About
Hello, my name is Scott Zeilenga. Mr Z to my column readers. Z to everyone else.
I am a 30-something husband of a lovely wife, father of a wonderful toddler and homeowner of a little bungalow style home in top left Iowa. When I am not waist deep in writing projects, home improvement or my job serving disabled people, I play hand drums and percussion as well as take photographs and dabble in fine art and graphics. When I have free time you can find my head in a book - mostly nonfiction, but occasionally I get lost in a good detective novel - or deep in headphone utopia. Oh, and I am a Christian and strive to follow the leading of God in all that I do.
As for my writing, I mostly stick to subject matter that interests me:
Hands On with Mr Z : Along with the occasional side article, my ongoing writing project is a weekly newspaper column called “Hands On with Mr Z”. Each week’s 400 words are on current projects, home improvement, furniture design, tools, invention, volunteering, work and craftsmanship. I am in the process of self-syndicating this column by contacting many (nearly 200) newspapers across Iowa.
Bravery, competence, determination and life outside your comfort zone : Disaster. Catastrophe. Tough times. Trials. Tribulation. They may all be words you would like to remove from your daily vocabulary, but like the old adage says, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. Hardship has a way of changing us for the better and I love writing about the survival, courage, skill and hope that come with nearly every story of tough times.
Leading, being led and service : I never really have considered myself a leader, but I am always interested in reading about it and studying how good leaders lead. From my short ebook on leadership lessons learned from movies to the longer book about the art of following, I always have something in the works on this subject.
Jesus, Biblical truth and scientific ponderings : I am no theologian, but I definitely enjoy bringing my thoughts of God and the Bible to the table through my writing. I also subscribe to Biblical creationism (aka: young-earth creationism) and not only read about and research the subject, but often contemplate, advocate and muse on the subject through my writing.
Music and art : Both music and visual media have been a big part of my life since I was a child. I have produced electronic music for over 15 years and now also play hand drums and percussion. I also went to school for graphic design and dabble in abstract fine art photography. Although my main artistic expression is writing, I often enjoy the other arts as a hobby and as subject matter.
