Steven T. Callan

Winner of 2026 “Best Crime Fiction” Award

A career fish and game warden and patrol lieutenant for the California Department of Fish and Game, Steven T. Callan draws from his decades of experience in the field to craft his stories—most of which take place in Northern California.

Callan is the award-winning author of The Outlaw From Newville, his second novel in the popular Game Warden Henry Glance series and winner of the 2026 “Best Crime Fiction” award in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards—the largest international book awards competition for independent publishers and authors. The Case of the Missing Game Warden, Callan’s first novel in the series, was a “Best First Novel” award finalist in the prestigious Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

All of Callan’s books are published by Coffeetown Press, including his nonfiction works The Game Warden’s Son—named “Best Outdoor Book of 2016” by the Outdoor Writers Association of California—and Badges, Bears, and Eagles—The True-Life Adventures of a California Fish and Game Warden, a “Book of the Year” award finalist (Foreword Reviews).

The game warden-turned author grew up in the small Northern California farm town of Orland, where he spent his high-school years playing sports, hunting, and fishing. With an insatiable interest in wildlife, he never missed an opportunity to ride on patrol with his father, a California Fish and Game warden. Steve went on to graduate from CSU, Chico, and attended graduate school at CSU, Sacramento. Hired by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1974, he began his career as a game warden near the Colorado River, promoted to patrol lieutenant in the Riverside/San Bernardino area, and spent the remainder of his enforcement career in Shasta County.

Passionate about wildlife and the environment, Steve and his wife, Kathy, are avid bird-watchers and scuba divers. They live in California's Sacramento Valley.