The Two Steves are British collaborative writers of children's books Steve Barlow (real name Steven Lowe) and Steve Skidmore (born 7 December 1960). They have written more than 70 books together. Their books are published as by Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore except two Dragonriders of Bresal novels (2007 and 2008) as by Salamanda Drake.
Background
Skidmore wrote the text for at least two non-fiction picture books published in 1990.
The Two Steves began collaborating in 1987 after meeting while working at Fairham Comprehensive School in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
, and have produced a large body of work together. They operate on a
freelance
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
basis, and have produced work for several publishers including Scholastic (
Outernet
Othernet Inc is a broadcast data company that was previously known as Outernet. Due to trademark issues, the name of the company and service was changed in July 2018. Othernet sells a portable satellite data receiver that combines an amplifier, ...
series), and
Collins
Collins may refer to:
People Surname
Given name
* Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat
* Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration
* Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...
(The Dark Forest series). Their first published work was a book of three short plays, "Paper Tigers" (1991) in the Oxford Playscripts series, while their first novel was "I fell in Love with a Leather Jacket" (1993). They have also written a large body of work for educational publishers, and have been series editors for
Impact
Impact may refer to:
* Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period
* Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US
Science and technology
* Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event
* Impact ...
and High Impact (materials for struggling readers) for
Heinemann Heinemann may refer to:
* Heinemann (surname)
* Heinemann (publisher), a publishing company
* Heinemann Park, a.k.a. Pelican Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
See also
* Heineman
* Jamie Hyneman
James Franklin Hyneman (born Se ...
, as well as series editors for Heinemann Plays and Oxford Playscripts. They have also written parody books such as "Star Bores" (2000), to coincide with the releases of popular and anticipated films. However, the bulk of their work still remains in the field of children's and
teenage
Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...
literature. A number of their books have been
translated
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
into other languages, and The Mad Myths, Vernon Bright, The Dark Forest and Erik Bloodaxe books have been released as
spoken word
Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
tapes. They have recently made some of their older books available on the iPhone and
iPod
The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...
touch via Sleepydog.
The 2 Steves are currently working on new books for various publishers, including Usborne and
Hachette Hachette may refer to:
* Hachette (surname)
* Hachette (publisher), a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing
** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary
** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm
See also
* Hachett ...
.
School visits
As former teachers, the Two Steves have toured schools both around Britain, and in other countries including Brazil, China, Qatar, Venezuela,
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
, and
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. They have also been involved with the library services in Britain, and events such as the
Northern Children's Book Festival
Northern may refer to the following:
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* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ...
s in 2006 and 2009.
Selected works
Early publications
Skidmore:
* ''Poison! Beware!'', illustrated by Thompson Yardley (Cassell's, 1990; US: Millbrook Press, 1991),
* ''What a Load of Rubbish!'', illus. Yardley (Cassell's, 1990); US: ''What a Load of Trash!'' (Millbrook, 1991),
Barlow and Skidmore:
* ''Paper Tiger'' (
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, 1991) – "three original, self-contained plays following the adventures of a gang of newspaper boys and girls as they confront such issues as racism, equality and the law."
* ''One (plus one): Monologues and duologues for performance'' (Hodder & Stoughton, 1991),
Books for young adults
* ''I Fell in Love With a Leather Jacket'' (1993)
* ''In Love With an Urban Gorilla'' (1995)
* ''Dream On'' (1998)
Juvenile fiction series
;Mad Myths
A series of fantasy adventure books focusing on
mythological
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
characters transplanted to the modern age, published by
Puffin
Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crev ...
, reissued by Barn Owl, and later available on iPhone and
iPod
The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...
touch.
Titles: ''Stone Me!'' (1995), ''Mind the Door!'' (1996), ''A Touch of Wind!'' (1998), ''Must Fly!'' (1998), ''Don't Look Back'' (2006). The first novel was based on a short play of the same name published in 1993.
;Lost Diaries
A series of short books featuring on the supposed diaries of historical or semi-historical characters.
Titles: ''The Lost Diary of Erik Bloodaxe, Viking Warrior'' (Collins, 1997), ''The Lost Diary of Henry VIII's Executioner'' (1997), ''The Lost Diary of Shakespeare’s Ghostwriter'' (1999), ''The Lost Diary of Julius Caesar's Slave'' (1997), ''The Lost Diary of Hercules' Personal Trainer'' (1998), ''The Lost Diary of Robin Hood's Money Man'' (1999).
Late in 1999 Collins published ''The Lost Diary Boxed Set'' comprising three of these Lost Diaries (Bloodaxe, Shakespeare, Caesar) with ''The Lost Diary of Tutankhamun's Mummy'' by Clive Dickinson.
; Star Bores
* ''Star Bores'' (1999), or ''Star Bores: May the Farce be With You!: The Original Parody''
* ''Star Bores: the Prequel'' (2004), or ''Star Bores: May the Farce be With You!: The Parody Prequel''
''Episode I: The Panting Menace'', ''Episode II: The Attack of the Clowns'', ''Episode III: The Revenge of the Hith'', ''Episode IV: A New Hype''
;Vernon Bright
A series of books about a boy genius and his adventures, published by Puffin and later made available on the iPhone and iPod.
Titles:''Vernon Bright and the Magnetic Banana'' (2000), ''Vernon Bright and Frankenstein's Hamster'' (2000), ''Vernon Bright and The Faster-Than-Light Show'' (2001), ''Vernon Bright and the End of the World'' (2004).
;Tales of the Dark Forest
A fantasy series set in the eponymous Dark Forest.
Titles: '' Goodknyght!'' (2001), ''
Dragonsdale
''Dragonsdale'' is a fantasy novel written by The Two Steves (Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore) under the pen name "Salamanda Drake" and published by Scholastic in 2007.Winter 2010 Newsletter, The 2 Steves website
There is one sequel, ''Riding ...
'' (2007), ''Riding the Storm'' (2008), ''Snowfall and dragonfire'' (2018), ''Flying for gold'' (2018).
;Luke Challenger
Juvenile science fiction series from Usborne Publishing.
Titles in the series: ''Return to the Lost World'' (2010), ''Return to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' (2011), ''Return to King Solomon's Mines'' (2012)."Luke Challenger – Series Bibliography" ISFDB. Retrieved 2015-03-09. (Cf.
Professor Challenger
George Edward Challenger is a fictional character in a series of fantasy and science fiction stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Unlike Conan Doyle's self-controlled, analytical character, Sherlock Holmes, Professor Challenger is an aggressive, ...
, the 1912 Doyle classic, the 1870 Verne classic, the 1885 Haggard classic.)
;IHorror
A series of Choose Your Own Adventure horror books depicting the life of a fictional character known only as the "Hunter" who protects the world from undead supernatural creatures.
Titles in the series: ''Vampire Hunter'', ''Zombie Hunter'', ''Werewolf Hunter'', ''Demon Hunter''.