Utley, Steven 1948-

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Utley, Steven 1948-

PERSONAL:

Born 1948.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Smyrna, TN.

CAREER:

Writer.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with George W. Proctor) Lone Star Universe: The First Anthology of Texas Science Fiction Authors, with introduction by Harlan Ellison, Heidelberg Publishers (Austin, TX), 1976.

(Wi th Howard Waldrop) Custer's Last Jump, Ticonderoga Publications [Australia], 1996.

Ghost Seas (stories), Ticonderoga Publications [Australia], 1997.

This Impatient Ape (poetry), Anamnesis Press, 1998.

Career Moves of the Gods (poetry), Anamnesis Press, 2000.

The Beasts of Love: Stories by Steven Utley, with introduction by Lisa Tuttle, Wheatland Press, 2005.

Where or When (story collection), PS Publishing, 2006.

Contributor of short stories to periodicals.

SIDELIGHTS:

Steven Utley began his writing career in the early 1970s, and over the next decade produced more than sixty short stories in the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres. A dedicated reader, Utley was heavily influenced by the stories he loved in his childhood, including Marvel comics and the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and the monster movies he saw in the theaters. However, he found himself growing dissatisfied with his career as a writer during the late 1970s, and he also developed clinical depression. He therefore took a hiatus from writing that lasted for approximately eight years. His early work has appeared in various anthologies, often with the stories of his fellow Texans, Lisa Tuttle and Howard Waldrop. Utley served as coeditor of Lone Star Universe: The First Anthology of Texas Science Fiction Authors, along with George W. Proctor, and noted author Harlan Ellison provided the introduction to the volume. When Utley returned to writing in the early 1990s, he once again delved into short genre fiction, producing such works as Where or When, which collects thirteen short stories based on the idea of time travel. Eric Brown, writing for the Guardian online, stated: "Utley's visions are dark, but occasionally leavened by his penetrating human insights and the contrary altruism of his characters." Booklist contributor Carl Hays found that "Utley's mastery of period detail should appeal to history buffs as well as time-travel fans."