I owe a great deal of my writing career to one man by the name of Cameron Strang. Cameron is an alumnus of ORU in Tulsa, Oklahoma, just like I am - and he worked on The Oracle, just like I did - only we missed each other by about half a decade as he began his four years after I was gone. The story goes that as he worked as Editor for the Univeristy newspaper, he did some archival work and stumbled upon my series of articles Notes from the Middle of Nowhere (1989-1991). For some reason, my name stuck with him, and as he grew into a global magazine magnate, launching the Uber-successful Modern Faith publication Relevant Magazine which took the postmodern Christian world by storm in March 2003, he reached out to me, the first to ask me to write a regular comedic true-life article for an ACTUAL publication.
This began a lengthy partnership where I appeared on the Relevant Podcast as well as writing arguably my most popular and widely-read essays for his publication between the years of 2005-2010. Relevant was so popular back then that my Inaugural guest appearance on their podcast caused the listenership of our then-fledgling Steelehouse Podcast to quintuple overnight.
Cameron then went on to be the first person to urge me to write a book, “No matter what it is,” (he urged) “I’ll publish it. Just make it sure it sounds and feels like your voice.” That is why “Flashbang: How I Got Over Myself” exists and hurled me into the throes of authorship. Hundreds of readers have asked me how on earth I convinced any publisher to leave “Flashbang” as/is with its layers of multiple stories and timeline that folds in on itself. The answer is that I didn’t convince anyone. Cameron convinced me.
I went on to publish other books with other publishers, but I’ve never had a better time or felt more fulfilled as that first go-round with Cameron Strang and the Relevant team. People like Jeff Jackson and Cara Baker Davis, Tyler Clark, Kyle Chowning, Jesse Carey, Jason Boyett - many of whom I am still in touch with today.
It feels like I wrote many, MANY more articles for Cameron’s publications than those that I’ve been able to track down - but it is possible that this is the complete list. If you run across any that aren’t present in the Archive, please let me know. I have to agree that these are many of my best - and they are definitely my most popular, most widely-read outside of my books.
They may not hold up as well in today’s woke climate, but they are all here in the Mark Steele Archive, each in its unedited entirety along with the cover of the issue that contained each. Thirteen in all for a magazine that, at the time, published every other month (six times yearly). Not too shabby. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed working with the Relevant team.
Thanks, Cameron. I owe you so much.
In Chronological Order (available NOW in the Mark Steele Archive):
WANDERLUST AMERICA for Relevant Leader, Issue 09 (July/August 2005)
RENT THIS EXPERIENCE for Relevant College Edition, Issue 01 (Fall 2005)
THE END OF MANHOOD for Relevant Magazine, Issue 16 (September/October 2005)
SAME OLD SPONTANEITY for Relevant Magazine, Issue 17 (November/December 2005)
THE ALMIGHTY QUARTER for Relevant Magazine, Issue 18 (January/February 2006)
SEIZE THE DUH for Relevant Magazine, Issue 20 (May/June 2006)
GET A HAIRCUT & A REAL JOB for Relevant Magazine, Issue 21 (July/August 2006)
NEVERLOST for Relevant Magazine, Issue 22 (September/October 2006)
THE LAST NEXT BEST for Relevant Magazine, Issue 23 (November/December 2006)
THE LAUGH MONKEY for Relevant Magazine (January/February 2007)
ROCK THE CASH BAR for Relevant Magazine, Issue 28 (September/October 2007)
FOUNTAIN OF YULE for Relevant Magazine, Issue 30 (December 2007)
TO WRAP MY HEART AROUND YOU for Relevant Magazine, Issue 43 (Jan/Feb 2010)
I was one of those Relevant podcast listeners that heard you on that episode and subsequently became a huge Steelehouse Podcast fan. You and Jeff are sorely missed!