Steven Barnes is a prominent American science fiction, fantasy, and mystery writer. Born on March 1, 1952, in Los Angeles, California, he has built a diverse career encompassing various forms of writing.

He has authored novels, short fiction, screenplays for television, scripts for comic books, animation, newspaper copy, and magazine articles. His creative talents extend to television, where he has written episodes for popular shows such as The Outer Limits, Baywatch, Stargate SG-1 (notably the episode "Brief Candle"), and Andromeda (including the episode "The Sum of its Parts").

In addition to his writing, Barnes is a lecturer, creative consultant, and human performance technician. His first published piece of fiction, the novelette The Locusts (1979), co-authored with Larry Niven, was nominated for a Hugo Award.