Steve Alten grew up in Philadelphia, earning his Bachelors in Physical Education at Penn State University, a Masters in Sports Medicine from the University of Delaware, and a Doctorate at Temple University. Steve played and coached basketball at the high school and college levels, and worked informally with legendary coach John Chaney for 4 years. When a business he owned failed, he decided to pen a novel about Carcharodon megalodon, the 70-foot prehistoric great white shark. MEG (Bantam/Doubleday) would become the book of the 1996 Frankfurt book fair, where it eventually sold to more than twenty countries and became a popular radio series in Japan. Domestically, MEG hit every major best-seller list, including #19 on the New York Times list (#7 audio).
Steve followed up Meg with The Trench (Kensington/Pinnacle) which also hit best-seller status. His next novel, Domain and its sequel, Resurrection (St. Martins Press) are part of a trilogy about the Mayan Calendar's doomsday prophecy that predicts humanity ends on 12/21/12. Domain inspired an upcoming History Channel special and was named as a top selection by the Texas Library Association (TAYSHA). Alten's fourth novel, Goliath, is 20,000 Leagues meets 2001, A Space Odyssey as a futuristic nuclear sub is hijacked by victims of oppression, in an attempt to quell world violence...the captors unaware that the sub's bio-chemical computer has become cognizant of itself. On the heels of the release of Alten's third Meg novel, Primal Waters, Steve optioned Meg to New Line Cinema, which will release the movie in Summer 2007. Jan de Bont (Twister) will direct, producers include Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin, and CHUD.com founder Nick Nunziata, who helped pull the deal together. Alten's latest novel, The Loch (Tsunami Books) about a marine biologist who is forced to hunt down the legendary Loch Ness Monster, features breaking new science that finally identifies the species. Dramatic Rights are already being packaged by David Foster (The Thing, Collateral Damage, Mask of Zorro) and Shane Salerno (Meg, Alien v Predator, Armageddon). Alten's next novel, The Shell Game, deals with deception, the end of oil, the evolving chess game in the Middle East, and the path that leads to WWIII. The book is expected to be released in late 2006.
Steve optioned his original screenplay, Stranglehold to TWD Enterprises. The story, about a suicidal detective who must resolve the ghosts of his past in order to survive, will be produced by Scott Rosenfel (Home Alone, Mystic Pizza) and soap and film star Tonja Walker Davidson (Derby Stallion), directed by Billy Moss. Papa John, Alten's pilot for a TV Drama series, is about a feisty, driven African American coach, in the twilight of his career, who battles to teach his team how to win in the game of life against the backdrop of a major intercollegiate basketball program. Inspired by Alten's experiences with Hall of Famer John Chaney, the series is receiving serious interest.
Alten has a huge teen following. When he learned high school teachers were actually using his novels in the classroom, Steve launched Adopt-An-Author, a nationwide non-profit program designed to encourage students to read. Teachers who register for the free program receive posters, free curriculum materials, student-author correspondence, an interactive website, and classroom conference calls/visits with the author. The program has been called, "the most successful reading program in secondary schools today."
Steve Alten can be reached at Meg82159@aol.com - he personally answers all correspondence.
