I was raised in a Christian family but started to get real bored with Christianity. A friend told me that's because I was only half a Christian. He said I knew all about Jesus as my Savior who died for my sins on the cross, but that [I] didn't know anything about him being my Lord or Boss. He said, "I bet that if you promise to always say yes to God, regardless of how weird it may be, I bet you your life will be anything but boring."

So I took him up on it. When a girl I'd dated all through high school dumped me our first year at the University of Washington, I wandered the campus night after night until I finally told God He could be the Boss of everything in my life, that I'd do whatever he wanted regardless of how weird it was. A few weeks later I saw the third or fourth movie of my life and was so amazed at his power that I told God He had to raise people up in the film business to start doing movies for Him. I kept getting the impression that I was supposed to be one of those people. We had quite a few arguments, but because I made that promise to always say yes to Him, I changed my major to film directing and a few weeks later found myself in Rome, Italy studying a subject I knew nothing about in a language I couldn't speak! Talk about feeling foolish. But I knew I was there because he wanted me to be.

Well, one thing led to another and even though I got C's in my one writing class in college (and I told God I could do anything for him but write) I got my first writing job for a TV series. And then another and then some directing jobs and finally some books. (I think I've written and/or directed a few dozen films and [written] about 60 books). The projects have won about 40 awards, I get to travel all over the world, and I'm having the time of my life. I often think that none of this would have happened if I lived my life my way. I would have never chosen writing and directing for a living. Instead, I might be in somebody's mouth this very minute drilling away as a dentist. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being a dentist, it's just not what I was designed for. So, everywhere I go, I encourage people to say yes to God, no matter how foolish it may feel, because by doing that, they'll be in the center of His will and living a cooler life than they'd ever dreamed [was] possible. It's not always easy and it can be a little scary... but it's anything but boring!

Today I live in California, not too far from Hollywierd (where I'm still trying to make a difference) with two cats, two kids, one dog and one wife.