Steven Owad (more affectionately known to me as my dad) has been writing novels and stories for as long as I can remember. Some of my fondest early memories include him reading Scooby Doo to me after an evening at the computer. His newest novel, My Only Friend, the End, is about a man who might be the last living person on Earth. It doesn’t include the mystery machine or Scooby Snacks, but he did spend three years writing it, which is the longest it’s taken him to write anything, so I’m betting it must be good.
I still have his old Warsaw Voice T-shirt from when we lived in Poland and he worked as an editor at an English-language newspaper. When we moved to Calgary, he started writing plays. The Basement Boys ran in Calgary and featured a marijuana-scented theatre along with some unruly scenes inspired by his youth that I was surely too young to fully appreciate at the time. In one of his other plays in Los Angeles, a character knocked out her husband with a “pizza-effing-grill-pan”—words that for some reason have stayed with me to this day—along with the fact that the cast included one of my favourite Disney Channel child stars.
When he wasn’t busy writing or editing other people’s work, he raised me on good music. The occasional Tom Waits or Monty Python song still pops up on my playlist and confuses my friends. More importantly, he gave me an appreciation for good literature and a love of reading. These days he spends most of his non-writing time reading or watching movies with my mom—the two are always together. In the eyes of our dog Teddy, he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, and although my dad claims he didn’t want Teddy, everyone knows he secretly loves him.
-Written by Sara Owad – Steven’s daughter
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Which neighbourhood are you in?
In Bridgeland, close to great bike paths, Italian restaurants and, crucially, three ice-cream places. Sadly, LDV Pizza closed down a few years back. That was a blow.
What do you do?
I write novels and work as an editor. I used to write stage plays and screenplays, and I would probably still work in journalism if the industry weren’t circling the drain. When I’m not writing/editing, I try to stay fit, walk the dog, read great books, and watch too much TV.
What are you currently working on?
Two new novels are in the works—stories featuring people stuck in moral dilemmas. Like My Only Friend, the End, they’re entertainment with a serious side. Unlike it, they aren’t apocalyptic.
Where can we find your work?
The novels are available at all the usual places (Amazon, Indigo, etc.). Some old short stories and poems are still floating around online. I post micro-reviews of the books I read at stevenowad.com and on my Facebook page.
