Author · Educator · Storyteller
Some things can only be understood by living them.
I write about the moments that reshape us — loss, belonging, the long walk back toward ourselves. And I believe, with everything I have, that connection is what makes survival possible.
A Word From Steve
The wound and the work are the same thing.
I grew up in upstate New York, came of age camping in the woods and listening to the Grateful Dead, and eventually found my calling in the most human of places: standing in a room full of young people who had been told, one too many times, that something was wrong with them.
For more than thirty years, I've worked in special education, crisis intervention, and trauma-informed care — not because it seemed like a good career, but because I couldn't walk away from the work. The stories I carry from those years eventually became books.
Whether you've come here for the memoir, the novels, the Young Adult story, or the professional work, I hope you find something that feels true.
"Connection is not a technique. It is a practice — something you build into the culture of a life, one relationship at a time."Steve McMahon
The Books
Five books. One through-line.
The belief that connection is what makes survival possible — lived out across memoir, literary fiction, and thirty years of professional practice.
Literary Fiction · Available Now
What the River Gives Back
A small Ohio river town. A boy carrying a secret. And a river that was his before everything changed.
Literary Fiction · Fall 2026
What the Current Carries
One name missing from the plaque. Thirty-three years of carrying him anyway.
Adult Memoir · Coming Soon
Choosing Connection for Love's Sake
A life shaped by loss, love, and the stubborn belief that connection is worth the risk.
Young Adult Memoir · Coming Soon
Gritty and Relentless
Growing up different. Learning to be seen. And the summer a rope swing changed everything.
Professional Nonfiction · Available Now
Transformative Crisis Management: A Journey to a MindSet
What if the goal was never control — what if it was always connection?
From the Desk
Recent Articles
Essays on connection, crisis, education, and the stories that shape who we become.