about robert w. stephens

I’m an author and a filmmaker. I’ve currently published over 20 books, including my long-running Murder on Maui mystery series. My writing career started at a small video production company where I did all sorts of odd tasks, including sweeping the production studio floor, painting the greenscreen wall, checking out rental equipment, etc. 

My “break,” such as it was, came when we were producing a television pilot for a news magazine show. The producer needed several commercial scripts written and produced for the show. He hadn’t budgeted for this, so he asked me if I was willing to write these scripts since he knew I had a degree in English. I jumped at the chance, even though it was a less than glamorous assignment. After all, it beat sweeping that floor.

It also opened the door for me to start writing, directing and producing commercials and videos. That experience led to another job at a larger production company where I did work for companies like Marriott, Westin, Lockheed Martin, Dollar Tree, and many other large Fortune 500 companies.

After getting a fair amount of experience telling other company’s stories, I decided I wanted to produce my own ideas. I’ve written, directed, and produced three major independent video projects so far, including two films called House of Fallen and The House Behind the Wall.

I also wrote and produced a television pilot for a travel series called Artist on Location. The pilot didn’t get picked up, but it inspired me to start my path toward writing novels. My wife and I shot the pilot on Maui, and our experiences during the production was what led me to write the book, Aloha Means Goodbye.

I hadn’t intended the book to be the start of a series, but I fell in love with the characters by the time the book was completed. The Murder on Maui Mysteries are now my main book series, but I also have a second series about a detective named Alex Penfield. These books are supernatural thrillers, so they’re darker than the Maui mysteries and have a fair amount of the paranormal mixed into their storylines.

I still produce both videos and books. Nevertheless, I find myself drawn to the novels more and more since I’m only limited by my imagination. I’ve loved writing them. I certainly hope you’ve enjoyed reading them as well.