Steven J. McDermott is the author of the story collection Winter of Different Directions and the editor of STORYGLOSSIA. His short fiction has appeared in journals such as Aethlon: The Journal of Sports Literature, Carve, Passages North, Word Riot, Mud Luscious, SmokeLong Quarterly, Dogzplot, and many others. Most recently his stories have appeared online at Keyhole, Night Train, decomP, Necessary Fiction, Kill Author, and PANK. His story "Blue Jeans and Black Leather" was also produced as a short film and shown at several film festivals. His story "When A Furnace Is All That Remains" was recently selected for Best of the Web 2010.
Born and raised in Seattle, Steven has bounced around western Washington most of his life with stints in California and Scotland adding seasoning. He currently lives on Fidalgo Island on the edge of the San Juan Islands with his wife Therese, where he manages a marina and operates a brokerage that sells and leases boat moorage. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles, and his BA in English and Philosophy (with a minor in Anthropology) from Western Washington University. He also has degrees in Landscape Design and Turf Management as well as a certificate in Golf Course Greenskeeping (earned in Scotland) from the City and Guilds of London (whose roots can be traced back to the mid-13th century).
He knows how to operate a backhoe and drive a dump truck and his previous jobs include director-level high-tech management and management consultant positions, where he worked at Boeing, Motorola, McCaw Cellular, AT&T Wireless, and Microsoft . Prior to his tour in management, he worked a bunch of high-tech jobs--programmer writer, web/UI designer, technical writer, systems analyst, and project manager for software development and process improvement projects. Before working in tech land he ran his own landscape design business, worked on five different golf courses, poured and finished concrete, and taught math and English to at-risk high school students. He's never worked in the fast food or a restaurant industry, but did work in several convenience stores. And there was that summer spent selling Burpee seeds door-to-door. He never had a paper route, although he filled in for a friend once, and ended up owing money after breaking three windows.
