Greetings, Fellow FanStorians!

It is with so much enthusiasm and delight that I bring this new member into the spotlight today. I know you are going to love meeting him as much as I loved interviewing him!

First, Steve, thank you for agreeing to this interview. In the previous ones I’ve done, I‘ve started out by asking little fun things like “Give us your name, rank and cereal preference,” but in your case, you honestly DO have a rank and serial number. Please let our readers in on that.

Yes, I was a Non-Commissioned Officer in the British Army. I served a total of twelve years in both the Infantry and the Cavalry. My number is 24262518, and I prefer Wheaties or Weetabix!

Hahahahah!! Okay; I earned that.

I know that for thirty years, you lived in Africa and for ten of them, you were a Safari Guide and Mountain/Expedition Leader. Please tell us how that came about.

I had always, from childhood, been very interested in nature, wildlife and conservation. Later in my life, at around forty years old, an opportunity arose for me to use my military skills on a short anti-poaching security assessment for the Rhino Conservation Project in Tanzania (see my Portfolio for my story “Ghosts in the Darkness”).

The way this came about was so incredulous that it was worth a story in itself and is actually explained in detail in my book, “To Hear the Lion Roar”, which covers the first twenty-one years of my life in Africa…and is available on Amazon Books (under my full name, Steven James Foreman).

Hahaha. This blatant plug was brought to you by…

My part of the ongoing Rhino project was for three months only, by which time I had fallen in love with Africa (you will see many of my poems are inspired by Africa and its people).

Being unable to secure more work in conservation, I managed to get a job as a camping manager with a safari company in Arusha. A year or so later, I got a job in Botswana, where I studied for and passed the strenuous exams to become a Licensed Professional Guide. That was the start of it all.

What is your most exciting vignette to share from those days?

To be honest, there are so many, it would be impossible to choose the most exciting, and any one of them would take longer than this interview to tell. My Flash Fiction story in my portfolio, “The Tent” is actually based on a true incident. It happened to me, although, obviously, I didn’t get eaten. My colleague, who was on top of a truck nearby, began throwing camping chairs and pots and pans at the hyenas, and they ran off.

I suggest reading about them all in the above-mentioned autobiography! (LOL!).

Oh, geez – haha – You are so bad!! This SECOND blatant plug was brought to you by…

For the other twenty years in Africa, you were the Security Contractor working for Private Military Companies and Security Adviser to Non-Government Organizations

Please give us a day-in-the-life snapshot of doing that.

Oh, wow, Rachelle! What a question. It is impossible! I have worked in post-conflict regions, in the Congo, the deserts of Somaliland and Turkana, in the Middle East, and in the middle of civil wars (such as over five years in South Sudan), and in totally failed states and dangerous environments (such as in Haiti in 2019), and I have done everything from close protection, to international valuables movements, to training para-military personnel, to advising clients on security, to training Kidnap Mitigation and Hostage Survival, to oil rig security and every conceivable discipline of security – from running a team of security guards to advising high-level corporate entities. The list is too long!

Whoa! Actually, on second thought, I prefer you DON’T tell us…because I fear then you’d have to kill us all off or something because we knew too much!!

Finally, ALSO while you were in Africa, you were the Editor-in-Chief and main feature writer for African Travel Review. How did that come about, and what did it entail?

OK here is a question I can answer!

Three cheers for my tenacity!!

 During my time working as a safari guide and tour leader/mountain leader, I was contributing regular articles to African Travel Review magazine (among other magazines – such as BBC Wildlife). I was quite disappointed on how some in-house editor was treating my submissions (cutting lumps of text out to decrease word length, but making them read like nonsense instead of editing them properly, plus, the poor quality of some of the other content), that I complained several times and bitterly to the publisher. To cut a long story short, she said, “well if you think you can do a better job, then come join us!” So I did!

Go you!! I bet she never expected THAT! Most times when it comes to “Put up or shut up,” people stop talking.

It entailed many things, like inviting contributions from wildlife and tourism experts, widening the field of interest, developing it from a 30-page magazine issued once every two months, to a 50-page magazine issued monthly, attracting advertisers, and working closely with the graphic designers to improve the overall quality and presentation.

Was it a gig that appealed to you?

Oh Yes! Because I was the main feature writer (at least in most issues, unless I had invited a contributor), I would offer safari camps and lodge operators (in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda) a double-page illustrated spread all about their lodge or camp, in return for a free weekend, so I could research the article and take the necessary photos! So, I could still get out in the bush and go on safaris!

The only reason I left the magazine after two years is because my new wife and I had a baby, and I needed to earn much more than the magazine paid. That is when I returned to security-type work, where money was far better. I say “returned to security-type work” because that was essentially the profession I had followed after leaving the army and before going to Africa.

Okay – onto all things reading, writing, and our FS site. I am agog at your prolific ways! You joined in June (2024), and by July 14th, you’d already posted your Fiftieth Milestone Post!!! Incredible! At the date of this writing, you have created twenty-four poems, thirty stories and are on chapter three of a book entitled The Journey of the Cegne Dagger.

So, let’s talk about the formative years of the member (i.e. YOU!) who’s grown up to be such a master of every genre.

What did you read (or enjoy having read TO you) when you were young?

Oh. I read everything I could get my hands on. I had my own Library Card by the time I was ten.

There were some books I read that, for the life of me, I cannot remember why I picked them; I distinctly remember such books as The Voyage of the Kon Tiki, Stirling’s Commandos, The Life of Benjamin Franklin…. This was when I was ten!

Oh, how the teacher in me would have absolutely adored Young You!

But other more fitting were greats such as Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Black Beauty, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, The Swiss Family Robinson, Kidnapped! Westward Ho! and The Hobbit.

I read every genre, except maybe romance.

At what age did you begin writing your own stories and/or poetry?

Around 30.

Did anyone else in your family write?

No.

I know you have four children. Do they like to write?

No! And they don’t even like to read!

My 17-year-old daughter is about halfway through “To Kill a Mockingbird”, but she has had the book since last year!

If it’s any consolation, my daughter couldn’t find Middle C on a piano with a GPS.

Who are your top three favorite authors today…and, you know, it’s okay if you don’t include me on that list Steve. We’ll just end the interview early is all…

Haahaa!

I have always loved Dickens and will happily re-read him constantly!

I used to be able to boast that I had read every Stephen King novel --- but he became so prolific that I couldn’t keep up. I went off him a bit with his later works, I must admit.

I can’t really say who my top three are today – I tend just to grab a few random pre-loved novels from a charity shop, if they look interesting (do you have those in the US? Thrift stores?).

Absolutely! Old books and fabulous vintage clothing – and hats! – and SHOES!! …Um, but I digress…

Now let’s talk about your current writing! I’m ashamed to say that I was late to the Steve Foreman, FanStorian, party. My first taste of your immense – and that is NOT hyperbole – talent was the Flash Fiction Contest entry: “The Tent.” It took just eighty words for my Little Voice to say, “Oh, YESSSSSS!! Now here’s someone SPECIAL!”

Since then, I’ve read ALL your work, and I cannot say enough about it. I am always so happy when, in my FanStory Inbox, it says, “New Online Writing” across from your name.

You are so versatile: funny poems (Free Form Fiddles, Expired, No,No Nonet), terrifying stories (Feral, Red, which was a Story of the Month entry!) and also the infinitely memorable macabre (The Fridge, The Cell).

The common bond with them all, from my perch at least, is that they draw me in with the speed and ferocity of an undertow. One or two sentences in, and I WILL be reading to the end!

How do you come by your ideas for your pieces?

I am not sure really. Maybe something I hear or see or dream about is a trigger. Or something just pops into my head unlooked for. Sometimes it is the ending of the story that comes to me first, and then I have to create the story to reach that ending. I rarely have a plan, though. It sounds a bit of a cliché, but often the story writes itself. Especially in long or complex stories; even the characters seem to take on a life of their own (this was especially true in “Maggot” – by Steven James Foreman – available on Amazon).

Sometimes I genuinely have no idea where they are going or how they got there! Truly!

That’s got to be quite the rush.

How much time do you devote to writing each day?

It varies, between zero and two or three hours.

Take me inside your writer’s brain, Steve, from conception to techniques, etc.

As soon as I have an idea, I write it down. I get black on white! I get it down as fast as I can type, and I don’t think about grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, or whatever. I just get black on white as fast as I can. If I start thinking about the grammar and spelling and punctuation as I’m writing, I could easily lose track of the idea or lose the flow of the narrative. All that stuff can be sorted out later.

If I have trouble with character development, I just let them develop themselves! It sounds stupid, but they are my characters, so I can visualize them. I let that be my guide.

Unless it is a first-person narrative, I stick in PLENTY of dialogue, broken up by actions to give it realism. For example:

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think you should consider changing those paintings around. They don’t look right where they are. Maybe put the Van Gogh there and the Picasso over here above the fireplace.”

Better:

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” John said, stubbing out his cigarette, “but I think you should consider changing those paintings around. They don’t look right where they are.”

He stood up and walked over to the far wall.

“Maybe put the Van Gogh over there,” he said, pointing to a space above the fireplace, “and the Picasso over there.”

Mmmm! I love your writer-brains so much!! If you ever teach a master class, please, please, please let me know!

Alright. Now I’m going to take you down a new road here now. I haven’t yet seen, among your vast trove of poems, a limerick! So, please write a limerick about your time so far on FS.

I joined FanStory to write

To check if my stories were trite

With nothing to lose

I got great reviews

So, it seems my decision was right

Hahahaha!! That’s perfect! I knew you wouldn’t disappoint!!

Alright, just for the record, I want it known that I am not the only one who thinks your writing acumen stands out. Your work has been featured in the following professional publications: Twisted Dreams, Aphelion, Close to the Bone, Sirens Call, Hell fire Crossroads, two Amok anthologies and two works are published by Gypsy Shadow Publishing of Texas.

In addition, your work was also in the following magazines and newspapers: Soldier, Combat and Survival, The Church of England Newspaper, African Travel Review, Land Rover World, Your Dog magazine, Travel News and Lifestyle, The Dar Guide and the Daily Mail, proving it’s not just on FS where you have proven yourself to be A FORCE!!

So, now six weeks in, what do you think about FS, and what suggestions and/or assessments would you like to share?

Well, for one thing, I think it is unfair that folks can buy extra certificates and pumps, etc. to get their work pushed up the ladder to become more “noticed” and be able to be reviewed more or reach award status. There are only so many reviews one can do to earn enough member cents to buy a ‘pump’ or ‘certificate,’ and I cannot afford to buy them with cash. I did spend $10 on member cents once – to buy pumps or whatever – but my story was still way down the list. It means nothing.

The same goes for having to earn “member cents” to ENTER competitions. It makes no sense. We have already paid a subscription!

Second, I think there are FAR too many competitions and writing prompts and so many repetitions. It seems like almost every day there are “write a 5-7-5 on this” or “a 30-syllable poem on that.”

Also, because of that, there is an enormous workload on the committee, and that puts the deadlines for competitions too far into the future. I can submit a story for a competition today, but the entry date for closing and voting could easily be a year ahead. In the meantime, there are more prompts for the same category that I cannot enter.

Finally, I would have liked to see far fewer competitions for all the 5-7-5’s and one-lines and Nonets and 20-syllable types of prompts as well as the rather pointless (for me) little nonsense competitions of that nature that are hardly challenging and have no creative value. Better to have more space for short stories and long poems (with minimum and maximum word counts). I think that would lessen the long run-up time for entry closing and voting and give more space for QUALITY entries to be submitted.

I think that FanStory is inviting far too many – I mean, FAR TOO MANY – entries for them to cope with.

Thank you, times a million zillion for your candor. I love it when a person says what s/he means and doesn’t pussyfoot. I ask questions of people because I want honest answers. Thank you for respecting that.

Now – what are your goals here?

To see what other folks think about my work, and to receive valuable critiques and advice on grammar, punctuation, plot, etc. It would also be nice to win a cash prize!

Do you have any advice for anyone new to the site, anyone contemplating joining or any of the Powers That Be running the site?

Not really, other than the above for the Powers That Be.

What is your Big Picture writing goal?

I would like one of my stories to be considered for publication as a screenplay or movie treatment.

I hope that for you, too; I honestly do.

Steve, I cannot tell you how much I looked forward to doing this interview. I knew, after reading your stories and poems and book, that one-on-one time with you would be equally rewarding.

Any final thoughts or comments you would like to share?

I like FanStory compared to other writing forums because one gets the views and reviews of other writers, rather than an editorial team. So one can receive praise, criticism and advice from like-minded writers. That is what makes FanStory special and a stand out.

Okay, fellow FanStorians, do yourself the best favor today: FAN this unique and evocative writer at once so that you don’t miss anything else he posts (and you know he’s prolific - we talked about that - so the potential is there to miss a LOT!!)

XOXOXOX

Rachelle