Greetings, my new friends and followers. My name is Stephen W. Roberts, Author extraordinaire! Now, I think I know what you might be thinking...In fact, I think that I know why you might be thinking such a thing that I, in fact, know that you're thinking.
Is it somewhere along the lines of "Oh great, yet another pretentious jerk of a writer!"
That's you and your thoughts and I understand the assumption, though I must stop you there and correct you for I'm far from pretentious. I say that I'm far from pretentious for to be pretentious is to express undeserved arrogance, but I assure you that I deserve every bit of praise that I offer myself.
I believe that for one to achieve any form of greatness as an artist that one must develop thick skin and a love for one's own work. Be your own biggest fan, as well as your fondest critic. Live for the best, accept(and fix) the worst and use it all to dish out something even more brilliant than your last piece...every time.
Don't get me wrong here, I mean, I'm quite humble and accept any help or criticism with great appreciation, but I also know that if somebody wants something in life then they must seize it and bit by bit I do this. I live my dream through my writing; with every word written, I grow closer to my ultimate goal and with every publication I become much more acutely aware of just how possible it is for dreams to peak at reality.
I've been fascinated by the art for years, but I decided(Jan. 2008) to take a shot and truly try publication for myself. I took one of the many half written, half baked ideas that I had and molded it into the short story that I always knew that it could be. From there, I sent out my piece and it was ultimately accepted by the prestigious Word Weavers group.
Speaking of publications, I've been published well over 20 times since I started professionally writing(February 2008) and some of my stories can be found in such publications as SNM horror magazine: July 2009 issue, Atrum Tempestas anthology, Edward Ballister chapter 18, Darkened horizons anthology issue 5, Requiem for the damned anthology Vol.1, Tome of distant realms anthology Vol.1, Ten nails anthology, The monsters next door magazine issue 4, STF press magazine, Micro horror magazine, Muse writing and I've even written a True Crime article or two for Serial killer magazine, that is to name the more popular and, or more recent few.
The most that I have ever been paid upfront for a single story is $50.
I'm a proud member of SHWA, a future member of HWA, an official Word Weaver and a proud associate/contributor/writer for Serial Killer Calendar's Serial Killer Magazine.
Besides all of that, I'm also currently writing Apartment 2B, a slasher/horror novella and my debut novel, Stucco, whilst smoothing over the edges of a few more novel ideas and even a couple short story compilations, one of these compilations being a Twilight Zone/Tales from the crypt style horror and the other being classic Sherlock Holmes style mysteries.
I was born of newly divorced parents, Donna Roberts and Michael Crane, in Granite City, Illinois on January 19th 1988 A.D. I was moved to Maryland with my mother and siblings when I was 6 weeks old, never to return out West.
I never met my natural father; he lived a life of addiction and ultimately killed himself when I was 13-years-old.
I have 3 siblings; 2 by blood and one adopted, and all of them are older and I am.
My Aunt Sharon and Uncle Joe helped to raise me when my mother had to work, though I've not seen my Uncle Joe since I was 13, briefly after my Aunt Sharon died. Not his choice, but my mother found it hard to enter the house after her sister's passing and I guess I just didn't try too hard beyond her useless reasonings. Though still, I'm forever grateful for their guidance.
As early as the age of 4-years-old I was able to help my Aunt Sharon with her home dialysis; I even mastered the whole process and had to perform it a time or two for her medications often altered her mental state. She battled a long road with kidney failure, but ultimately died when I was 12.
I never called my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Joe by said titles, but instead my Uncle Joe was Dad and or Pops and my Aunt Sharon was Noonie.
I'm currently taken, seeing somebody for the past 8 months or so.
My best friend/Brother is in the U.S. Army...and I almost followed him in.
My older sister, Tiffany, has three kids whom I've closely helped to raise for the past 6 years.
My older brother, Michael, has always been better at video games than I am...
If I had to pick my top 10 favorite activities:Writing, Reading, Conversing, Debating, Singing/Making/Listening to music, Drinking(Beer or more), Watching tv/movies, Playing video games, Playing cards and meeting new people.
I'm completely obsessed with word play and being successful in the literary world.
I'm not so good at public speaking or keeping my mind on one specific task. I'm a wanderer upstairs; sometimes I go days at a time without writing a single word, yet other days I can't seem to focus on daily life for the concept of writing an idea.
For approximately the first 10 years of my life I wanted to be a Country music singer(Yes, even as a baby I sang-a-long, but only to country, though pop/country...no fiddle!) Yet at the age of 11/12 I was going to be a pro wrestler.
I've changed and adapted to different concepts in my life, though I still possess the occasional thoughts and mannerisms of a country boy.
I'm often socially awkward and I've always stuck out from the "cool kids"
"1,2, Freddy's coming for you" from the 'Elm street series' was my lullaby as a baby. Other children watched purple dinosaurs and Muppets, but I watched killer dolls, men in hockey masks and most of all...a certain steel claw wielding maniac.
I spent over 2 years growing a ponytail(age 18-20) but ultimately cut it all off for I got frequent headaches.
I long to learn to express my emotions through music, though I'm partially clueless with a guitar.
If I had to pick the people who influenced me the most in a literary sense, I'd have to say Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen King, Richard Matheson and Jeffery Deaver.
The musicians I idolize most are Aaron Lewis, Chad Kroeger, Shaun Morgan, Scott Stapp and Chester Bennington.
I love the scent of roses.
I love to read poetry, though I'm far from an established poet...I'm mediocre, at best!
I've cried during movies.
I prefer the colder seasons to the warm ones, though there is nothing more entrancing than Summer rain.
I love to joy-ride, but I'm not the best driver.
I have a habit of pretending that I have no emotions and or making ill jokes at other's expense so that I can seem less like an emotional fool...I do the same with my spiritual beliefs.
Family, and more importantly love are words that I never use lightly, say it to me and, or I say it to you, well, then it must be meant.
For me, it's not about being the next Stephen King, but instead truly defining rather anybody will really want to be the next Stephen W. Roberts.
Your problem isn't what you don't know, it's what you don't know you don't know.
To find contentment whilst trudging through the bleak monotonous triviality that is best known as the human condition must be like taking your first breath. It’s so pristine, so invigorating and most of all so inexplicably petrifying.
Talent and knowledge is useful in the game of writing, but insanity is nothing short of a trade requirement.
We make our own existence into what it is, both reality and normality are but illusions that we may optimistically control. Pessimism is the acceptance of what has come to pass and the reluctance to change it.
No person can see their way through the darkness and surpass their monsters without a beacon of hope, no horror scene possesses the power of that of love.
In the darkest of times when the world is on it's knees and all faith has worn thin, there will always be a beacon of hope for those willing to look...for those willing to put down their guns and silence their words of hate, for those willing to look within themselves.
Heaven and Hell are not merely choices or sentences for the afterlife, but instead choices we must make and sentences we must serve daily. We all possess the abilities and attributes of the greatest saints and the most vial sinners, but the real question is who we chose to be when it matters. A person isn't defined by what they believe or what they think, but really by what they do. Remember that actions speak louder than words when you weigh the good and the bad, accept them both with much forgiveness for yourself, reach deep inside, look into the mirror without a vale and the answer will be crystal clear.
Idol hands are the Devil's playthings, but an idol heart is useless even to him.
Like two lovers in a field of flowers, I continually race toward my avid reader.
When life gives you lemons...you squeeze citric acid in the eye of a cheeky deity.
The eyes play tricks on the mind, making the deepest waters appear shallow when still.
The only guarantee after your first breath is your last, so why not take this tragedy and give it the happily ever after it so rightfully deserves?
I write of faith and love, I believe in the concept and even celebrate it...but I'm no thespian. I'm smart enough to know that when you apply knowledge or reason to such concepts that all you can end with is misery. Therefore I deduce that one must choose between the brain and the heart, sacrificing one for the other.
Give to a good man all that he requires to eradicate evil, and before he is finished you will wonder why evil has switched sides.
Well, I guess that's just about all I have to say on the subject of--ME--for the moment, but I'm sure that I'll add more in due time.
(Current projects:)
Apartment 2B:a novella.
Stucco: my debut novel.
Raining on Sunday: A novel
Check mate: a compilation of my short fiction.
Parallel Cell: Short Fiction compilation
Chadwick Felton Mysteries: Crime Drama short stories.
