the promises of this false teaching are often deeply rooted in Western materialism and worldly wealth. Teachers focus on a temporal reward as evidence of God's blessing, often ignoring the greater issues of justice, reconciliation, and redemption so needed in the world today.

I wanted to be an artist. I was studying art. I wanted to be a great painter. When I went into the Navy, there wasn't much to draw at sea. So I began writing, and I began reading a lot.

I would certainly never suggest that any lesbian should be ashamed of her sexual preference.

We need voices that help us critique our social, political, and economic views through Kingdom lenses. The women and men who compose the global body of Christ can help challenge us in very important ways.