Welcome to my official website. Here, I share stories that explore both the struggles and the joys of everyday life, written with honesty and heart. Through my books, I try to shine a light on themes like seeking inclusion, displaying resilience, searching for connections and a sense of belonging, while weaving in humor and humanity along the way. I create characters that feel real because I want their journeys to be relatable and unforgettable. Take a look around, and I hope you discover a story here that speaks to you.
Steven Fortuna is an engaging storyteller, whose stories are often drawn from the gritty and heart rendering memories of growing up in the inner-city of Chicago in a neighborhood enriched with ethnicity and interesting characters.
His early writing projects focused on short stories, several of which have been published in successful magazines and the Wall Street Journal.
His first novel titled “Role of a Lifetime”, provided a humorous look on the somber subject of rejection, as seen through the eyes of middle- aged job seekers. The story was mostly drawn from personal experience.
His latest novel, Is That Seat Taken?, was mined from a lifetime of observation and a little imagination. It explores the impact of non-acceptance into social circles for young adults and the value of friendships at any age.
He is currently working on a memoir that will cover a wide range of coming-of-age stories that include the fun and innocence of a first date to the chilling impact felt by the acts of a serial killer.
IS THAT SEAT TAKEN? is a moving story about two young adults who could not be more different, yet share the same painful bond of isolation. Longing to belong, they face the harsh reality of being invisible to their peers while yearning for the simple joys of friendship, acceptance, and coming-of-age experiences. Through their journey, the book explores how loneliness shapes who we are, how it wounds the spirit, and how the will to fit in can define a life. It is a heartfelt reminder of what it feels like to be on the outside looking in.
Meet Julian, a boy trapped in a high school he dreads, where every day feels like a prison sentence. Uprooted from his hometown, stripped of old friends, and battling a stutter that makes him an easy target, Julian longs for belonging. His only companion is a scrappy shelter dog named Freddy, who becomes his anchor in an otherwise lonely world. Chapter 1 sets the stage for Julian’s uphill battle, a painful reminder of how isolating youth can be and how one act of cruelty can define years. Will he ever escape the weight of ridicule, or is this his new reality?
Julian’s nightmare deepens when he walks into the cafeteria, a warzone of laughter and humiliation. With no seat to call his own, he becomes “Barney,” the punchline everyone enjoys at his expense. Even teachers look away while he crumbles inside. This is not just bullying, it is public exile. Yet, amid the chaos, Julian clings to a fragile hope that things might change. Will high school always be his personal hell, or will one small act of kindness ever break the cycle? Chapter 2 immerses you in his torment, making you ache for the redemption he desperately needs.
Now meet Helen. She’s a high school senior, who transferred into a new school late, and quickly branded as an outcast. With her weight making her a constant target for cruel body shaming jokes, she spends her lunch periods alone, hiding behind a book. On the outside she keeps her composure, but inside she aches for acceptance. Like Julian, Helen longs for the simple joy of fitting in.
Helen’s struggles run deeper than what her classmates see. Food and alcohol have become her way of coping with isolation and shame. Despite her bright personality and humor, no one gets close enough to notice. In her darkest moments, Helen dreams of being seen, not as the butt of a joke, but as someone worthy of friendship, love, and belonging.
ROLE OF A LIFETIME captures the stress, desperation, and absurd humor of mid-life job hunting. From disastrous interviews with unprepared employers to the creeping fear of providing for a family without work, this story blends the anxiety of unemployment with laugh-out-loud moments drawn from real experiences. It is a witty, heartfelt reminder that even in life’s toughest seasons, sometimes all you can do is laugh and keep going.
Meet Jack. He is an everyman kind of guy, in his mid-forties, married with four kids, living in a modest suburb of New York city and commuting to his office job in Manhattan five days a week. His family is his priority and he is content with his life.
Meet Larry, his funny, sarcastic work buddy, who is Jack’s opposite in just about every way. Although close in age, he is unmarried and still playing the field. He is full of personality and quick quips. He does however share one commonality with Jack. They are both good guys, headed for a turbulent time in their lives.
Larry dishes some bad news to Jack. He has learned from an inside source, that the new owners of their company are planning to make job cutbacks. Jack brushes this off as just office gossip, of which Larry has a reputation for spreading. He convinces himself to not put much stock into the rumor.
After fulfilling his obligation of forewarning his buddy, Larry is disappointed to see that Jack does not appear to take him seriously. He fears that Jack is being naïve about the matter and is out of touch with the realities of the current work environment. He advises Jack to buy a new suit and to brush up his resume, just in case.
Later, Jack wonders to himself, if Larry could be right for once.
Meet Ted, a local NYC actor trying to eke out a living in a dog-eat-dog profession that chews people up and spits them out on a daily basis. After spending twenty years beating the pavement auditioning for small parts, while always hoping for one shot at stardom, he has reached the point of resetting his career aspirations.
At his age, landing any role seems to be getting more and more difficult and dreams of becoming the next Brando or Pacino are fading. He has to continually fight off allowing any self -doubt to sneak into his psyche, so he puts a brave front up. In reality he is getting weary and worn down by the constant rejection. Although it is a part of the package deal one signs up for in the profession, Ted is struggling and fearful that his career may be winding down.
At the weekly actor workshop that Ted attends, to hone his skills but primarily to hear about potential auditions, he gets some news. He learns that a fellow local actor friend of his may have cashed in his chips and left the profession. Always a sad day.
It’s a fear in the back of the mind of every actor, especially one’s eking out a living in NYC chasing small roles and minor parts in plays, or locally shot television or commercials and mostly living off Ramen noodles.
But at the workshop he also gets a scoop about a possible big time Hollywood movie production that will be shooting some scenes in Manhattan. So, a little hope is restored to his gait.
After staring at the ceiling for an hour, I rolled over and got out of bed. I couldn’t sleep. My mind was racing, as I thought about how I wanted everything to go perfect today. The forecast said it was going to be a warm summer day. This meant that most of my neighborhood buddies would be meeting up at the corner to hang out and likely play sports all day. The sport of choice for the day would be determined by how many kids showed up and where we could find space to play.
Growing up in an inner -city neighborhood dominated with apartment buildings had the built- in advantage of providing a large number of kids to hang out and play with every day. The disadvantage however was the lack of any suitable places to play. But my mind was not thinking about sports this morning. Well, not on playing sports anyway. Today was going to be one of the biggest days of my young life. I was going on my first date.
My friends and I had grown up attending school and church with all of the same neighborhood girls for years and never really paid them much attention. I attended a local Catholic school that was very small. My class only had 18 kids ( conveniently a mix of 9 girls and 9 boys) of which 16 of us had been together since the first grade. So, we all knew each other well. Then somehow overnight the world changed. Paying attention to girls and having them do the same, suddenly seemed equal in importance to your sports prowess. Not only were we expected to take notice of the girls, but there was a good amount of pressure to pair off as boyfriend and girlfriend. It seemed like once you pierced that first relationship cover, you became more desirable in the eyes of all the girls. Needless to say, I was still on the persona non grata side of that ledger.
I have to admit, that I was very naïve and not prepared for any of this. I was still happy playing baseball all day. At this point in my life, that was the only first base I knew about or ever got to. But you can’t imagine the power that peer pressure has on a young teen. Your status in the neighborhood now depended on if you were popular with the girls.
Most of my friends had already spent some “one- on- one” time with a girl. This was defined as talking with a girl away from the other kids, or maybe hanging out on the steps of her house or walking together to the candy store or to get an ice cream. This simple act of spending time together was enough to have everyone label you as boyfriend and girlfriend.
It should be noted that at that age these unofficial relationship pairings had the shelf life of about three weeks.
Not only was today going to be my first date, but I somehow had found the nerve to ask out Lori Sorrento. She was by far considered to be the best catch in the neighborhood. At least that was her standing among all of my friends. What was I thinking! As if there wasn’t enough pressure of a first date, but why did I choose to start at the top? She was very pretty, very smart and very developed for her age. The combination of these “traits” had made her very popular. The word on the street was that she was already skilled in the art of “boyfriend stuff”, having already had a number of previous suitors on her front steps, literally and figuratively. So here I am, a green, inexperienced rookie, planning to make my dating debut against the 1927 Yankees. Now you know why I had trouble sleeping.
To add to my first date fears, I had made the tactical error of making this an all -day event. To secure the date and avoid the embarrassment of getting turned down, I had devised a strategy. Knowing that Lori was a big Chicago Cubs fan, I made the assumption that she wouldn’t turn down an offer to go to a game. So, when I asked her if she wanted to go, I got a resounding YES for an answer. My friends were so jealous. This was a way bigger move than walking to the candy store. If I could pull this off, my street cred would go through the roof.
I enjoyed your book, Is That Seat Taken? It was written with a lot of heart and compassion for anyone considered an “outsider” in life. The characters are genuine and their issues realistic. The story is nicely told with just enough humor sprinkled in to offset a difficult theme.
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We ask our friends little things every day. Want to grab pizza? Want to see a movie? Simple questions, but behind them is something much deeper: the need to belong. In Is That Seat Taken?, two young adults live with the sting of rejection from their peers. Their classmates do not just ignore them, they […]
Steven Fortuna is an author who writes stories that capture both the struggles and the small victories of everyday life. His books focus on themes of belonging, resilience, and hope, blending honesty with moments of humor and humanity. Through his characters, Steven invites readers to reflect, connect, and see parts of themselves in each journey.
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