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About J. Steven Here I am riding an elephant in Bangladesh with my Dad and brother, David. Steve with his Dad and brother, David, riding an elephant. Steve’s love of adventure began early in his life. His dad and mom, Joe and Mona Spires, were Christian missionaries to Bangladesh for four years. Since there were not a lot of “toys” in Bangladesh to play with, Steve and his native friends would “act out” adventures in their home village. Whether fighting dragons or attacking the enemy, Steve would use any occasion to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary every day using one very special gift – his imagination. The experiences Steve gained from his missionary ventures enhanced his curiosity about life and increased his desire to express himself in writing. This became evident during his elementary years when he wrote and illustrated his first “book,” entitled, Mud Dud the Fish. This story featured a little fish named “Mud Dud” and his adventures in and around his sea home. Steve worked diligently on this story whenever he had a chance. Eventually, the story became a series of several hand-written and illustrated Mud Dud the Fish books. As a young reader Steve immersed myself in Dr. Seuss stories, fairy tales, mythology and the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. He would take the adventures he read about and would try to act them out during playtime with his brothers. There were many days the three brothers slayed dragons or took dangerous expeditions through uncharted territory where pre-historic animals still roamed. And they did this without ever leaving their yard! It was not until seventh grade when Steve discovered a true love for writing – thanks to his English teacher who had a unique ways of challenging her classes to write their best stories. In fact, one type of motivation she employed in her classroom to inspire great writing was to enroll students in local writing contests. This was a big motivation for Steve, and when his teacher announced a Fall writing contest held by a local newspaper, he was thrilled. Steve spent weeks thinking about and writing on his story, changing and revising it numerous times. The work and time Steve poured into the story really paid off, because he eventually won first place in the contest. This meant his entire story would be printed in a Sunday edition of the newspaper. When the special edition finally printed his story, the text literally took up three-fourths of the page! Steve always considers this story to be his first published work. It was Hurricane Katrina that actually awakened Steve’s current desire to continue writing stories for children. He and his family had been evacuated from their home and had taken up temporary residence at a family friend’s home in northeast Mississippi. It was during this long period of waiting to return home that Steve found the time to write stories that had been locked up in his mind for years. Writing stories has always given Steve a sense excitement and adventure. “Just having the imagination to be anyone or go anywhere is really a motivator for me,” Steve says. Throughout his entire teaching career, he have tried to “beef up” my writing lessons in an attempt to transform “the boring” writing assignment into a “story of wonder.” Whether in the classroom or at home with my children, I want everyone to know how much fun it is composing stories. Now married to the former Evelyne Berner, Steve and his wife have been blessed with five children (Steven, Jr., Chris, Andrew, Victoria and Ryan) who have been home schooled since they were young. Steve and his family still reside in the Camellia City, Slidell, Louisiana.