Travelling all the way around the world to chat with Steven Streeter, author of "Office Education" in our latest anthology It Calls From the Doors!
Opening: Without giving away the story, tell us a little bit about the story you have in this collection Doors. What was your inspiration?
My story – ‘Office Education’ – was based on me going to the actual building in the story for a meeting, but going through the wrong door and stepping into the middle of a different meeting. My brain thought, “What if I opened the right door but still went to the wrong meeting?” And from there it took on a life of its own. It’s not gory, but I just wanted people to have chills go up and down their spine.
How did you know you wanted to write?
My mother says I was dictating stories to her before I could write, so I am guessing it’s been a part of me since I was really, really young.
Did you know you wanted to write other genres as well as horror? Were you always interested in writing horror specifically?
I write mainly horror, fantasy, science fiction, and humour, plus I’ve had some Australian bush poetry published and a romance. Oh, and some columns about professional wrestling. I just write, and however the story comes out is how it comes out. But most of my story sales have been in the horror field.
What is one underappreciated indie horror author we should all check out?
Steven Gepp, S.Gepp. He’s some-one I know in real life, and he’s had so many short stories published that he should be better known. His book Sins Of The Fathers (2019, Grinning Skull Press) is a short novel, but creepy as hell. Check it out.
Any advice for people who are considering becoming an author?
I can do advice. I dislike rules for writing, as everyone is different, but from what I’ve seen, to be a successful writer, you should do these things: 1) Read (all writers should read, or it’s like wanting to race NASCAR because you saw a photo of a car once); 2) Write (as much as you can, even if it’s gibberish, just write); 3) Get your technical tools down (the difference between “Let’s eat grandma!” and “Let’s eat, grandma!” is huge; there is only so much an editor will do for you if your work has poor technicalities); & 4) Have fun, enjoy writing.
It’s almost cliche that authors live on black coffee and hard liquor. What are you drinking right now? I hate coffee. With a passion. Even the smell makes me gag. As a younger man, I used to write with alcohol, but reading those pieces back… yikes! Nowadays, a cup of tea (black, no sugar, leave the tea bag in the whole time) is fine, with the occasional Energy Drink (Mother is my ED of choice at the moment), and water, especially in summer. Right now? My cup of tea is half-gone.
It’s the zombie apocalypse and somehow you find yourself locked in a room with two other people and a horde of zombies on the other side of the door. There is no food or water, you have to leave to survive. Real or Fiction, who would you want in that room with you? Well, if it’s zombies, who better than Ash Williams? The guy knows how to kill zombies, even his own Zombie hand. Man is a legend. But we need a team of two. Now, I’m going to avoid superheroes because, as Marvel Zombies has shown, they are surprisingly susceptible to becoming zombified. So, any two of the following five would be perfect: Ash (goes without saying), Rowdy Roddy Piper (come on, he was the survivor in Pro Wrestlers Vs Zombies, the greatest zombie film ever in the history of cinema, and he headlined the first Wrestlemania), Jackie Chan (I have seen him get out of predicaments with moves that seem impossible), Solomon Kane (the Robert E. Howard character, who faced down evil with his Puritanical beliefs and ability to kick some arse), & Jonathan E (come on! He survived the whole Rollerball thing when they were out to stop him… and who doesn’t want to have James Caan with them?)
Steven Streeter is from rural Australian and has been writing since childhood. He is a former professional wrestler, with two children, and is currently completing his third university degree. An unabashed fan of pulp fiction and escapist entertainment, he has a number of books waiting to come out through various publishers around the world. Follow him on Twitter: @Streeter_Writer