Jan 8, 2006 — It’s difficult to
have a conversation with Tom
Steele and not feel inspired
afterward. The 17-year-old Red
Lion resident has a sharp sense
of humor, deep faith in God, a
stubborn work ethic, passion to
fulfill goals and seemingly
boundless energy and
imagination. And he’s also a
published author.
Tom was about 11 years old when
he decided to transform figures
he had created from K'NEX and
LEGO building sets into actors,
with his bedroom as their
theater. Those actors needed
scripts, so Tom started typing
notes on his home computer
describing and developing the
characters.
“When I look at kids and they’re
playing ... that’s what I
thought I was doing, too,” he
said. But he kept his ideas
secret. “I was embarrassed I was
still playing with blocks at
that time.”
After reading the Bible, he was
inspired to focus the
characters’ story around the
struggle between good and evil.
“I started writing it down and
it kind of snowballed from
there,” he said. “I had so much
in my head, I really wanted to
put it on paper before I forgot
about it ... Some people read at
night and I write.”
He embodied himself as one of
the villains named
the Magician. Author and
character are about the same age
and have curly hair but very
different personalities.
“He is my ultimate opposite. He
is pure evil,” he said.
Tom has always been interested
in movies and said the stories
he writes start as films that
play out on a big screen in his
mind.
“I have the movie in my head. I
could tell you anything about
any part, scene, I know exactly
what it looks like,” he said.
“These characters are mine.”
In September 2004, Tom sent his
final manuscript, “Adventures
Across the Universe,” to
AuthorHouse, a self-publisher.
The science fiction novel is set
in outer space and each episode
is a self-contained story.
His best friend, Elizabeth Goc -
the two have known each other
for about nine years - was not
surprised to learn Tom had
written a book. Tom has always
been imaginative and working on
new and unexpected things, she
said.
“He worked for years on creating
this book, and I believe the
very fact that he has published
a book at his age showed his
work ethic,” she said.
Mary Harshall was Tom’s
second-grade teacher at St.
Joseph Elementary School in
York. She and Steele have kept
in touch over the years. She
described him as honest,
energetic and enthusiastic.
Harshall was not surprised to
learn her former student is now
an author.
“From the time he was little ...
he was very prolific as a
writer,” she said.
“I am amazed at his drive to
succeed,” Tom’s mother, Donna,
said. “He found someone to draw
his characters, which are
fabulous. Tom also created his
own Web site ...”
Another big accomplishment is
the sequel to his book, she
said.
“I look forward to seeing what
his creative mind comes up with
next!”
Tom expects the sequel,
“Adventures Across the Universe
II: Darkness and Light, Episodes
VI-VIII,” to be available for
sale sometime next year. In the
next adventure, Steele’s
characters will continue to
follow a Christian line of
morals. Tom likes his second
book more than the first.
“It will build up and add to the
main story,” he said. His
ultimate goal is to one day see
one of his stories playing in a
movie theater. “Everyone has a
purpose in life,” he said. “If
you don’t fulfill your purpose,
no one else will.”
But it will be tough to beat the
rush he got the first time he
saw “Adventures Across the
Universe” published as a book.
“The first thing I did ... I
just opened it up to one of the
pages, and I just smelled it ...
Oh, this is cool.”
