My name is Stephanie Schauer, more commonly called "Steffie". I write under the name "S. R. Schauer".
I live in the quiet Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, between bustling metropolitan living and the beauty of the Yarra Valley. Arthritis keeps me at home, with dreams of one day renovating a small city terrace house into a Steampunk paradise. I live with my family and deal with the craziness of two cats and an overly enthusiastic German Shepherd.
I like good books, good music and good movies - and a lot of bad ones, too! I love old B-Grade films, and I grew up on a steady diet of Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Star Wars, Creedance Clearwater Revival and Stanley Kubrick films, with smatterings of Gone with the Wind and Jane Austen as Mum tried to balance out the mix of surrealism and sarcastic British humour. I'm a German-Australian mongrel who once volunteered in a local dementia hospice, translating for the non-German speaking staff.
I graduated, with honours, from Deakin University with a BA in Professional Writing, Editing and Desktop Publishing, with a Double Major in Literary Studies (with a focus on Children's Literature). I've worked with literary journals like Verandah and small publishers like Brolga Press, as well as bigger advertorial magazines. In my life I have written copy for everything from trends in wedding favours to the brilliance of timber flooring - I mean, timber flooring right? Brilliant stuff, that! I've translated government jargon for when water tanks were all the rage and edited stories about futuristic boxing tournaments. I currently work as a part-time facilitator for a disabled author.
My own writing is flavoured with Steampunk, sarcasm and horror, aimed at the YA crowd. I like the idea of sharing the sweeping, spooky, steam-filled universes that revolve around my imagination. I'm currently working on by first YA series, The Diaries of Guardia.
I'm working on my artistic skills, and I can sometimes be found customising My Little Ponies.
And I always get stalked by peacocks when I'm at the Zoo.
