Allen is a husband and father of two adult sons, who frequently outfish him. His byline has appeared in Gray's Sporting Journal, The Drake, Fly Fusion, Upland Almanac, the Tom Beckbe Field Journal, Strung Sporting Journal, and Backcountry Journal, among others, and he is the author of two collections of short stories: Outside in Shorts and For Everything There Is a Season. He and his wife, Joy, reside in Michigan.