FAQ
(FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS)

Inspirations?
Yes, but some days I never seem to get enough of them.

Hobbies? Past-times?
Now you’re getting personal.

How do I become a writer?
See my section On Writing

What’s the weirdest thing that ever happened to you?
Back in 1984 there were three guys living in Cedar Rapids named Steven P. Jones. There was me, a gentleman who had
recently started his own business, and a rather unsavory chap. This third S.P.J. had stiffed some local criminals out of some
drug money and the bad guys wanted it back. Unfortunately the idiots could not figure out which of us was the Steven P. Jones
who had ripped them off.

The S.P.J. with his own business got the worst of what followed, beginning with a thug showing up at his front door to intimidate
him. People broke into his house. He received threatening phone calls. The police suggested Jones leave Cedar Rapids, but he
did not want to abandon his new business, so they told him the best they could do to protect him was suggest he purchase a gun. Eventually…fortunately…the bad guys figured out they had goofed and stopped harassing him. Soon after that the Cedar
Rapids Gazette learned what had been going on and ran a front-page above-the-banner story in a Sunday edition.

My mother showed me the story when I came over to visit that Sunday and asked, "Did any of this stuff happen to you?" I
started to say, "No," and then recalled a number of phone calls I used to receive at odd hours of the night asking, "Is this
Steve Jones the accountant?" No big deal, but on two recent occasions I had had people show up at the door of my off-street
apartment and ask to use my phone because of car trouble. One of these callers was a man who offhandedly asked me what
I did for a living. I was trying to break into comics, so I said, "I’m a comic book writer."

"No, you’re not," he said.

"Yes, I am." We went through this one more time before he dialed for assistance and left. At the time I was tempted to ball up
my fist and slap him up side the head for telling me I was lying. After reading the Sunday news story, I was glad I led the stranger
out of the door and bid him a good night instead.