Gavin Smith, who judged The Herald's Christmas Short Stories, called Steve's tale: "An accomplished story which mingles the themes of childhood and Christmas with more sinister elements" referring to 'The Robin and The Raven.'

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'The Land of the Ever Young' recreates and helps us understand the stories of fairies stealing human children and substituting changelings for them.  Part of the root of these stories comes from the famine years where people had to find ways to deal with the starvation of their children.  On another darker side, this story also  treats of the fact that one more hungry child could be the tipping point in a family on the edge of starvation that send everyone else into the grave.  First and foremost 'The Land of the Ever Young" is a tremendous lot of fun to read.  Joseph Sheridan le Fanu or Andrew Lang have no better stories than this.  I will tell enough of the plot to give you a feel for it but I want you to read this story without knowing too much about it.  As the story opens a fairy is revisiting a family whose child she stole a year ago, putting in its place a changeling.  She sees in the window the changeling has grown into a horribly ugly grasping monster.  The parents have had a spell cast on them that makes the changeling look like a beautiful baby.  The fairy loves her human child but she sees the changeling is going to be the death of he other ten children in the family with his ravenous hunger.  In beautiful masterful prose Wade tells us how the fairy plots with her cohorts to destroy the changeling."

"Stephen Wade entered the Atlantis Short Story Contest 2011 with his short story Once There Were Rabbits. From the first judging round it was pretty clear that this story would score high and that it could easily compete with other entries. Mr. Wade masters painting and creating a fictional world that is full of details and in which his protagonist deals with the world in a way revealing a unique perception of the world as such. He is absolutely aware of using stylistics devices only literary forms like short stories have and to use them efficiently, so they have an impact on the reader. The protagonist's perception of the world is eye-catching blurring the distinction between reality and fiction and blending it to something very personal. His writing style lets any reader slip right into the world of fiction that is presented in his story. Furthermore Mr. Wade understands that readers shall be challenged in stories and can figure out what the story's core is really about. This way Mr. Wade allows any reader to experience a feeling of achievement that many stories cannot offer due to their simplicity."

"There’s a hint of what’s really going on in the opening paragraph, and like any good tale there other hints as we progress, but we don’t really learn anything until those final few lines. Well-written, well-structured, this story demonstrates another aspect of the supernatural. Not all spirits are malevolent. There is no gore, no horror, only the chill of eternity, but tinged with the goodwill of Christmas. An excellent effort and many congratulations to the author." (Judge's comments on Steve's First Prize winning story in Christmas Chillers 2011 Competition.

Alissa Nutting, Editor of Fairy Tale Review described one of Steve's fairy tale as '... wonderfully lyrical and haunting.'

Short story longlisted by BBC Radio Drama, who described the story as '... a powerful and compelling piece of writing.'

Daniel Tetis, young reader, Dublin

His Comments on

'Christmas in the Forest'

Daniel Tetis, after reading Christmas in the Forest said "I really enjoyed this story because it made me happy to feel how the animals celebrated their Christmas with each other.  My favourite part of the story was when all the animals woke up and got their present of snow.  I thought the words put in were great like when you said the mother animals where sensible like other mothers, it made me laugh and think of my mother. Great story, Daniel."

John Gosslee, Senior Editor of Fjords said "We are looking forward to publishing your work 'Lequoia and the Mai-coh' as part of

our inaugural editions recording section.  We chose the work for its stylistic intensity and storytelling attributes."

 

 BISCUIT PUBLISHING  

Brian Lister of Biscuit Publishing, described Steve as a "writer of excellence" after coming second place in The Biscuit International Short Story Prize.

"It is quite a gift to make someone, who has read so much, actively want to read more, which your stories certainly did." (Clio Gray, novelist and HISSAC Judge Chair).

Joellen Kubiak-Woodall, Editor of The Write Room (online Magazine), on accepting the story 'The Birthday' for her on line magazine, wrote of the story "The story has a distinct voice and some nice tension."

Jeff Webb, Editor of the glossy magazine 'First Edition' wrote "We receive countless submissions, and yours really caught the attention of the reading panel" on accepting one of Steve's stories for publication.

Pittsburgh's Premiere Science Fiction Organization
 

Ann Cecil, PARSEC Short Story Contest Coordinator wrote of one of Steve's anthropomorphic stories: "You write vivid, clear description, investing your river denizens with anthropomorphic qualities very cleverly."

Lesley Quayle, in her Editorial of the Autumn edition of Aireings, an online literary publication, described Steve's writing as 'Compelling and unflinching'.

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