About Dan

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.  

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 since the characters in Legacy had more stories to tell, began the continuation of the Texas Legacy Saga.   

Trail of Hope, a sequel to Legacy of Dreams with a new added character was completed and professionally edited in 2007.  Freedom Road, the third book in the Texas Legacy saga, was published in January 2016.  The Littlest Hero was published in 2012 and my fifth book, Happy Sounds, A Collection of  Humorous Short Stories and Captivating Poetry was published in February 2016. 

I've recently published "Extraordinary Adventures of Max Malone: Tales of Texas."  A tween/teen fantasy blending actual events in Texas history with time-travel and a very special magical book.  Max finds himself traveling through time with the help of a mysterious mentor and some magical artifacts to experience events in history (and gets some pretty good grades in history and social studies in the process!).  Tales of Texas is the first book in a planned series of three books and is available in paperback, Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. 

After living close to my family in Arlington, Texas, home of the Texas Rangers baseball club and the Dallas Cowboys football team for several years, I relocated to the quaint small Texas town of Granbury, Texas in 2017.  I write almost every day, do remodeling projects on my home, visit with family, do a little volunteer work and watch or 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.

Follow Dan on FacebookTwitterInstagram, Goodreads and Amazon Author page


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