Allen Mulherin Steele, Jr. (born January 19, 1958) is an American science fiction author.
Steele began publishing short stories in 1988. His early novels formed a future history beginning with Orbital Decay and continuing through Labyrinth of Night. Some of his early novels such as Orbital Decay and Lunar Descent were about blue-collar workers working on future construction projects in space. Since 1992, he has tended to focus on stand-alone projects and short stories, although he has written four novels about the moon Coyote.
Steele was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He received a Bachelor's from New England College and a Master's from the University of Missouri. Before he established himself as a science fiction author, he spent several years working as a journalist.
In 1996, his story "The Death of Captain Future" received the Hugo Award for Best Novella. He won the award again in 1998 for the story "...Where Angels Fear to Tread."
Steele serves on the Board of Advisors for both the Space Frontier Foundation and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and he is a former member (Eastern Regional Director) of the SFWA Board of Directors. In April, 2001, he testified before the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics of the U.S. House of Representatives, in hearings regarding space exploration in the 21st century.
In 2004, he contributed a chapter to the collaborative hoax novel, Atlanta Nights.