Steven Barnes facts for kids

Steven Barnes (born March 1, 1952) is an American writer. He writes exciting stories in genres like science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. He has created many different types of stories, including novels, short stories, and scripts for television shows, comic books, and even animation. He has also written for newspapers and magazines.

Early Life and Education

Steven Barnes was born in Los Angeles, California, on March 1, 1952. He went to Los Angeles High School for his secondary education. Later, he studied at Pepperdine University, where he focused on communication arts.

His Writing Career

Steven Barnes has written for several popular TV shows. He wrote episodes for The Outer Limits and Baywatch. One of his Outer Limits episodes, called "A Stitch In Time", even won an Emmy Award! He also wrote an episode for Stargate SG-1 called "Brief Candle" and an Andromeda episode titled "The Sum of Its Parts."

His very first published story, a novelette called "The Locusts," came out in 1979. He wrote it with another famous writer, Larry Niven. This story was even nominated for a Hugo Award, which is a big honor in science fiction. Steven Barnes worked with Larry Niven on several other books, and on three books, they were joined by Jerry Pournelle. Barnes learned a lot from working with these experienced writers.

Steven Barnes has also won awards for his novels. His book Lion's Blood, which tells an alternate history story, won the 2003 Endeavour Award. His 2004 Star Wars novel, The Cestus Deception, became a New York Times bestseller, meaning it was one of the most popular books in the country!

In 2009, Steven Barnes, along with his wife, Tananarive Due, and actor Blair Underwood, won the NAACP Image Award for outstanding fiction. This award was for their book In the Night of the Heat: A Tennyson Hardwick Novel.

Life Outside Writing

Steven Barnes is married to Tananarive Due, who is also a writer. They live in Los Angeles and share a video blog online. They even taught a course together at UCLA about horror stories and their meaning. The director of the movie Get Out, Jordan Peele, even made a surprise visit to their class! You can now take this course as an online webinar. Steven Barnes has two children, a daughter from his first marriage and a son with his current wife.

Besides writing, Steven Barnes is very passionate about martial and physical arts. He started studying them in 1969. He is a black belt in Kenpo Karate and Kodokan Judo. He is also an instructor in Wu Ming Ta and is training to be an instructor in Filipino Kali stick and knife fighting. He is an advanced student in Jun Fan kickboxing, which is a style created by Bruce Lee. He also teaches Wu-style tai chi.

He is skilled in self-defense pistol shooting and holds a brown belt in Shorenji Jiu Jitsu. He has intermediate rankings in Tae Kwon Do and Aikido. He has completed a basic instructor program for Hatha Yoga and is currently studying Pentjak Silat, an Indonesian fighting system, and Ashtanga Yoga, which is a very active form of yoga.