Continuing with Inside the Writer's Studio, the next question submitted for your consideration revolves around your personal outlook or philosophy.  Some might call it spirituality, for others it might entail a more organized form of religion and/or political view.

Simply put, whatever you believe at a personal level, secular or otherwise, do these influence(s) get reflected / expressed in the writing of your stories?  Or not at all?

Some examples of this would be Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels - which is a fantasy story at one level, but also political (satire) commentary on the state of (then) English society.  Then there are C.S. Lewis’s Narnia stories with all of its Christian allegories.  Or Mack Reynolds sugarcoating his view of economics as entertaining sci-fi.  The same could also be said of Frank Baum and his Oz books, which are loaded with turn of the 19th/20th century Populist sentiments.

My own opinion is, that the very best that do this, do it with a subtle hand rather then with a preachy, sledgehammer format.

To be honest, I don't see how writers can NOT let their world views filter through into their writings.  They'll show whether they're based on scriptures or just one's carnal desires.

Me, I'd like to think that my rep as the forum's resident goody-two-shoes is secure, and that anyone reading my stuff can tell my two big "philosophies" are (1) Love God With All Your Heart, Mind, Soul, And Strength, and (2) Love Your Neighbor As Yourself. 

And I feel I as an author owe it to my readers to make sure they're lifted up, encouraged, and inspired to Do the Right Thing as well as entertained.

I've had varying degrees of subtlety.  Sometimes it's just my take of the Parable of the Men with Talents in Alysia and the Trial of Strength, or it's as blatant as Pastor Craig's message in For Their Own Good.

And on politics?  Well, issues were originally just story hooks inspired from reading Time and Newsweek.  But I think I inadvertently let my feelings show on the U.S. military's occupation of Iraq in FTOG:  it was the right thing to do, but what if America (and the world) were declared the rogue state, facing a bigger, stronger, higher-tech force with a moral beef? 

That's my two jiao worth, anyhoo.

I agree with Jimmy, to be honest - you can't help but include your personal philosophies somewhere along the line in a story. They run right through you, and though you may try to keep them out of your stories, they'll find a way in. In my case, it's that my heroines always try to do the right thing according to their own beliefs.

That sounds small and/or lame, but I'd like to think that it's fairly difficult to actually do so all the time.