
Back Home: My Author Presentation to the Colusi County Historical Society in Orland
It had been a year since the Colusi County Historical Society had invited me to do a presentation about my writing career and latest novel, The Outlaw from Newville.
Release Date: June 10, 2025
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At age eleven, Willie Radcliff is branded the worst outlaw in the Northern California hamlet of Newville. Molly Radcliff can’t handle him, and Preston Radcliff is too involved with his burgeoning agricultural empire to spend time with his rapidly growing son. In 1929, Preston moves the family to Radcliff Mansion, nine miles west of Chico, and thirteen-year-old Willie turns his attention from shooting the neighbors’ goats and chickens to poaching wildlife.
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Veteran Northern California game warden Norman Bettis and his wife, Martha, lived an idyllic life in the small Sacramento Valley farm town of Gridley. On the morning of December 13, 1956, Norman kissed Martha on the forehead and drove off to work. He had no way of knowing he was destined to stumble into a rat’s nest of commercial duck poachers and disappear–patrol car and all.
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Retired game warden Steven T. Callan’s love of nature and passion for protecting wildlife took root long before he experienced the adventures described in his memoir, Badges, Bears, and Eagles. In The Game Warden’s Son, he recounts more of his own investigations, along with those of his game warden father and their colleagues. Intertwined with a half century of adventures and investigations is a story of the lifelong relationship between a boy and his father.
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Over his thirty-year career as a wildlife protection officer for the California Department of Fish and Game, Steve Callan conducted some of the most fascinating, complex, and highly successful wildlife investigations in California history. He also collected a wealth of true stories—action-packed, suspenseful, and often humorous.
“Callan is John Grisham for the Outdoorsman. Conservationists will applaud his sometimes ‘unique’ efforts to protect our natural resources from those who would abuse them. Whoever knew there was so much intrigue in Fish and Game cases?”
“Exceptionally well written. . . . The writing style is almost flawless, and reading this gem is pure effortless joy. The variety of tales that are told keeps the book fresh throughout. . . .”
“Jaw-dropping, funny, tragic, enraging, exciting, and hopeful—sometimes all at once. . . .”
“Book of the Year” Award Finalist for 2013
“An exciting series of easy-to-read and gripping detective stories . . . It was extremely hard to put down. Callan is a fine storyteller. Each chapter stands on its own and is a fun read.”
“Fascinating book, and a must-read.”
“A witty and enlightening memoir, The Game Warden’s Son brims over with tales of stake-outs using disguises and subterfuge to trap transgressors. . . . The book’s slang or jargon related to wildlife is a fun bonus and makes the timely account of environmental protection even more enjoyable.”
“Best Outdoor Book of 2016” Award Winner
“Callan’s story is a fascinating blend of detective work and chance encounters, and the kind of intuition needed to turn those encounters into actionable evidence.”
“There is much nonfiction to be learned from this book, and it is grandly entertaining as well. . . . The book is a delight.”
“A first-rate ‘whodunit’ . . . Written with great detail in forming the primary characters, the first book in this series is well worth your time and money. I am looking forward to the next book!”
“Best First Novel” Award Finalist for 2022
“Law-enforcement agency cooperation is key to a quality conclusion and makes the read even more worthwhile. The author uses 30 years’ experience as a game warden to the readers’ pleasureful benefit.”
“The intricacies involved stretch all the way from the Butte County Jail to Far Eastern Russia. Callan presents mesmerizing procedural details of Glance’s investigations for the Department of Fish and Game (as it was named then). Glance can think like a poacher. . . .”

It had been a year since the Colusi County Historical Society had invited me to do a presentation about my writing career and latest novel, The Outlaw from Newville.

What a wonderful time Kathy and I had at my book signing at the Redding Sportsman’s Expo last Saturday! The auditorium was hopping all day, and people of all ages stopped at our booth to visit. Some were old friends, and so many were gracious folks we’d never had the privilege of meeting before.

March 31, 2026 – A recent trip to the deserts of Arizona and Southern California found Kathy and me reminiscing about our journey there during the super bloom of 2019. I wrote about that glorious adventure in the blog post, below, titled “Just Add Water.” When people describe the desert,