What is the Emporium of Imagination?
Professor Theophilus’ Emporium of Imagination a writing and art studio, a creative laboratory, and the culmination of a dream. It is the company I wanted to work for but couldn’t find. I wanted to write science fiction and fantasy novels, but struggled to find a publisher in a field that is increasingly driven by stars. I wanted to write and design graphic novels, but wanted to create my own characters. I wanted to dabble in animation and filmmaking, but didn’t want to fight my way through Hollywood. I wanted to work for a company with pro family, pro-church values, but found little place for science fiction, fantasy, and comics in family and religious publishing.
Who are you?
My name is Timothy D. Wise. I’m the president and founder of the Emporium of Imagination. I have a doctorate in management and a lifelong love of writing and art.
What about Emporium Press?
Emporium Press is our publishing division. We released Intrepid Force, our first novel, back in 2003. Now we've released the second Intrepid Force novel and are getting ready to publish two unrelated books.
Tell us about Intrepid Force?
It’s a futuristic action series about a team of men and women with extraordinary talents and high-tech weapons.
You say it’s futuristic. How far in the future are we?
We’re in 2084. I picked that date arbitrarily because I started writing Intrepid Force in the early 1980s. I wanted to move the story far enough into the future to allow for advances in technology that would make a lot of the stuff we read about in comic books possible, but I didn’t want the people to be that different culturally than we are today. We’ve got space ships traveling around the solar system, but none visiting other stars. We haven’t discovered any aliens yet.
You mentioned comic books. Is Intrepid Force a superhero story?
It was definitely inspired by superhero team comics like the X-Men, the Teen Titans, the Legion of Superheroes, and the Justice League. The powers are more rooted to real advances in science though. No one gets struck by lightning, rolls in chemicals, and develops super speed.
So X-Men fans should love it.
Definitely.
Are there any other projects in the works?
We’ve just released a novella called Season Out of Time. There’s also a youth-oriented fantasy novel called Sign of the Sword that will come out sometime after that. It's scheduled for October. It was inspired by Lewis's Narnia books and Tolkein's Lord of the Rings. I hope readers will consider it a tribute rather than merely an invitation. I've also got a graphic novel project in the works, but who knows when that will be finished. I'm afraid to guess.
What is a graphic novel?
It’s an illustrated novel. It’s like a comic book, but a comic book is a magazine, a periodical. A graphic novel is a book. It’s thicker, printed on nicer paper, and given a heavier cover with a spine. It also has a shelf life of more than a month and can be purchased any time.
Will there be an Intrepid Force graphic novel?
That’s in the works. The graphics will be generated from 3d models like the figures on the team roster.
Will Emporium Press ever publish the work of other authors? Actually, I've got a project in the works with K. Michael Casey. It's a supernatural thriller called Chinchuba. The story is set in the region between Biloxi, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana. It's based on an Indian legend and on the unexplained disappearance of the Biloxi Indian tribe.
I noticed a few religious references in Intrepid Force. Is Emporium Press a religious publisher?
Not exclusively. It is a mainstream company with Christian founders. Some of the projects are geared specifically for Christian markets while others have a broader focus. I’ve joked that we use the Little House on the Prairie approach to religion.
Little House on the Prairie?
Yes. The old television series based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books. The show wasn’t exclusively religious, but it was clear that faith was important in the lives of the characters. You had a pastor as a regular character and some of the episodes had religious messages, but it appealed to a mainstream audience. I'm concerned that the so-called religious right has separated itself too much from mainstream culture. We've got our own stores, our own TV channels, our own universities, our own publishing organizations. All those things are good in many respects, but I worry about the withdrawal of religious people from culture when Jesus told his followers to be "salt and light" to preserve and brighten the world.
When you do cooperative work with other authors, what kind of standards will you hold them to?
We will avoid work that is blatantly violent or pornographic. We like action and romance but avoid the darker expressions of both.
What kind of darker expressions?
Some books are filled with scenes of people getting arms and legs ripped off, being blasted apart by machine guns, having their throats torn out, etc. Action stories are going to contain some violence, but some authors are clearly in it for the shock value. I realize there’s not an exact spot where you can draw a line and say, “This is too much,” but there are questions of taste and ethics here. Sexuality poses similar challenges. A girl in a bikini may represent healthy adolescent beauty or sultry sexuality depending entirely on the way the subject is presented, so it’s hard to establish exact boundaries of what is and isn’t good taste. It’s a judgement call. Personally I’d rather view these issues in a positive way and say we value nobility, chivalry, and respect rather than laying down a series of rules. The noble knight fights fairly and bravely, sacrifices himself for the woman he loves, and so on.
What about profanity?
It can be useful in establishing character, but can exceed the bounds of good taste. I’d generally avoid it in youth-oriented projects. Personally I try not to use it at all--especially in projects I might want to market in religious bookstores.
What about religious authors? Is there anything you avoid there?
We avoid Christian projects that are negative, defamatory, or derogatory in their treatment of people with other belief systems. I want my friends from other religious backgrounds to feel welcome any time even if we don’t agree on everything.
What about time travel, aliens, and mythical creatures?
Bring them on! I know some religious publishers may be wary of fantasy because of perceived New Age connections, but the Bible is filled with wild imagery. Sometimes colorful metaphors are the best way to illustrate spiritual realities.
What’s your view on science?
I’m in favor of it. You couldn’t have science fiction without it.
What about evolution and the Big Bang theory?
I believe God created the universe using a combination of natural and supernatural methods, but I’m not sure where to draw the line there. I certainly don’t use evolution as a way of writing God out of the script, but I wouldn’t ban Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time series from Christian schools (which was done in some places) because it mentions evolution--especially since it also mentions God and angels. I don’t believe scientists are the antichrist. Some science professors may use science as an excuse to bully the Christians in their classes, but that sounds like a personal problem to me. (It really does. Maybe they’re frustrated because students can’t back up their beliefs with reason, or maybe their Sunday school teachers beat them for eating Play Doh when they were kids. Who knows? There’s no excuse for berating people because their beliefs differ from yours.)
What about life on other planets?
If we found intelligent life on other planets, agnostics would say that it proves evolution because life evolved elsewhere. Christians would say it proves that there’s a God because beings like us could not have developed without a common creator. From a writer’s standpoint, alien civilizations (and alternate universes, for that matter) offer writers with boundless opportunities to explore the question what if...? and that’s what good literature is all about.
What's your stand on homosexuality?
Oh, man. That's a tough one because it's so emotionally charged right now. Some people say it's strictly a lifestyle choice. Others claim certain people are born with homosexual desires. There's so much rhetoric flying around that it's hard to make sense of it all. Let's just say I'm not in favor of sexual immorality in any form, but realize that most of us struggle in the area of sexuality. I don't want to look down on somebody because they struggle with different temptations than I do. We all struggle. We all need God's forgiveness for failing to measure up in some way. So you're not going to find rainbow stickers on my door, but you're not going to hear me slamming gay people either.
What kinds of services do you offer to other authors?
If they’ve already got a book published, they can buy a link from our site to wherever their books are being sold and we’ll advertise them in the bookstore. If they’re in the process of self-publishing, we can give them advice, help them with cover graphics, and--as before--promote them on our website. I'd like to publish some of them under the Emporium Press brand if they're compatible with what we do.
Why did you pick a Victorian village as a metaphor for your website?
Because I wanted to set up a real set of shops like that--a bookstore, a theater, a school, and a wax museum. (Shops selling costumes, collectibles, puppets, and magic tricks and a small video production and animation house would also fit in there.) Creating the village in cyberspace seemed like the next best thing. Who knows? There might be a real Emporia USA village someday. Meanwhile, we’ll have to make do with cyberspace.
Thanks for speaking with us, Tim. We’ll look forward to seeing what else Emporium Press and Emporia USA have to show us in the future.