Steve Zink - Interviewed

Interviews, but not With A Vampire

Both were in 1999, Carrie's in late summer and Brittany's near
the very end of the year.

Interviewed by Carrie Late Summer 1999

I'm hurriedly putting the finishing touches to my lipstick in the rear view mirror of my beloved Jaguar E Type. I'm parked opposite the coffee bar where Steve Zink has agreed to meet with me. In my handbag I have my cassette recorder, my notepad and a hastily scrawled list of questions I think I should ask. You only get one shot at interviewing high profile authors like this, and I don't want to mess it up - I can feel myself shaking with nerves.

The bar seems light, casual and friendly - I'm looking through the window with the hope of catching a glimpse of Steve, but I can't see anything but happily content diners. I enter and sit down at an empty table, hoping for someone to signal me. I had told Steve he would recognize me from my picture on my website, but no one has so much as given me a second look. I think for a second that I must have missed him; picked a wrong time to be fashionably late, I think.

There's a figure returning from the Jukebox, a handsome man with dusty blond hair wearing gray slacks, a dark blue polo shirt and sneakers. I'm crossing my fingers - if this isn't Steve, then the interview is off. The man does a double take on seeing me; piercing blue eyes behind metal rimmed glasses. We make eye contact - even if this isn't Steve, I think, I'm in luck.

"Steve?" I ask, getting out of my chair. He nods, smiling, and greets me with a warm hug. We sit at his table, and get the introductions out of the way. I'm grateful and surprised he agreed to meet me at such short notice.

"I'm glad to be here! I try to help out as best I can," he says, instantly both relaxed and charming. I feel a little self-conscious as I pull out my apparatus, and start the interview properly. Steve is reassuring, encouraging me to take my time. He can tell immediately that I'm not used to this sort of thing. As I pull out my list of questions, he orders two regular coffees with cream and sweetener.

I start by asking him if he chose the music that was playing over the cafe's sound system. It's 'A Groovy kind of Love' by Phil Collins. I wonder if he's deliberately picked something by an English artist, a nod to my own limey roots!

"I know that's probably old hat, but hey," he says, shrugging.

"So, Steve. Tell me about the last story you completed?"

"In July, there was a story contest on one of the Fanfic networks I'm on, and by sheer chance, a friend had given me two ideas for stories, either one of which could work for the theme of the contest, which was 'Whatever can go wrong, will, at its worst'."

I smile, encouraging him to continue.

"I put my mind to it, and since I was still unemployed at the time, had plenty of time to work on it. I knocked out the story in about four hours, and then posted it to the Fanfic group, FM, and TSA-Talk. A lot of readers liked it, and even asked if I could possibly expand upon it. I rather doubt I will, I like it where it stands right now. The story was called, 'Robin's Worst Nightmare'."

"That's a great story, Steve. What are you working on at the moment?" I ask.

"I've been mostly doing a lot of editing for other authors, many of whom have been lavish in their praise for my work." Steve Zink, blushing? I'm not too sure. "There is a big story being worked on by a friend, that I am both editing and sort of co-writing. We're doing a lot of searching for images to accompany the text, and that is occupying a lot of time, also. There is a story project I've been working on, but if I told you anything about it, I'd have to kill you."

"Really? That serious?" I gulp, laughing.

"Just kidding, it should show up on Fictionmania sometime soon. Then of course, I am working again now, if only part-time. I hope to get my full-time job back again soon, but if not, I'd love to get a job writing or editing."

"I know what you mean, Steve." Naturally, thoughts turn to what Steve is hoping to work on in the future. He tips his head back as if to ponder for a moment, but then begins talking freely and openly.

"Well, there's that big story Usagi and I are working on, then I'm going to do a lot more with my story, 'Having Fun with Harley'. I'm also going to try to do an Altered Fates story to continue the one Eric wrote, bringing the medallion into the present. It will follow a path through American history from the Revolution, up to the period right after WWII."

"The Revolution?" I note. "Not Brit bashing, I hope!" Steve laughs, and pretends to duck imaginary objects thrown by irate British fans. "Go on," I insist.

"I'm also hoping to get back to a lot of my older stories, that never got finished, and bring them to a conclusion."

I look at the next question on my list with a little embarrassment. 'Seemed sensible enough, when I thought it up...oh well,' I think. Can't hurt to ask. "Steve...you've typed the best 1000 words of your life, and there's still much, much more where that came from. What could distract you from it, if anything?"

He chuckles, looking at me like I'm completely crazy.

"Yes, an all expenses paid ticket to any of the comic conventions where they're doing costumes, like the one in San Diego that just happened. I would have loved to go to that one, and live out in real life the story that Ellie Dauber wrote for me, called 'At the ComicCon'. I'd go to one of those conventions with a bunch of my costumes, and I'll clue you, they aren't hero or villain costumes. My feet would probably be killing me from the heels on the boots!"

"Sounds like a riot," I tell him. He nods, slyly.

"I think the reason I write TG fiction is also what drives me to do comic based stories. I love females in costumes, and the idea of men becoming females in those costumes and also the mind control aspects."

"What inspired you to write these stories in the first place?" I ask.

He sits upright, obviously excited about the subject. Steve's such an easy, fluent talker, it's embarrassing!

"That's an easy one. The Batman show came on with first Catwoman and then Batgirl in fantastic costumes, and then a year later the comic book that got me started came out." He pauses, taking a sip of his coffee. "Lois Lane number 70, where Catwoman makes Lois put on one of her costumes, and hypnotizes her into thinking she really is Catwoman. I've been a costumed TV ever since, and wrote short fantasy stories that eventually led to the real stories I write today.

"I think it is my fantasy world that inspires the plots, that and good illustrations I see in comics, on the web, and in various books and magazines. I'm one of the oddball writers that lets the bad guys win, if you will; the hero or heroine gets turned into a villainess, and stays that way."

I nod, excited. I can't believe I'm getting all this down on tape! I begin to wonder out loud what Steve would do with his talents if he wasn't writing TG fiction. The answer, coming after a long, aching pause, comes as something of a shock:

"Military Aviation history and technical aspects, probably. That is what I know best after comics and TG."

"You think this is what you'd end up writing about if you were a profession writer?"

"If I were to get a job as a writer, Lord knows what I'd end up writing about. A friend has told me that I should write a book on the side of the airlines that I was in, the ramp rats and other customer service agents, because there a lot of tales to tell from my twenty-two years in the industry, and only the pilots and flight attendants seem to have written books so far."

"Good point, but I bet you'd rather write the TG stuff, yes?" He nods his head in agreement. I'm still trying to figure Steve out. He seems genuine and open enough to me. I tell him there's only a few more questions to go, and he sighs, relieved. Clearly, this is just as tense for him as it is for me.

"Steve," I say in interviewer mode. "Out of all the stories you've written, which is your own personal favorite?"

"I'd like to think that the best I've written is one that is really only started so far, and that is, 'Batgirl - Who, me?' I think it ranks way up there, in my opinion, because I took a lot of the pointers given to me by other authors, and made the story deep in plot with a lot of character development. That, obviously, is in my humble opinion. If any of my readers would care to tell me otherwise, I'm all ears."

I believe him: Steve is all ears, attentive, amiable and open. If someone tells him a story is 'wrong', I'm sure he'll do anything to fix it if he agrees.

"What about other authors? You have a favorite TG story?" I ask.

"To be honest with you, I've not yet read what many consider to be the best. From my own readings, I would select 'Mind Swap' by Carol Collins."

I grin, knowing the story well.

"But really, there are so many great stories out there, from the Professor, Morpheus, Stephanie, my hero Eddie Glover, and of course, Waldo. Selecting just one story is really hard."

"Know what you mean, Steve." Then, as suddenly as it started, Steve ends the interview.

"Carrie," he says laughing, "There is an appointment I have to get to for a new corset, and I wouldn't want to keep the Mistress waiting!"

He grins widely. I laugh with him, approvingly. I thank him for speaking with me.

"You're welcome, it's been fun!" he says. He leaves a check and a note on the table before exiting the cafe. I panic momentarily, sure for a second that I'd forgotten to press 'record' on the tape. Luckily, I hadn't. Relieved, I take a look at the note that had been left on the table.

"I just ask that everybody have faith and a lot of patience, because my stories will get worked on, sooner or later."

That's Steve, I think. I blow him a kiss through the cafe window as I watch him stroll away.

Steve Zink - TG Fanfiction Author Extrordinaire
By Brittany Rose

The dressing room at the rear corner of the bedroom was Ivy's destination, and when she got there, she pulled the weapons band from her right wrist. The redhead faced her vertical mirror, and took in the beautiful sight she saw. Her incredibly beautiful face was surrounded by a billowing mass of flaming red hair, and this fell atop her 36DDD chest. Her breasts were only partly held in by the top of her dark green leotard, and there was plenty of cleavage showing. She brought her similarly colored hands up to these breasts, and hefted them while cupping them from below. Her unbelievably tiny waist shifted as she savored the mass of her tits. "No, not now, later..." was all she said.

Poison Ivy pulled off her long green gloves, and set them on the counter top. That glorious mass of red hair was then lifted from her head, to reveal a bald, flesh colored dome. The wig was placed on a waiting styrofoam head. She reached for a tissue on the counter, then soaked it with the bottle of solvent. She wiped the tissue around the base of her neck, and soon a thin lip of what looked like skin appeared. After she tossed the tissue into the trash can, Ivy reached to the back of her neck and grasped the end of the tiny zipper there. This was brought up to the top of her head, and then she pulled the two sides of the mask forward and down, away from the face below. Dick Grayson grinned from ear to ear.

- from "Robin's Costume Capers" by Steve Zink

Steve Zink may be the most prolific writer of TG superhero fanfiction on the Internet. For the uninitiated, fanfiction are stories written about characters from television, movies or comic books that take them in directions never imagined in their original incarnations. Ever wanted to see your favorite comic book heroine turn out to be a crossdresser in disguise? Just write the story yourself and suddenly she is. Post the story on the Internet, and you have a built-in audience.

Steve Zink, also known as Jennifer Stevens, first discovered his crossdressing tendencies, in part, from Catwoman and Robin on the old Batman television show, and has written several stories about them and other comic book characters. He has even created costumes to match. Recently, I had the chance to chat with Steve about the amazing number of stories he has written and published on the Internet that take some of our favorite heroes and heroines into some very interesting places.

Brittany Rose: What, for you, was the original connection between comic book heroes and crossdressing?

Steve Zink: Both the idea of my liking Catwoman so much as to dress like her while I was young, and also finding Jimmy Olsen at about the same time doing it. Obviously, I found a lot more as time went on.

Brittany Rose: Why do you write superhero TG Fiction?

Steve Zink: Because a long time ago, I was writing short one-page fantasies for my own gratification that almost always involved costumed comic characters. When the Web became available to me, I saw that others were writing similar material, only in a much longer story format, so I started to do the same.

Brittany Rose: Is there a lot of TG superhero fiction online, or are you the main proponent?

Steve Zink: Eddie Glover, Indiana Jones, Bill Hart, and a couple of others were the first that I saw, back in 1997 on the Transformation Story Archive. Eddie Glover still does quite a bit, Indy does a little bit, as does Bill, and the others on TSA seem to have petered out. On what was Fictionmania and now on TG_Fiction and TG_Writers, Morpheus and maybe one or two others do some superhero type stories. I seem to be the main proponent now.

Brittany Rose: How many stories, approximately, have you written?

Steve Zink: 59 stories, more or less, with a few nowhere near finished. Many have no TG in them, but all involve some kind of identity switch or mind control, usually from good to evil.

Brittany Rose: Focusing on your TG stories, what kind of stories do you tell?

Steve Zink: For the most part, male characters being turned into female characters. Most of the time, this is from good guy male to bad girl female, and in the end, rarely do they become good girls, let alone get their manliness back. And almost always it involves good-looking costumes on the females' parts.

Brittany Rose: Are these crossdressing, body swapping, or transformation stories?

Steve Zink: Very rarely crossdressing, even though that was one of my original fetishes. Many of the readers don't care for C/D. I do a few body swaps, and many magical or science fiction transformations.

Brittany Rose: Who are your favorite characters to write about?

Steve Zink: Catwoman by far, followed by Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Supergirl and her evil twin Satan Girl, Lois Lane as almost anybody, and a few other females like Marvel's White Queen and Black Queen. As far as the males involved, Superman, Batman, Robin, Jimmy Olsen, the rest of the male Justice League members, and many more.

Brittany Rose: Where can people find your stories?

Steve Zink: Very soon, everything that I have written, even only partially completed works, will be found on the rebuilt version of the old site which did so, The Villain's Lair. The new site is called Super Stories, and is at the following link:

http://www.superstories.net/

The old Fictionamnia archive is still in existence, and is now even being added to again, so that is one other source. However, Super Stories will be the best bet after another week or two.

Brittany Rose: What advice do you have for people who want to write TG fanfiction, and where can they display it?

Steve Zink: My advice would be to find an author or authors whose style they like the most, and try to emulate that style with story ideas and concepts of their own. Both TSA-Talk and the two TG story groups are a great way to get exposure to a lot of readers.

Next time we'll begin a series on the most successful transvestite in comic book history - Lord Fanny of The Invisibles. Till then, remember, all copyrights belong to the original publishers, but any comments or requests, please send to me at BrittTV@aol.com.

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