About Dan
In 1990, I started writing my first historical fiction book, Legacy of Dreams, while working full time at my regular job. The first draft was completed in 1991.
Family and career obligations crowded the top of my priority list and writing projects went to the far back burner for many years. Every once in a while I pulled Legacy out of my hard drive, dusted it off and polished it a bit.
Finally in 2006, after retiring from industry, I decided to get serious about writing, did the final draft on Legacy, had it professionally edited, started polishing the edits and began writing other stories.
Trail of Hope, a sequel to Legacy of Dreams with a new added character was completed and professionally edited in 2007. Both Legacy of Dreams and Trail of Hope will be published in 2010. My next historical novel, The Littlest Hero will be published in 2011.
I now live close to my family in Arlington, Texas, home of the Texas Rangers baseball club and the Dallas Cowboys football team where I write almost every day, do remodeling projects on my home, visit with family, do a little volunteer work and attend as many Ranger's home games as possible during the season.
I hope you enjoy reading my novels as much as I enjoy writing them.
Hello and welcome to my web site.
Having several different ancestors as early Texas settlers and being a sixth generation Texan, I heard stories of the sacrifices, rewards and values of the Texas pioneers as I grew up. Naturally, I wanted to know more and as an adult started reading about the early days in Texas.
I collected text books and non-fiction works by T.R. Fehrenbach, Walter Prescott Webb and others. I also became a great fan of the master story tellers of early Texas such as Elmer Kelton and James Michener. I learned about Comanche life from Fehernbach's Comanches and Lucia St. Clair Robson's novel, Ride the Wind.
After growing up in Dallas and doing a hitch as an aircraft flight crew member in the Navy during the Viet Nam war, I went to work full time and attended college on the GI bill while also starting a family. Years went by while I did what a young man was supposed to do, get an education and support a family. Most people do that sequentially -- I did it simultaneously.
I spent a career in the high technology manufacturing field as a manager in semiconductor manufacturing operations, (about as far from historical fiction writing about early Texas as you can get), but started studying writing as a hobby.
As job transfers required new locations, I attended writing seminars and classes at the University of California and at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. I also became a member of the Southwestern Writer's Association in Tucson, Arizona and was lucky enough to become a member of a wonderful writer's group in Tucson that challenged me to be productive and creative with my writing every week.
