Dan writes from extensive life experience (life-threatening adventures: military, love, spiritual, bear attacks and more) as well as disciplined and broad academic and language training.
Dan graduated from Virginia Military Institute (1981), third among Economics majors, simultaneously completing the Modern Languages curriculum. He served in the Infantry, then as a reservist in a Special Forces support role, next as a Training Company Commander and later in a classified Army Research Institute role. He completed his Master of Business Administration at William & Mary (1986) and UNC-Charlotte’s graduate teaching program (English, History, Social Studies, Business).
Dan and wife Laura married in 1988, loved raising their four children, and assisted both Boy and Girl Scouting through their church from 2000 to 2010. Dan was a nationally recognized Financial Planner from 1987 through 2017. He is the author of numerous business and pension articles since 1992, with technical and dramatic nonfiction articles appearing in Virginia Lawyers Weekly, Financial & Estate Planning, Creative Loafing and Charlotte Ventures. Now retired to writing, his The Secrets of Successful Financial Planning was published in 2018 by Skyhorse Publishing to rave reviews and earned the CWG Seal of Approval. His 1998 novel, The Pleistocene Redemption, was a semi-finalist for the SFWA Nebula Award and sold many thousands; it is currently revised as Ancient of Genes (AOG) and available as a TV series proposal, novel, and has numerous spin-off short stories.
Dan is the author of numerous short fiction published by Superversive Press, NFAA Archery, Millhaven Press and Tuscany Bay Press. His projects include humor shorts and Sci-Fi anthologies (one cryptozoological). Dan, wife-for-life Laura and their four children now hail from Charlotte, NC. See excerpts, reviews and art: AuthorDan.com. Rights Inquiries: The William Pettit Agency.
