Following high school Dan joined the U.S. Coast Guard and served for four years visiting many ports up and down the Atlantic (at one time visiting Brazil) where he established his interests in both boating and creating short stories for his shipmates. Following his service time Dan joined New England Telephone company as a craftsman and also enrolled in night classes working towards a degree in business. The professors' in English there also leaned toward story creation since most of the students were older, usually covered by the GI bill. This is Dan's first fiction novel in a series, which is followed by The Plight of the Princess continuing the adventures of the tiny heroine, Becky.