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. Dan completed his Master of Business Administration at William & Mary (1986). He and wife Laura married in 1988, loved raising their four children, and assisted both Boy and Girl Scouting through their church. During his practice (retired Dec 2017) Dan’s professional designations included: Chartered Financial Consultant & Chartered Life Underwriter (1989), Certified Financial Planner® (1992) and Certified Business Intermediary (2002). Dan is now retired. His thirty-year financial practice encompassed group and individual benefits, money management, financial plans, business valuation & brokerage, commercial realty and – often very personal – counseling. Dan has given numerous seminars at major employers and other entities, is the author of a novel, a licensing manual, and numerous articles in journals such as Virginia Lawyers Weekly, Financial & Estate Planning and Charlotte Ventures. In 12/2015, Dan completed the University of North Carolina Graduate Teaching program and retired from financial services to work professionally as a writer, freelance editor and educator. His spine pain syndrome soon halted work, but he "powers through" with short stories. Dan’s fiction and narrative nonfiction have been published by Skyhorse Publishing, Superversive Press, Millhaven Press, Creative Loafing, NFAA Archery, AncientProphecies Press, and StoriesAmazing partners.