Yes! Creative Writing and Language Arts were always my favorite school subjects. My first story was "The Elephant Who Ate Smashed Potatoes," (about a skinny elephant that needed to bulk up for the parade) in 3rd Grade. We had to read our stories in class, and the kids laughed in all the right places. I was hooked from then on.

(that title now seems somewhat prophetic as I turn to publishing on "Smash" words.)

Most of my work begins by writing down questions about the Scriptures, so the writing process definitely begins in my heart and mind. As the answers are unveiled, I write them down and share them with others to consider. It sounds very simplistic, but there is a Scripture that really encapsulates the writing process for me:

"My heart overflows with a goodly theme; I address my psalm to a King. My tongue is like the pen of a ready writer." Psalm 45:1

Yes! The account of the baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch from Acts 8:25-40.

It was during a Sunday School class in 1977. I was 11 years old and at that age, we all had eager minds! Our pastor had just preached a hell fire and brimstone message on Sodom and Gomorrah the previous Sunday (which is the first time I heard the words, "sodomite," and "homosexual").

Just as young Patrick Dennis in the movie, "Auntie Mame," I started asking questions. "Where is Ethiopia?" "Why didn't he get baptized while he was in Jerusalem?" "Where did he get his copy of the Book of Isaiah?" And the questions many people continue to ask, "What is a eunuch?" and "Is a eunuch like a homosexual?"

I got in lots of trouble just for asking the question (and I still do sometimes!). I had no idea then that it would be a question that would lead me to discover Jesus' teaching in Matthew 19:11-12, that indeed Born Eunuchs include LGBT people! It has led me to tell everyone who will listen! Some have called it my "Magnificent Obsession!"

I wanted something that symbolized both the Bible and the LGBT community. From being the sign of the first covenant God made with mankind after the Great Flood, to being a symbol of dignity, unity, and diversity of the LGBT community, the rainbow connects us in a surprisingly prophetic way, and promises us a glorious future! Hence the series name for my books: "The Rainbow Believers Series"

"Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, robed in a cloud, with a halo like a RAINBOW over his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like columns of fire." Revelation 10:1

Isaiah:
It connects the prophesied Messiah in Isaiah 53 to the Eunuch Prophecy of Isaiah 56, and demonstrates the prophetically vital role of LGBT people in the return of Jesus.

1 Corinthians:
From rebuking a priest who was molesting boys in Church in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, to ordaining Same Sex Marriage in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, to teaching about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Corinthians 14, I count this book of the Bible as one of the richest revelations in the New Testament.

Luke:
From Jesus declaring that "In that night there will be two men in one bed," in Luke 17:34, to reminding us that "everything written of Jesus in the prophets and Psalms must be fulfilled," in Luke 24:44, it serves as prophetic confirmation of my work from Jesus' Own lips.

Romans:
Once we understand Romans 1 is about men and women who were married to each other, and engaged in adultery in order to engage in worship of Roman mythological gods, (which has nothing to do with LGBT people who are neither married, nor engaged in adultery), the remainder of the Book of Romans continues to unveil the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the spiritual lives of both Christian and Jewish Believers.

Revelation:
Just before He died on the cross, "Jesus, seeing His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing near, said to His mother, Dear woman, See, here is your son!" John 19:26.

The Book of Revelation was the result of Jesus personally visiting with John from beyond the veil. While it is often misunderstood, the good news for LGBT people is the Book of Revelation portrays our role as the 144,000 Eunuch Witnesses who make the final preparations on earth just prior to Jesus' return for His Bride, the Church, and His People, the Jews.

It portrays LGBT people as what today we may call: Wedding Planners!

Twitter and Facebook, of course! :)

PC. I'm "old school" like that!

Posting links to my work on Twitter and Facebook.

ON SALE!
I became too ill to work in 2009 and had to go on disability, sell all my belongings, and move in with family...with no desk. I started tithing, and working from a small folding table, began the process of publishing my work on a blog. The only thing I really had energy to do was type. The long road to recovery led me to busy myself with producing electronic trance music (The Gemini Enterprise), and starting BrianBowenMinistries.com to preserve the discoveries I made from Scripture regarding LGBT people. When you come that close to death, you realize the need to pass on a legacy with a longer shelf life than humans are granted.

Once my disability kicked in, I finally had some (limited) funds to purchase a real desk. HON just happened to be discontinuing a certain desk model that normally costs $500.00 per desk. I got mine for $103.00, and ordered 5 of them. I made a U-Shaped work area complete with 16 file drawers (normally $400 each, but I paid only $80 each), and made 2 desk areas made by "bunking" 2 desks on top of each other to form "work stations," bridged by a credenza. I couldn't be happier with it, and cannot imagine how to squeeze any more work space into a 6' x 10' footprint. Tithing (and good timing) works!

I grew up on a farm near Centerview, Missouri until age 14 when my parents divorced and we moved to Salt Lake City, Utah for a couple of years. At age 18 I moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at the beginning of the AIDS crisis during the mid 1980's. In 1986, I relocated to Houston, Texas to find gainful employment and never left, except to spend 2 years living in San Francisco during the mid 1990's.

Living in diverse environments didn't really have as much impact on my writing as do the times we live in. As LGBT people are in every nation, every city, every family, and in every religion, my work transcends these boundaries, and has reached into more than 160 countries around the world.

I started writing my current work full time in 2009, but had already begun part time in 2004. Today, this 10-Year Study has produced an astonishingly comprehensive library of LGBT positive Scriptural knowledge that the Church seems to have intentionally hidden.

The works I publish on Smashwords are based on the research from my blog and BrianBowenMinistries.com website. While those formats take a total of 22 subject topics and threads them in sequential order as one library known as "The Bed Keeper," the works I publish here have allowed me to "cluster" topics together, or publish one at a time.

While each topic stands complete on its own, many topics connect to, interact with, and build upon others. Trying to sit at a PC for the full 50 hours it would take to read all of them from my website is limiting to readers (who may not return to the website if they don't bookmark it). It confines them to read each topic, and doesn't allow me to really share the works as a "cluster" of topics that yield a more comprehensive understanding in a much shorter amount of time. And it doesn't allow readers to download the material into an eReader to peruse at their leisure.

Publishing at Smashwords has resulted in ebook works that took on a life of their own that was not possible on my website. Publishing them in ebook format has long been a dream of mine, but it was too cost prohibitive to publish each topic at $400 - $800 each as paperback books (priced to retail to readers at $10 or more--each). Further, there are publishing industry standards that prevent using more than 500 Scriptures in any one work. As a Bible student and commentator, these limitations prevented me from sharing all my research in totality, and forced me to abridge the work that would require omitting vast swaths of Scripture quotations. The point of including the Scriptures is to assist readers by preventing the necessity of having a Bible handy to read my work. The Scriptures are right there on the page, so readers can get the drift of them without having to switch back and forth between my work and the Bible.

Smashwords gives me an AWESOME opportunity to "work around" these limitations and spread the message to a wider audience that exceeds the limited demographics of my Twitter followers and Facebook friends. I have always been more interested in making change, than making a buck. While making money off my work has never been my goal, it is nice to at least have the opportunity to be rewarded financially for my investment in time and study, while at the same time producing quality theological scholarship that empower LGBT people (and Pastors) to use my research as a "launchpad" for producing their own works or sermons.

That's easy! The Church wouldn't allow me to be a sponsored author! I truly thought when I made these discoveries that the Church and LGBT community would be elated! But as the old saying goes, "most folks are not interested in truth--they are only interested in having their prejudices confirmed." Many in the Church don't want this message published (or they would have published it themselves by now). Most LGBT people have been so spiritually wounded by the Church that they don't want to have anything to do with the Bible. My work stands in that gap independently.

As an independent, I don't have to abide by the the "Cue Card Christianity" so many in the Church have succumbed to repeating in order to preserve their positions in Church leadership, and I don't have to abide by the "Cue Card Pro Gay Theology" that tells us to just ignore the passages of Scripture we don't like. I publish what I believe Scripture says, and let the chips fall where they may. As Margaret Thatcher said, "when you stand in the middle of the road, you're going to be hit by traffic in both directions." While that may be a liability in politics, in publishing, it allows me to be me, and leave everyone else to their own conscience to decide if these things proceed from Truth or not.

If you define "success" by how much money you make, it's too early to tell. But if you define "success" by publishing EXACTLY what you intended to, Smashwords provides the platform I needed, even if I don't preach from a pulpit every Sunday. I look forward to my relationship with Smashwords and their readers with great expectation for a dynamic publishing experience for everyone involved!

My number one joy is when an LGBT person says, "THANK YOU! I just KNEW in my heart that God had not forsaken us!"

Aside from that, I find it deeply gratifying to finally get this message "out of my heart and onto paper!" It brings a true joy and satisfaction of accomplishment. For 10 years I have searched for a way to get this message conveyed to Church leadership, the LGBT community, and the faithful masses around the world, mostly because I know there are more messages to come which require more study. As time is every human being's greatest commodity, being able to finally "download" the present message grants me the time to resume my studies for new messages in the future!

I'm not certain I have any "fans." I consider anyone who takes the time to read my work as a FRIEND! I know the effort it takes to consider my works, and the spiritual investment of time, energy and emotions necessary for the message to "gel" and "take root" in a person's mind and heart. I appreciate EVERYONE who takes that journey with me! If that is what qualifies as a "fan" then they mean EVERYTHING to me!

As Queen Elizabeth I said,

"Well....there's work to be done!"

Through Smashwords, of course!