I studied under Alan DiFiore (The David Milgard Story, DaVinci’s Inquest, The Handler) at The Vancouver Film School in their Script Development Program. After the program I continued to hone my writing skills by writing and producing numerous short films.
The first was, “The Provider,” a darkly comic tale about a farmer hunting a duck while saddled with a broken leg of his own. This was followed by, “Nobody Special,” a thriller with a decidedly historical bent and finally, “The Terrible Old Man,” which was sold to CBC, Bravo and Space. It also earned me a nomination in the Best Short Drama Screenwriting category in the 2002 Leos, the largest industry awards event in Western Canada.
In 2001, I optioned my second script, “Darkness,” and we moved from BC to Mississauga and I began developing the script with Wishbone Entertainment Ltd. This also led to writing and rewriting a number of other projects on a for hire basis. Wishbone also hired me to rewrite, “Killers,” a hitman vs. a serial killer script in 2002.
In 2004 I was hired by Twisted Cow Productions Ltd. to do a complete rewrite of their project, “Snapped,” a feature horror project. This involved a complete revamp of the script which garnered me the sole writing credit on the screenplay.
“Snapped,” is in worldwide distribution through Velocity Home Entertainment Ltd. and is available through Amazon.com. It also aired on a variety of subscription based Movie networks both national and international.
In 2006 I also wrote a series of double and single segments for Creepy Canada (III) Productions Ltd.
In 2007 I was contracted to write Whiskey Four Two by Faranj Productions Ltd. Whiskey Four Two is a military drama set in the highlands of Afghanistan.
“Mystic,” written for Incident Pictures from an original script by Maninder Chana in 2009 was screened on Super Channel in Canada.
My spec script, “Reliance,” is optioned by Bunk 11 Pictures Ltd. , Michael Baker Executive Producer. Production date TBA.
Recently I came to a personal realization. I wasn’t having fun writing for film any more. I’d also bought myself a Kindle and well, you can guess the rest.
I’ve moved into self publishing. My first novel a nuclear thriller Devil’s Gambit was released in mid December of 2014. It’s now available as a print on demand book through Amazon and Createspace.
My second book, Two Wheeled Maniac (Eight years and 75,000Km on a V-Strom) was released mid January. Both books are doing well with steady sales on the Kindle platform.
I’ve just published an adaptation of one of my film scripts, a modern western thriller titled, Reliance. I’m also hard at work on the next book in my Devil trilogy titled, Devil’s Ante.
I’m still somewhat active in screenwriting, though these days I am more focused on building my career as an author. The blog is meant to show more of who I am and as such does not just focus on writing but on photography, motorcycles, adventure riding and even a bit of amatur astronomy.
Either way, I hope you enjoy my blog.
Steve Abbott
The Rough Draft 
I enjoyed your motorcycle book and look forward to more rides. One thing I found hard to believe was that in all those miles you never had a flat or something break on the bike. I know V-Stroms are reliable as I owned a DL 1000 for eight years and never even knew where the spark plugs were.
You said that motorcycles don’t have a soul but they can have a personality. After riding the new DL for a while I thought that it did everything better than my 78 Ducati except for the sound and torque. It was comfortable, quiet and bland except for the power output and great for long rides but not much fun for short runs. I traded it for a Guzzi V-7 and gave up 50 hp. and 100 lbs. but it sounds and feels good and is a lot more fun to ride. Not as comfortable on long thrips but not painful like some bikes I have owned.
Thanks, Bob B.
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Hi Bob,
Thanks for the feedback and for your purchase, I never expected TWM to do as well as it has seeing as it’s not exactly, “The Long Way Round.” I’m in the early stages of trying to put together a decent series of short three day rides for this year that anybody can do. I’ll probably recruit some friends from out west to cover some of the terrain out there as well.
To be totally honest, I’ve never gotten a flat on the V-Strom, though I came close during my encounter with the slash type gravel they use on the back roads of New Brunswick. My front tire was pretty cut up and I’m glad I noticed it at breakfast the next day so I could pick up a workable replacement. These days I’m usually running Shinko 705’s and they’re a pretty heavily constructed tire (something that takes a bit of getting used to). All of the mechanical issues I’ve ever had are detailed in the book and to be honest, my chain on the Reno trip was totally my fault as I should have changed it before I left but decided to risk it because I’d be putting new rubber on in Reno. The clutch push rod was something I’d overlooked and the bar end weight I lost on the Relais Gabriel section of the Translab was just me not checking that they were tight (something you need to do on a regular basis). Otherwise, the bike has been pretty bulletproof. I did rebuild my front suspension last year and replace the head bearings but looking at the kilometers on the clock, that was to be expected. I’m pretty much prepared to wrench on most stuff with the Strom but suspension stuff has always made me nervous and I prefer to have somebody with lots of experience do it.
I agree certain bikes have a lot of soul and character, the Strom isn’t one of them, though we’ve had lots of fun together and it’s so solidly built you can trust it to do damn near anything you ask of it within reason. I too love Moto Guzzis and often stare longingly at them at the various bike shows (especially the Norge) I get to but the one thing that’s always held me back is the lack of service support for them across North America. If we ever get a bigger place, I’d love to add one to my garage.
I’m going to see how far I can push my Strom in the Km’s dept. I just passed 100,000Kms and I’d like to see if I can get it up to 250,000Kms, by then it should be a classic.
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Hi Steve,
I just noticed that you were kind enough to leave a long answer to my technical question on Yahoo Answers 7 (!!) years ago. Thank you! I never tracked you down at the time, which seems kind of rude. Your answer is here:
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AwrC1Coy8lpY4BUAAntPmolQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEybTFvb2wxBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjI1NTlfMQRzZWMDc3I-?qid=20100624124836AAnLAh7
It came to my attention because, as you can see, a few days ago someone else left me an (mysterious incomprehensible) answer.
Hope your career has gone okay in the intervening years. Mine has gone nowhere, but not due to any weakness in the answer you provided.
-Oss
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