Dan Thompson was born in Texas but grew up in the Midwest. He was drafted into the Army in 1967. He trained as a missile electronics technician and over the next twelve years worked on various Army missile systems. After leaving the Army he worked in applied research in infrared optics, high energy lasers and digital instrumentation until he accepted a civilian position with the Army Missile Command. He graduated from Athens State College and is a member of several community organizations. His hobbies include scale modeling, writing (fiction and non-fiction), and digital publishing.