Tery Steelman

She was one of the moderators of Stephen King Message Board and director of My Pretty Pony.

SKSM: Tell us about yourself, who is Tery Steelman and what do you do or have you done?

Tery Steelman: I’ve been many things: a phlebotomist, a writer, an insurance biller, a mom, a High Priestess. I’m retired right now and enjoying that.

SKSM: Your real name is Mary, where did Tery suddenly come from?

Tery Steelman: My middle name is Theresa, of which “Terri” is a diminutive. I switched up the spelling in 9th grade to be different.

SKSM: Steelman sounds very Dutch, do you have any idea where the name comes from?

Tery Steelman: It’s my husband’s surname. His paternal grandfather was adopted but Ancestry. Com doesn’t indicate any Dutch blood. We’re both very British.

SKSM: Where were you born, where did you grow up, and what was your childhood like?

Tery Steelman: I was born in Orange County, CA. My parents divorced when I was one and my mom and I went back to New Orleans with her parents. We moved to Albuquerque when I was 6 and ended up in Vegas the following year. I spent 23 years there.

SKSM: You were born in Las Vegas, how did you end up in Bremerton?

Tery Steelman: My husband had friends who had relocated to the Kirkland area (east of Lake Washington). We took a trip up to visit them in 1983. We were looking to move, too. Hubby sent applications to TV stations in Seattle, Portland and Honolulu. Seattle answered first. We spent a year there, bought a house in Everett in 1986 and moved over here a decade later.

SKSM: When was the point that you thought I wanted to make movies?

Tery Steelman: I’ve alway wanted to make movies. Films like Jason and the Argonauts and The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao might have been the impetus. Working in television with one of the best documentarians on PBS (not Ken Burns) was a shove in that direction.

SKSM: Can you explain why you specifically chose My Pretty Pony and not, for example, another story?

Tery Steelman: Well… It just touched me. The idea of the subjectivity of time, which we know is objective, made me think.

SKSM: Why do you think people like this story so much?

Tery Steelman: It’s something we can all relate to. We’ve all had the experience of time seeming to stretch or contract. King just describes it so well.

SKSM: What was your main goal you wanted to achieve with this film?

Tery Steelman: To get the story out there. To let people know that not all SK stories are scary.

SKSM: Did you have a vision of how you wanted your film adaptation to be and can you visualize this for us?

Tery Steelman: When I first read the story I saw the boy and his grandfather standing in the orchard, from above. The blossoms are falling gently around them like snow. A petal lands on the face of the watch in the boy’s hand. I wanted to build it around that moment.

SKSM: How did you know about the Dollar Baby program? Was it a wild guess?

Tery Steelman: I read about it somewhere. Then I asked about it on the Message Board.

SKSM: What do you think about the existence of a Dollar Baby community?

Tery Steelman: I think it’s wonderful. I had no idea it was so large, though. Anthony Northrup is a friend so I was marginally aware up to this point.

SKSM: Crowd funding was not allowed in the early stages. What were your thoughts when your project came to an end?

Tery Steelman: I was very sad. I had hoped that, by having access to film and editing equipment, and with Hubby’s help, I could cut costs. But it was not to be.

SKSM: You must have heard the news that the Dollar Baby Program has been discontinued. How did you react to this news, and what are your thoughts on its conclusion?

Tery Steelman: I still held out hope. I wish it wouldn’t end but what can we do?

SKSM: Even though the Dollar Baby program has ended. Would you still finish My Pretty Pony under the guise of “inspired by”?

Tery Steelman: Absolutely! The dream isn’t dead.

SKSM: You have been a moderator and a beta-tester on the Stephen King forum. How did that happen? Besides yourself, who else was a mod?

Tery Steelman: I joined the really old MB back in the aughts. The first “thread story” was that Halloween and I jumped right in, actually writing the ending. Some of the folks I worked with on it became friends. When it came time to upgrade to a new MB we were asked to test it. We must have done a good job because when it came time to upgrade again we tested that one. We became unofficial Moderators and, later, a few of us were “promoted” to official ones. At the end it was Flake, Dana Jean and myself.

SKSM: Marsha is retiring, the Stephen King message board is coming to an end. Can you describe what that felt like?

Tery Steelman: It was like the end of an era. It felt kind of like our cool clubhouse was being shuttered.

SKSM: As a fan of Stephen King, which are your favorite works and adaptations?

Tery Steelman: I’m a big fan of The Stand and partial to the first miniseries. The same with It. I like his horror stories but he really shines in his “normal” stories, I think. His humor and humanity come out so well in those. My favorite of those  It was a  Joyland.

SKSM: If you could make another Stephen King story into a (short-)movie, what would it be and why?

Tery Steelman: I’d love to make Joyland but I guess that’s a book, so…

SKSM: You know Marsha Deflippo personally. What kind of woman is she in your eyes?

Tery Steelman: Brilliant. Smart and funny. Not many people know that she’s a good dancer.

SKSM: Have you ever met Stephen King in person? And what was it like?

Tery Steelman: No. At the Ghost Brothers after party he popped in to say hello and we (the MB contingent) elected Anni to be our representative. She got to speak to him. I was behind Marsha, taking a picture of the moment. It was a little taste of darshan, deferred.

SKSM: What do you think of Stephen King as a writer?

Tery Steelman: I think he’s our modern Mark Twain. He understands the human condition — and the inhuman one, too. That’s how he tells his stories so well. There’s a lot of heart and humor in his writing, as well as a folksy way of making you see a place, meet its people, feel its history. He’s simply a master of his craft.

SKSM: What has the Stephen King world brought you?

Tery Steelman: Friends. Dreams. An escape when I need it.

SKSM: You have been an artist and jewelry maker for over 30 years. Can you tell us more about this? What do you like about it?

Tery Steelman: I love that I can take a bunch of beads and make something cohesive and beautiful (hopefully) and, if I’ve done it right, imbued it with a spirit of a sort. That’s one reason I won’t use any plastic or resin components; I use stone, glass, metal, wood, bone, horn… natural materials. There’s no spirit in plastic beads. A few years ago I started doing acrylic pour painting. I saw some videos and thought, “I don’t have to be able to draw to do that!”

I tried doing nebulae and, since he photographs them, my hubby has helped with that. I really enjoy using bright colors, too, so I don’t always work with the night sky. Rainbows are fun. I also work with polymer clay. I did that first, making beads for my necklaces. I’m trying miniature food right now.

SKSM: What are you working on nowadays?

Tery Steelman: Trying to winnow down the sheer amount of STUFF we have. Ours, my mother’s, his mother’s, my grandparent’s… It’s crazy! So we’re going to sell what we can. Oh, you mean that kind of work! Three irons in the fire at the moment: a memoir about my years as a High Priestess, a book about words and a supernatural mystery novel.

SKSM: What is in the top 5 on your bucket list? (Everything is possible and nothing is too strange)

Tery Steelman:
*Kyoto during the Cherry Blossom Festival
*Visit every Disney Theme Park
*Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef
*Live in the U.K. for a year
*Take a world cruise

SKSM: What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

Tery Steelman: I used to dance hula. I was a real ‘olapa and danced with a halau called Kani Ka Pahu O Lohiau (the thundering drums of Lohiau) for a few years. I had to stop due to medical issues. I sure do miss it. It kept me in shape, too!

SKSM: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Tery Steelman: Juggling publishing dates.

SKSM: Thank you for taking the time for the interview. Would you like to say something to those reading the interview?

Tery Steelman: Thanks for reading about me, hope it wasn’t too boring.

SKSM: Do you like to add anything else?

Tery Steelman: Thank you for including me.