Professor Theophilus' Emporium of Imagination, Inc. was officially started by Tim Wise in 2002 as a kind of creative laboratory. Rather than tightly defining the business as strictly a book publisher or a graphic design firm, Wise wanted to leave the Emporium open for growth in a variety of directions. The studio's first major project was the launch of the first Intrepid Force novel under the Emporium Press label in May 2003. The second Intrepid Force novel was added to the line-up in April 2005 and two unrelated novels, Season Out of Time and The Sign of the Sword were added in the months that followed. The publication of Chinchuba, a supernatural thriller by Mike Casey, began the company's evolution from vanity press to micropublisher. Tim's Comments: One question I faced with the venture was the role my Christian callings and beliefs would play in the process and how I would describe that role to others. Every artist, like every business, needs a guiding philosophy. Without that you just end up defaulting back to money or, in the case of the arts anyway, to freedom of expression regardless of how toxic some ideas are to society as a whole. (Before my less conservative friends start crying "sensorship!" tell me how much freedom of expression you would give to a group of skinheads or neo-nazis. See. You think there should be guiding principles too.) Some Christian artists produce work with a strong evangelistic message that is geared more for a church audience. Others present a more subtle faith message or try to redeem popular culture by producing work that appeals to the more noble aspects of human nature. People of good moral character, regardless of faith background, have a redeeming effect on the arts and society as a whole when their art reflects that character. Steven Spielberg's work (on the whole--I'm sure there are exceptional scenes here and there) is filled with excitement, wonder, and a gentle nobility. Is he an evangelical Christian? No, he's Jewish but Christians in the film industry would do well to imitate him.

Depending on the project and its intended audience, some of my work has an obviously Christian tone while the faith element is more of an implicit guiding philosophy in others.

In Philippians 4:8, the Apostle Paul advised his readers: Finally, bretheren, whtever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.

That's a good guiding ethic for either kind of project and I do my best to stick by it.
In addition to publishing books, Wise has also undertaken some graphic design projects. In addition to a third Intrepid Force novel, Wise is working on an Intrepid Force graphic novel and has well-developed ideas for some other comic book projects. The studio does not, at this time, have any filmmaking projects in the works but anticipates experimenting with animation and video production work in the future.
Timothy Wise is an associate professor of management and marketing at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Arkansas.
The "Religion Thing"

When I wrote the mission statement for the Emporium of Imagination, my four "E" words were Entertainment, Encouragement, Education, and, --the fourth "E"-- Evangelism. I have debated whether to include it on the list because I think some people outside my subculture see Evangelicals as having an attitude of, "We, the enlightened, will now inform you, the heathen, about spiritual matters."

Obviously I'm sold on Christianity (my particular brand of it, anyway) and dedicated to telling the story of Christ and of the impact of that story on the lives of people. The problem is the way we go about it, the attitude we take with us when we enter the "marketplace of ideas" and start to make our case. I believe I'm right and they believe they're right, so where do we even begin to have a conversation? I could walk in, pull out a Bible and a gospel tract, and start preaching. The barriers would go up and communication would end. If, on the other hand, I went in and started telling a story, I might be able to engage the imaginations of my listeners. If I didn't "win converts," I could at least build bridges rather than raising walls.

When you think about it, encouragement, entertainment, and education really address many of the reasons why people reject religious faith. Sometimes people don't know what Christians really believe or base their impressions on bad experiences they have had with ignorant or hateful people who claimed to be "born again."

I just want to invite people in for a friendly conversation or for an otherworldly escape from life's pressures. They may find, as writer C.S. Lewis did, that fantasy literature makes one long for a world beyond this one and opens the heart to the possibility that it may be out there somewhere. Obviously Christianity isn't the only belief system that hints at a reality like that, but some may have been conditioned by childhood experiences to view Christianity as the opposite. They may see it as a small, ugly superstition while fantasy is a broad, deep, and healing thing and never give Christianity a second look. Christians like Lewis and Tolkein kept me from making that kind of mistake. Even if many of my readers don't share my belief system, I hope I can at least show them a beauty in those Bible stories and in the lives of those who have been shaped by them that they might otherwise miss.