BILL MYERS AUTHOR/SPEAKER/DIRECTOR
Bill Myers was born in Seattle, Washington September 9, 1953. His family moved to the Cascade Mountains when he was ten. He lived in a small town that only had one stop light and a population of 2,023. He spent a great deal of time wandering the forests and enjoying being a country kid.
Bill, like myself, didn't like reading much, but he did enjoy sports, music and acting in school plays. Bill had planned to be a dentist. And then, he explains, something very interesting happened…
“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 didn't know anything about Him being my Lord or Boss. He said, "I bet you that if you promise always to say yes to God, regardless of how weird it may be, I bet you your life will be anything but boring."
So Bill took his friend up on it. “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….”
When Bill was in college he saw only his third or fourth movie. He was so amazed at its power that he began to desire to see God raise people up in the film business to make movies teaching important values. Bill said, “I kept getting the impression that I was supposed to be one of those people….and 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.”
Bill explained that, “one thing led to another and even though I got C's in my one writing class in college (and 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.” Bill Myers has now been writing children’s books for over 20 years. He has included writings for teens, young adults and adults. As a writer/director his work has won over 40 national and international awards including the C.S. Lewis Honor Award.
Bill is pleased to be able to travel all over the world. He says that he is “having the time of my life!” He considers that none of this would have happened if he lived his life HIS way. He says he “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 possible. It's not always easy and it can be a little scary…but it's anything but boring!”
Today Bill lives in California with two cats, two kids, one dog and one wife.
His children books and videos include: McGee and Me book and video series. Ages 8-12. My Life as…. Series—Currently negotiating as a movie series. Ages 8-13. Forbidden Doors teen series of 12 books, winner of the C.S. Lewis Honor Award. Ages 11-15. Adventures in Odyssey weekly radio series broadcast to 1100 national stations. Past writer/director/actor. Imager Chronicles fantasy book series. Ages 8-80. Secret Agent Dingledorf book series. Ages 7-10. Bug Parables picture book. Ages 4-8. Elijah Project adventure/fantasy series.
Bill Myers is not only an exciting writer he is one of the most electrifying teachers. As an author and film director, he is an understandably a success. However, less obvious but seemingly more important to him, is his success as a teacher. From the Sunday school classroom to a young writers' conference room, he imparts knowledge as if he is giving a gift. “Each gift is carefully chosen, attractively wrapped and delivered with the anticipated excitement of the recipient. The gift itself is priceless advice form an expert craftsman. His generosity generates edge-of-their-seats enthusiasm in his students. Bill, who claims he himself has only about a five-minute attention span, can somehow hold the interest of thirty third-fifth-graders for hours!” Bill explains “by loving what and who you teach so much that your students can't help but be mesmerized by you. Enthusiasm is contagious!”
The thing I love about this author is the value of humility, obedience, love, and kindness—it’s evident this author is committed to promoting a love of reading in children by providing books that have more than just entertainment value. They teach values from a Christian perspective!
Not bad for someone who didn’t enjoy reading or writing as a youngster! Fortunately Myers got turned on to both, and now works to get kids excited about reading, writing, and God’s truth. His books make use of appealing characters, humor, and suspense to draw kids into the story and the message it presents.
And if that weren’t enough, he also writes and directs films! His latest celluloid creation is entitled The Choice Is Yours, it explores the effect of our choices on the outcome of our lives. And when he isn’t writing or directing, Bill is an actor for the Focus on the Family’s Adventures in Odyssey radio series.
