RAY EICHENBERGER
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 PictureRAY EICHENBERGER
How did you discover The Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards and how did you decide to enter this contest among all the others?
I researched various screenplay competitions, and read reviews about how much Santa Barbara was respected. I received recognition for my first submission, and have now entered three consecutive years successfully.

Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
I’m a native of Ohio, and live in a suburb of Columbus. My wife and I are Ohio State Buckeyes football season ticket owners- GO BUCKS!

What inspires your stories and why are you writing scripts instead of short stories or novels? What inspires your overall journey into screenwriting?
I’m a retired attorney, and I wanted to start writing Christian themed books as a ministry and second career in my retirement. I write both non-fiction and fiction on a variety of topics, but my novels have been the most fun. I have published each novel first, and then converted three of them to screenplays to promote them. So, I may be doing my writing process backwards than most writers. My novels which have been created into screenplay scripts to date are- The Blood of Temple Mount (an adventure about a plot to rebuild the Third Temple in Jerusalem), Red Foot Jesse (a thoroughbred horse racing plot about a geneticist pursuing the Triple Crown), and The Blood of the Bones (my recurring character, Lute Rothfuss, discovers an ossuary in a burial cave underground in the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem. The ossuary is full of bones and bears writing in Aramaic which
endangers the very existence of Christianity.) I have adapted the novels into screenplays in an attempt to bring my Christian themes to the medium of film, and to give them a wider audience exposure.

How do you decide which stories to tell, and what draws you to these particular themes?
The Blood of Temple Mount, and The Blood of the Bones are part of a series of adventures set in Jerusalem. I was in Israel in 2016, and had just started writing, so naturally was considering in my mind good plots and ideas for novels as I traveled. I have owned and raced both harness horses and thoroughbred horses, and love horses and horse racing. I wanted to write a novel about racing and horses as a result, and Red Foot Jesse was born.

Was there a specific film, TV show, or personal moment that first made you say, “I want to write like that”?
I am a huge fan of Dan Brown as a reader. So, I think I’ve adopted some of his style of mixing history, architecture, science, and general knowledge with plots and themes. As a Christian writer, I’ve been a huge fan of the series, The Chosen, and love seeing the impact that great Christian writing has on people and their faith.
What is your typical writing routine? How do you structure your workday to stay productive?
I am married to a dear lady who loves to sleep in. And, for the last three years I have been the owner of a gorgeous adopted Irish Setter lass, Ginger, who does not like to sleep in. As a result, I’m up fairly early in the morning each day, and use that quiet time to write. I write in fits and starts, and with a wandering attention span. Sometimes I have two or three books in progress at once, and go back and forth according to my mood and whims.

How long did it take you to write your script...and what is your writing process? Do you outline...use index cards...white board...or just start with FADE IN?
My scripts are simply my novels converted to a script format, and edited accordingly. I’m a big outline person for my non-fiction writing, but I love to initially start my novels and see where my mind takes me from the general plot hatching in my brain. Of course, my freestyle writing method is always tempered with much editing and many rewrites.

How do you handle writer's block or moments of doubt (we all have them) during your creative process?
The beauty of my scatter-gun style of having multiple projects under way at a given time is that I can leave one when I develop a block, go to another, and come back to the one that is causing me problems.

What tools or software do you find essential to your workflow as a screenwriter?
I am, unfortunately, a low-tech person, and just write using Word. A few writing friends have tried to upgrade my technical knowledge, but I’m hopelessly unteachable, along with being a severe creature of habit.

How do you approach competition entries, and what have you learned from participating in these contests?
The Blood of Temple Mount, Red Foot Jesse, and The Blood of the Bones have each earned recognition by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for my scripts. Like most people, I don’t like rejection, and submitting Christian themed works has always seemed like a huge risk in screenplay competitions. That risk seems to be that the judges are on the more liberal side of a life perspective, and as a result are not necessarily into God and spiritual themes and topics. For that reason, I’m gratified that Santa Barbara has seemed to embrace my spiritual themes. I love reading the comments from the Judges about my writing, and try to take them to heart as constructive ideas on how I can improve my technique and approach to my craft.

How many scripts have you completed? How many have you started and not completed (we all have those)...and why are they still unfinished?
My scripts at the moment are The Blood of Temple Mount, Red Foot Jesse, and The Blood of the Bones. I have three to four other novels which would make great screenplays, especially an adventure about the Shroud of Turin (Blood of the Shroud, Seed of the Shroud), and a Holocaust novel based on the true story of a teenage girl (Sophia’s Attic).
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Have you earned recognition in this or other competitions? What’s your strategy when submitting your scripts, and how has contest feedback shaped your work?
Each of my scripts mentioned above has won recognition from Santa Barbara. I was extremely excited that The Blood of the Bones was named a quarter-finalist in 2026. I’m looking for publicity and recognition for my writing when I submit scripts. The comments from the judges are always interesting, and I try to take them to heart to improve my writing skills. I will say though, that the three scripts all involve my recurring character, Lute Rothfuss, and the plots of most of the novels are intertwined with his story. Some action may not make much sense on a cold read without knowing what previously transpired with Lute. I have been made aware of that fact, and try to write accordingly.

Have you done anything at this point to promote yourself or your writing (besides entering online contests)? If so, how would you gauge the effectiveness of those efforts?
I advertise my novels on various online outlets, and have explored the writing to cinema cycle. My interest in selling my work as film began when I started to receive cold contacts from agents and producers about specific novels, usually The Blood of Temple Mount. Otherwise, in the way of self-promotion, I love going to book fairs, and talking to people about my writing. Ohio has a very active book fair community- the fairs are very fun.

Can you share a specific challenge you've faced in your screenwriting and how you overcame it?
Due to the lack of tech knowledge I have already spoken of, and my old fashioned methods of writing, it was challenging to convert my novels into the acceptable screenplay format. I finally did it with research and experience.

Where do you see yourself in five years as a screenwriter?
I’d like to have all of my novels hit the big screen. I’m a novelist more than a screenwriter per se, but I write my books with an eye as to how they could be presented on film.

What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
I write as a Christian ministry. I’d like for my novels and screenplays to bring people to a belief in God and my Lord Jesus Christ. A person seeking God may not pick up their Bible, but their spiritual search just might be inspired by a good Christian theme and plot in my writing. I dream big, and I’d like to win an Oscar for my writing someday.

The film and television industry is constantly evolving. How do you see the role of screenwriters changing, especially with the rise of streaming platforms and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence?
There are now very many opportunities for writers to put their work in front of other people with the influx of demand for content from streaming platforms. The challenge is to keep up with the demand with quality writing and interesting plots. Artificial intelligence is a direct threat to the creative process. The creative process of writing and entertaining needs to be kept a product of human intellect and imagination, not machine programming which cranks out the written word with a lack of inspiration and a lack of human emotion. I doubt if the spiritual themes of my writing could come from artificial intelligence.

Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
The creators of The Chosen have done a great job of both inspiring and entertaining with their ministry.

What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
I’m getting older, so I might mention shows that you’re not familiar with. My favorite all- time movie is The Godfather- what an awesome piece of cinema. My wife has introduced me to binge-watching television shows. I love the Gilmore Girls, for its quirky situations, interesting characters, and emotional tugs. This is Us is the same way.

What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
Be yourself and believe in your writing. Take the comments of judges in these contests to heart, and look to improve from their thoughtful and independent perspectives.

What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? (links to your projects?
The novel about the Shroud of Turin is definitely coming as a screenplay in the future (Blood of the Shroud, Seed of the Shroud). The story is long enough to be an initial movie and a sequel. I have a soon to be five part series of novels which are fictionalized accounts of the birth of Jesus. Each novel tells the Christmas story from a different perspective – the Wise Men
(The Gifts Redeemed), the Shepherds (The Lamb Redeemed), mother Mary (The Girl Redeemed), and Joseph (the Man Redeemed). The last and newest novel will be released in the fall of 2026 and tells the account of Christmas through the eyes of Jesus (The Man Redeemer). All of my novels are described on my website (below), and are also available for purchase
directly on the website.

Where can the world find you online? (Social media links, etc.)
My website is at www.Redfootbooks.com.
I’m on Facebook-at Red Foot Books.
My adopted dog, Ginger, was the subject of one of my non-fiction works (Ginger- Our Re- homed Irish Setter and Thoughts of God), and has her own Facebook page- Ginger, an Ohio Irish Setter.