Steve Miller wanted to be a writer from an early age: "Actually, when I was in first grade, I wanted to be a sheriff's deputy... Then I wrote a little book in first grade called 'The Man Who Watches' about a sheriff's deputy, and I won some sort of prize for it.
"[1] After Miller graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in English, with a Creative Writing emphasis, he began working as a publicist for a television station, at the same time freelancing as a feature writer and entertainment critic for various weekly newspapers and magazines.
Heard, who handled the scheduling of TSR's freelancers at the time, set Miller up with editing and design tests.
"[1] Miller accepted the job, working on the Ravenloft and Dragonlance lines during his time with TSR and later Wizards of the Coast.
[1] Between his stints at TSR and Wizards of the Coast, Miller worked for West End Games on their Star Wars Adventure Journal product line.