About the Author

Steve Elliott has been a professional writer for 25 years and a handyman and fix-it-guy longer than that.

He grew up in Central California, where he painted houses in high school and kept various beater cars running (much of the time.) In a 20-year journalism career he covered crime, courts, sports, the environment, transportation, politics, and also taught journalism for seven years. He currently co-owns Elliott & Nelson, a copywriting and public relations firm.

Along the way, Steve has done everything from rebuilding the slant-six engine in a 1970 Plymouth to hand-crafting all his living room furniture. He’s added hard drives to computers, maintained a fleet of rental bikes, done an inordinate number of home improvement projects, and currently tries to keep a very cool 1974 BMW coupe on the road.

Steve and his wife Diane have two kids (who kept him on emergency-repair speed dial throughout their college years), and live in California’s Gold Country with their rescue dogs Gus (pictured) and Idgie.