Multifaceted artist Steffi Thomas lives with an orange cat called Honey, creating a world beyond most imaginations.

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Steffi Thomas

Novels online at dewdropart.weebly.com/novel.html and m.tapas.io/veraca

Crafted items and books at Forgotten Treasures Antiques & Collectibles Mall, 1910 Bay Ave., in Ocean Park or online at dewdroparrrt.etsy.com

Pokemon trading card game club, 4 p.m. first and third Tuesdays, community room, Ocean Park Timberland Library, 1308 256th Place, Ocean Park.

She writes about conflict and love on other planets and she crochets cute critters, happy in a borderless existence of her own making.

As a teen, she recalled being entertained by the Disney “Renaissance” stories of the 1990s, like “Little Mermaid” and “Lion King,” but they inspired her to write.

“It wasn’t the kind of stuff I wanted to read — so I started to write my own,” she said

Her latest projects are publishing fantasy fiction writing and crafting small items which she sells at fairs or amid the colorful variety of retail displays at Forgotten Treasures in Ocean Park. They include 50 styles of blank cards featuring digital art, 70 buttons and wood pins to decorate lanyards and backpacks; she taught herself to crochet by watching online videos a couple of years ago.

It is her second year trying to support herself solely from her creative efforts. “It’s a struggle, but it is something that I want,” she said.

‘Alterations’

Thomas was nine when her family moved to the Peninsula in 1998. She was among students honored for their art while attending the Alternative School in Ilwaco and still wields a colored pencil. She worked at the Tongue Point Job Corps and has had backstage roles with the Astor Street Opry Co. in Astoria. She earned applause in 2015 winning a cosplay contest at a regional Kumoricon convention celebrating anime and Japanese traditions.

She started writing in 2006, and embraces a philosophy of “show, don’t tell.” Initially, she had experimented by writing fan fiction, which borrows other authors’ characters and settings, including the well-established Yu-Gi-Oh! style. “I made so many alterations I thought, “I shall make my own world.’”

Pull Quote

‘None of my stories takes place on Earth. It is other planets and worlds.’

Her preferred “high fantasy” genre features in three self-published works, “My King,” “Nearly There Nicely” and “Barely There Cruelly.” She considers all as works in progress, adding more chapters and releasing “chunks” to potential readers.

“None of my stories takes place on Earth,” she explained. “It is other planets and worlds.” She acknowledged that this gives her flexibility, including being able to choose if her characters are going to exist in a tribal culture, a patriarchy or a matriarchal society.

“It’s fiction … it’s not reality. It is an exciting and interesting thing.”

That flexibility has a downside. “I do run into interesting hiccups,” she said, noting as one example that she wasn’t able to use the word “marathon” because the Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.), for which the Olympic event is named, took place on Earth.

‘Fun’

On websites where her work is available, her love of anime styles is evident in accompanying images, including some created by an artist who works under the name of Sarimopi who Thomas met on an online forum called Tapas.

Sales descriptions are crafted to whet appetites, teasing in potential readers with issues they may identify with; these can be as complex as having parental issues or as everyday as not knowing how to swim.

“This is a story about two boys who might fall in love,” reads one for “Nearly There Nicely.” “One of the main characters, Will, ends up falling into a fantastical adventure involving magic, amnesia, and so much more! And the other main character, Crow, who has been imprisoned by the god of amnesia for four years, and discovering the emotional reasons he ran away from home.”

Her heroes are homosexual. “Girls had been main characters,” she said, alluding to her first attempts, “but I was not having any fun. This came about more naturally … I don’t really know why.”

‘Enjoy’

Thomas was among writers invited to participate in the recent Seaview book fair organized by Long Beach author Jan Bono. She noted that her approach likely differs from many of the two-dozen writers who took part, many of whom first plot their books with detailed chapter and character summaries.

Not Thomas. She starts with a blank page. “I have no outline,” she said. “Other authors ask, ‘How do you know where you are going?’ The characters, they present to me. A mystery will pop up when I’m writing and I have to solve that.”

She prefers the independence of self publishing, too, printing copies to meet orders. “For the formal publishing format, I’m not ready,” she said. “I am glad that it works for people, but I don’t — because of having to be ‘roped in.’”

And she is content her finished work is complete. “I don’t write anything that I don’t want to go back and read,” she said. “I don’t edit it. I sit down and enjoy it.”

• In an unrelated venture, Thomas is working to create a Pokemon trading card game group for young people. It meets at 4 p.m. on the third and third Tuesdays in the community room at the Ocean Park Timberland Library, 1308 256th Place, Ocean Park. It is not a library-run program.