Inside the Brain of E.C. Henry

Why I Love Being a Writer

A man writing something profound, no doubt

I love being a writer. And I in this post I'm going to tell you why:

1. The current entertainment content in the movie and TV landscape doesn't entertain me good enough--so I end-up having to entertain myself.  WOW, when is the last time there was movie that was coming out that you were actually excited to see?  I guess for me you have to go back a year and half ago to the opening of "Fury Road" by George Miller.  Seriously, I think that's the last movie I was actually looking forward to seeing.  Seen some movies since, but none were "must sees", if you know what I mean.  And TV...  WOW, has Saturday Night Live ever fallen off a cliff.  Totally SUCKS!!   WAYYYY to leftist for me.  SNL USED to have funny skits, but now their writing SUCKS!  Really believe in the talent they have performing, but their democrat bend makes me sick, and their skits aren't funny anymore.  That show should get the plug pulled, it's time has come and gone.  
   
2. I love the evolution of scenes over time and how I can make them improve.  I'm pretty hard on myself and my material.  I generally go over my scenes a lot. I'm not one to believe you get it right the first time you write it out.  Though I'm a slow writer, I like the process of scene improvement.  That's a lot of fun for me.
3. I get to see the magic first.  One of the real cool things about being a writer is when you can visualize something cool, and you're the one who sees it in your imagination first.  You can't always articulate it perfectly the moment that you envision it, but as a writer you get to see it first.  That's exciting, and keeps me going.
4. I love the idea of entertaining others.  Yeah, eventually I wanna get my stories out there and entertain people with them.  Right now my mom is critiquing my first novel.  She is reading so slow its maddening, BUT she's enjoying herself and what I've created so I'm just letting her do her thing and not demand I have my way, which would be that she would read the WHOLE STORY in one sitting, then give me her first impression.   
5. I need an outlet for my creativity.  I'm not a very outgoing person.  I don't have a raging social life.  Wish I did, but I don't.  Thus I'm so glad God gave me the gift of writing as a way to express myself.  Some people seek nature to express themselves.  Some people are sports atheletes.  Some people are big family people.  Me, I'm a writer.  Wanna know me, read my writing.  
6. It's a constant challenge.  Shoot, I'm 47 years old and I still haven't broke in.  THIS is a constant source of heartache for yours truly.  BUT that's not the challenge I'm talking about.  The challenge for me is ALWAYS the same.  My gold standard is simple but eliete one: have you done your best to maximize the scene's potential; have you done justice to your work.  I take my writing very seriously.  I always want it to be the best I can make it.  Thus I try very hard.  To date I have JACK SHIT to show for it, BUT I do try very, very hard.  And if you don't believe me.  Then I guess you're just on contrarian who's trying to get under my skin.
7. I love my characters.  Some of them are so different from who I am.  Hopefully all my villains are night-and-day different from me.  But these day I'm hoping to find more of protagonist's traits (a fancy way of saying the main character, good guy) in me.  Like I posted a few posts back, I wanna be more like Luke Skywalker, than the next Dr. Zaius, who I still hold the belief is the best villain of all-time in the movies.  But the longer I write and more stories I do, the more I love all my characters.  I want to breath life into all of them.  I want people who read my stuff to get lost in the richness of the characters I set down in my stories.  I really don't write simple, one-note characters.  Even my minor characters are real people, who don't just exist to further the agenda of the hero or villain.  The more you study human nature the more individualistic you find people to be. And I wanna capture and honor that in my writing.  God loves people (thanks for giving me that quote pastor Ray Armstrong of Calvary Community Church) and so does E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA.
8. I am good at crafting original stories.  I'm no copycat.  I LOATH people who steal stuff from other people.  Sure I think some stuff out there is super cool, but I'm no rip-off.  Don't need to be.  The Lord is my inspiration, and He knows how to write a good story.  I hear some people on the blogsites I visit bemoan that there is no original material left. Those people are bitchers and complainers who have a very fucked up way of looking at things.  Sure Hollywood is fucked up.  Look at the all the movies they're cranking out, but almost all of them are uninspired.  That's so sad, but that fact doesn't mean originality is dead, it means that the people at the top making the big decisions are making the wrong decisions.  What Hollywood needs is God.  They need morality and they need goodness; morality and goodness that can be found in the bible.  I'm will no longer entertain the notion that faith needs to be removed from movies and TV shows.  God creates amazing things out of nothing. Why?  Because He is self-sustaining and needs nothing any other living creature.  If God is so wonderful and amazing why is Hollywood trying to cut Him out of everything?  It's because they're serving the creature, and because of that their foolish kingdom is darkening.  
9. I love writing because I have something to say.  EVERY story I've ever written has something to say, even my rom-coms have something to say,a theme. I am a deep person.  When you deal with me, realize that the person you're interacting with has something to say, a distinct point of view.  So what is the jist of what I'm writing?  Why am I doing it?  I want to entertain people and encourage them to pursue God.  By nature I'm not a very outgoing person, but that doesn't mean I don't want everyone to thrive in God and achieve the heights that He has in store for them.  Your life NEEDS some grounding and connection to God or you are a sad case indeed.  Don't tell me about your successes apart from God. Rather tell me what you're managed to achieve on account of Him.  Render your best to God.  Give him the sacrifice of Abel.   Jesus is the door.  That's what I have to say.  Jesus is the RIGHT WAY into Heaven.  Go through Him.  The Holy Father's plan of redemption is through His Son.  No matter how creative my stories get I NEVER wanna lose sight of that foundation truth.  We're all going to die.  We're all going to live again.  But in what place we spend that eternity depends on the choice you make in this life.  Whatever I write, be that good, bad, or indifferent, God's truth never changes, it never waivers.  Jesus died for a reason; He is the door.
10. I love the feeling I get when I'm done with a writing project. Sometimes I have a hard time walking away, but it's real nice to have something done and ready to show to other people.  
11. Being a writer I get to expand my vocabulary and learn new words and explore various subjects.  I'm not a good wordsmith.  That part of writing doesn't come easy for me, BUT I am committed to getting better at it.
    
12. Being a writer affords me the duty of having to wear a cape.  Sorry, can't help but throw that in there, as Brycen (my eight-year-old nephew) tells me that writer's wear capes.  I've been wearing half of my expanded persona attire to church, and now Obo has it in his noggin that because I wear a cape as part  of my expanded persona as a writer and creative sort, ALL writers must wear capes.  

Anyway, there's some reasons why I love being a writer.  It just never ceases to challenge and push me.  

P.S. Did get to watch a the 3rd and final presidential debate off a DVR recording.  Really thought Trump acquitted himself nicely.  Was SHOCKED at how poorly Hillary Clinton protrayed herself and her plans IF she wins the election.  Having watched the 2nd debate, where I thought Hillary Clinton kicked Trumps butt, I thought she took a major step backwards in the 3rd debate.  Y'know for how high falutin the democrats act their solutions to our country's ills are amazingly thin.  I can't believe Hillary Clinton after 30 YEARS of being a politician has such poor plans as she has.  I thought the democratic party was where the great thinkers where?  In my opinion Hillary Clinton doesn't have JACK SHIT to offer in the way of tangible, feasible solutions that work; she may have a few pleasant sounding, sound bites, but there is no, good, solid substance behind her words, plans and intentions.  Anyway, I was never a big Trump guy (as some of the things he has done and said are indefensible and understand why he is disliked by many), BUT after watching this third debate I feel much better about giving him my vote.  

P.S.S. I REALLY hate smear campaigns and NOT talking about issues put rather shifting the focus on sex stuff.  To me, when I start seeing and reading about that, it's an instant turn-off.  Politics is all about finding solutions to problems and providing a place where the governed people can thrive.

Kamikaze Love

Kamikaze love, is a determined love

Hi, I'm Sophie, E.C.'s cat 

I love my cat, Sophie.  This post is dedicated to her.  A way of honoring the way a scardy-cat expresses herself.  

BEFORE Sophie, I didn't think the term "scardy-cat" was REAL way of describing another, fellow living being.  BUT after handing around with Sophie and seeing how she does what she does, I've found that YES that term can describe someone.  It describes Sophie.  Sophie my cat is a scardy-cat.  For the first two weeks she was in our house I didn't even know she was there--she was hiding!  It wasn't until my mom introduced us and ask if I would love her that I knew for sure she was living at our house.  

It was then that I leaned I have the magic touch when it comes to women.  Sophie loves my touch.  She loves my touch--until she doesn't and decides to bite me.  That's right, Sophie loves me and behaves UNTIL she's had her fill of love and then I'm fair game to bite, and bite is what she does.

Magic touch, my ass.  I TOLERATE this fool.

C'mon, Sophie, play nice.  I clean your litter box.  I feed you.  I TRY to love on you--when you'll let me.  And, you gotta admit I do make you happy from time-to-time.  She purrs when I pet her.  Purrs until she's had her fill of love, THEN she bites me.

Easiest and most concise explanation of my and E.C.'s relationship: I'm his mewwws.

Okay, so I 'm grown, 47-year-old man who's in love with a cat!  This is no ordinary, everyday cat.  She has a special kind of love.  Kamizare love: or crash-and-burn love, without any warning.  Wish I could show you a picture of how I know that Sophie loves me.  The truth of the matter is, when Sophie decides it's time to show that she loves I get NO advance warning; she just does her thing; Sophie RUNS into my room and jumps up on my writing desk area.  From there she demands my attention.  And me, being the SAP that I am, I ALWAYS give it to her.  Lately that's meant her stretching up by right side and rubbing on the side of my cheek.

What can I say?  I'm a sexual dynamo.  Case and point (eye candy for the ladies):

  Boo-yeah!  Sexy is in house--or out-n-about in the yard as the case may be

Never Too Late to Start Acting Like Luke Skywalker

Are you a good guy, OR are you a bad guy?

Sometimes it's as simple as that.  And it boils down to JUST that.  

As for me, I'm a good guy.  I love the Lord.  I have excellent morals that I derive exclusively from the bible and truth that Jesus spoke of and tried to instill in His' followers.  I can discern between good and evil, and I choose good.  I'm on the right side, the side where my fellow good guys are.  

But what side are you on friend?  Do you know?  Are you a good guy or are you a bad guy?

Yes, sometimes it is as simple as that: are you a good good or are you a bad guy.  

I LOVE George Lucas.  YEARS after watching the first 6 six Star Wars movies I'm STILL unpacking and applying the life lessons that George Lucas so subliminally planted in his epic saga.  And I wonder if he tailored the Sith bad guys: Senator/Emporer Palpatine, Darth Vader and Darth Maul after Luciferians or Satanists that George Lucas saw or was exposed to during his time in the Entertainment Industry of the early 1970s.  

Evil does have a face, and sometimes you hafta fight it!

For YEARS growing up I always curious to know more about the Sith and why the did what they did.  THAT is common kind of curiosity that many people have towards people who think and act differently than them and have a power base that causes harm.  Why do you think their are so many books and movies about Adolf Hitler?  Everyone wants to know why he did what he did.  Same reason why so many were enamored with Dr. Hanibal Lecter, the iconic bad guy as played by Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs (1991: directed by Johnathan Demme, novel by Thomas Harris, screenplay by Ted Tally).

Why do monsters do what they do?  Its a morbid source of curiosity for many people--myself included!  

But the older I get, however, the less and less I think about the motivation of monsters, and I come to the conclusion that I value heros far more than those evil schemers.  The Sith are known evil schemers.  They want power and aren't too concerned with who gets chewed up by the machinery that paves their way to a greater power.  Those people never met pastor Ray Armstrong of Calvary Community Church in Sumner, Washington.  IF they had maybe those Sith wouldn't have turned out so bad.  Because like pastor Ray always says:

People matter to God.  God loves people.

How's that for a Twitter-sized nugget to engage the lazy, conditioned mind?  Sometimes you need a heavy hitter, and that's one of my favorites.  Why?  Because it's short, yet coveys the truth and the heart of God: God love people.  Period!

Okay, so God loves people, but let's be real here.  Some people are closer to being Jedis, whereas some people's behavior more closely models that of the Sith.  

Does God differentiate?  YES, God does differentiate between the righteous and the unrighteous.  He always has and He always will.  God prefers righteousness over sinful behavior.  Elohim is a Holy God--and I'm so glad for that.  BUT along they way He allows the unrighteous to prosper in this life.  Their is an allure to evil.  A better life.  Better creature comforts.  Fame and prestige, sex and other gratifications of the flesh.  BUT when you live outside of fellowship with God you are risk.  You entire eternity is at risk.  Do you want the same outcome as the devil?  Burning in the lake of fife as recorded in the bible's book of Revelation?  Hope not.  I understand shortsightedness, but when you think about it, do you want the same treatment as the lying, scheming devil.  Hope not, because as men and women we bear the image of God, and are His creation and possession--not the devil's!  

I don't believe that the devil deserves to have anybody.  Not even Bob Dylan who was quoted as stating he made a bargain with the devil for the life he has now.  That was on 60 Minutes:

So how many people out there are like Bob Dylan and have made a "deal with the devil: for fame and fortune?  I don't know, I am kinda scared to find out...  Still, I don't care what deal you THINK you've made, God is greater than all deals you can ever make.  Back during the time of Jesus' ministry He delivered people so possessed by unclean spirits that in His presence they yelled out, one guy was even so far gone that he was living in the tombs and cuts gashing himself with rocks.  Now THERE'S a deal with the devil that went south!  Didn't even wait for hell, went south in the here and now.

My point is: that no matter what you've done or signed up to do: ALL of those contracts can be broken by the power of Jesus.  Even people so far gone as Darth Vader have a chance to come to their senses, start doing right again and turn around before their life in the flesh comes to an end.  It's never to late to admit a mistake and start doing what's right.  

The thing about living in evil, I believe, is that eventually even the people who have succumbed to temptation begin to realize its pitfalls.  He loves you, and deserves to have a relationship with you--not Satan!  You know even in Jesus' time, the devil had a great dominion.  At one point in the testing of Christ the devil showed Jesus the kingdoms of the world at that time, and the devil said he would give them to Jesus IF Jesus worshiped the devil.  And you know what, Jesus didn't correct the devil for misspeaking there.  That leads me to believe that the devil has certain dominions in his control.  But does anybody stop to wonder if the devil SHOULD have any dominions in his control?  I say, no.  I say we chose whether or not the devil has dominion in certain areas of our world, and to that extent I say the devil deserves NO DOMINION!  Nada, nothing.  Why is that?  Because where the devil is, destruction is, bad things are.  We weren't meant to under Satan's yoke, but rather in the CONSTANT fellowship and protection of Lord Jesus Christ.    

Okay, so the devil has some dominion in this Earth.  THAT just leaves room for some of us to rally up like modern-day Luke Skywalkers and go on rescue missions to save our friends.  How familiar are you with the Star Wars movies?  Seems like Luke Skywalker had the best heart of anyone.  A daring, bold, adventurer's heart that was always up to the challenge when one his friend's well-being was in question.  Luke Skywalker had a heart like the Holy Father's: if someone was in trouble, He wanted them rescued!  THAT'S God's heart, and it should be our heart as well.  Even his father who was deeply immeshed in bad things, Sith things, Luke inacted a plan to save his troubled father, daring to even go up against the powerful wizard Emporoer--if that's what it took to get his father on the right side again.

I wanna be like Luke Skywalker.  And ya know what, for MOST of my life that wasn't the case.  No, for most of my life I was more enamored with the dark side and what made them tick and do the things that they do, than in worrying about how I could work on and build up a better heart that put my friends and people around me first.  Took me a while to see it, but like the Huey Lewis and the News song goes, (sometimes) "Bad is Bad":

 

Satanism is bad.  Luciferianism is bad.  The Illuminati is bad.  I openly worry how seeded Hollywood is in Satanism.  I'm starting to wonder if you have to LITERALLY sell your soul to Satan in order to be accepted into "the club" and do business in the Entertainment Industry.  Sound far fetched?  Maybe that's a lot closer to reality than you think.  May be part of the end times and the mark of beast even.  I've stories alluding to that MANY times before and in many different context.  Recently someone in or posing as someone in the Entertainment Industry posed a bargain of sorts my way.  Didn't see this subtle manipulation right away.  No, I was too enamored the possibility of connecting with this person, and FINALLY getting the launch point for my dreams to FINALLY start coming true.  Hey, 47 is a lucky number right?  (That's my current age btw).

Anyway, the famous person, or person posing as a famous person, put my way a very strange offer concerning money that I didn't deserve to have.  I won't go into the specifics of the person who make this offer OR the exact details of this offer, but I will say this person was very insistent about it, and tried to coax me to put supreme "trust" in this person.  It took me a while to see this as a possible Luciferean initiation test, but once I finally thought about it for a while, that's the conclusion I arrived at.  This offer of money, that was not tied at all to them reading or liking my scripts was in fact a type of Luciferian initation; a selling out of my ideals and a shown willingness to partner with someone in the wrong, doing the wrong thing.    

Nobody in the Entertainment Industry has the RIGHT to treat me like this person treated me.  This person came off as being very polite, but in the end was only interested in corrupting me; in exploiting their superior leverage to get me to do something that on face value sounded very shady and unethical.  

I still LOVE the person on the other side of that offer, BUT I also realize that this person is the bad guy here, and it's my responsibility as a Christian who sites Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, to act according to that conviction and fight the good fight.  Or in other words: be a modern-day Luke Skywalker and resist the evil offer and remain good even when in the face of supreme evil.    

The honest truth is, we all can be held captive by the devil.  And I don't believe that captive state has to be permanent.  It's only permanent IF the captee wants to remain that way.  And here's the thing that I believe to be true about those in the devil's camp; they don't really want to be there.  Why?  Because eventually the devil gets shown to the be fraud that he is.  Irregardless of what "deal" is made, people aren't stupid, eventually they grow to learn that the devil doesn't satisfy, he never could.  And why is that?  Because the devil ins't God.  The Holy Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are God.  They are the Ones that are self-sufficient.  They are the Ones that rightly provide for the rest of the creation.  The devil is a poor provider.  Even with the limited dominion that we giving him, it is limited and eventually gets shown to be the poor deal that it is.

So if you made a poor deal with devil, I'm here to tell you it doesn't have to be a forever thing.  My God breaks the chains of the devil and sets people free.  Years ago he set me free from heavy metal music, depression, sexual frustrations, and alcholism.  Those were all dominions of the devil that Satan tried to keep me trapped in.  But guess what?  My God is greater than the tricks and traps of the devil.  So yeah, sure for a while I was more of a Storm Trooper in service to Darth Vader.  But guess what, my Luke Skywalker came in the form of Jesus Christ and freed me from all that.

Now I live like a Luke Skywalker, and no longer entertain "deals" from the devil.  Rather, I expose them.  Expose them with the grace of the gentlemen, but expose them none-the-less.  Nobody likes to the get tricked and end up on the lesser side of a one-sided deal.  In life you chose you want your life to emulate.  Do you wanna be like Emporer Palpatine?  Dulling out kniving deals that really don't satisfy anybody in the end.  OR do you wanna be like Luke Skywalker and stand up for what's right and take action when you see someone and an entire industry in trouble.

And you wanna know something: Hollywood needs more people like in there to inact the change that the Entertainment Industry needs.  Hollywood needs godly people making movies, NOT Sith types.  Still grieving in my heart reading the news that Harvey Weinstien made a deal with Jay Z to partner with him in making movies.  I see Jay Z as a Sith type of person.  His wife in real life in Beyonce.  They have a child named Blue Ivy.  A few years ago I did some research on Beyonce and didn't like what I found out.  Hopefully the movies Jay Z makes with Harvey Weinstein will be ethnic ones of excellence.  BUT what I fear is that Jay Z will use this avenue to promote Satanism and Luciferean Initiation to the masses.  I just don't trust the guy, Jay Z.  I think Harvey Weinstein turned to him because the fortunes of his company weren't doing so well.  Remember read a few months back that the Weinstein Company was laying people off.  So I wonder if this partnership was a desperate effort to keep his company afloat.  But at what cost?  Yikes, I don't know about you, but I don't trust Jay Z., and what he stands for.  Hopefully, both Jay Z and his wife Beyonce will come to their senses and break-off their occultic ties and start leading the black community in righteousness.  

But as for me, writing wise I'm in a very good place right now.  Going into the 2nd novel, editing a character who is by best, a Luke Skywalker type who goes though an amazing journey of his own.  This character is my favorite.  Was a favorite of mine back in the late 90s when I was penning his journey for the first time.  Now I get to go back and experience him again.  It's going to be fun.   

As for me.  I'm a Luke Skywalker type.  I'm a hero!  Decided so right here and now.  Gunna continue to fight the good fight, continue to grow in the faith and the truth of the gospel, and in that rescue what I can.  And just BE.  ONE. OF.  THE.  GOOD GUYS!  In today's screwed-up world we need as many good guys as we can muster.  So chose good over evil, because it's never to late to start acting like Luke Skywalker.