About the Author
My Bio
Steven J. Marek is a writer currently working in private industry as a CPA to support his writing habit. His first novel, The Polar Storm, is being queried for representation and is followed by a completed first draft of its sequel. Steven has written several short stories two of which, The Postpartum Experiment and For You are published as part of the anthologies Rising Waters and Our Haunted Woods, respectively. Currently living just outside of Houston, he has a wife, two children, and an adorable Bichon Frise named Chia and is currently serving as the president of the Woodlands Writing Guild . His inspirations are found in everything that surrounds him as long as the music is playing.
MY Influences
After being raised on the Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, and seeing The Exorcist (hand over face) in the seventh grade-sleepless nights later, it just seemed unnatural not to embrace this genre. From the literary side I've enjoyed the works of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Richard Laymon, and various others of the like. Through film, the way Quentin Tarantino makes every scene entertaining, has always stoked me full of admiration and at the same time jealousy for his talent. Nothing is a bigger turnoff than endless back-stories and blasé fillers.
The Journey
So, why did I decide to start writing? Warm up on a short story or two? Dream of becoming a best-selling novelist since I was a kid? Nothing like that. More of an awakening.
My kids were grown, I was alone for Christmas and happen to see a story on the news about a gruesome murder. Well boredom plus eggnog plus curiosity got me thinking about how anyone in their right mind could commit such an horrific crime. So I sat and I wrote a murder scene from the killer's point of view. I wanted to know what he saw. Now knowing what he saw, he had to be stopped-so the story started with an avalanche of 'what if's' and 'that would be nice'. Since then, I was hooked. Countless re-writes later and getting involved in the writing community became my new home. Periodically surrounding myself with people who...well, tested the bounds of normal. Let's face it, we have to be. We play in a world of make believe and think about it constantly when we don't.
If I knew what the price was going to be to walk this mile, I never would've started. But now that I did, I wouldn't have ventured any other way.