David Poyer
David Poyer is an American author and retired naval officer. He was born in DuBois, Pennsylvania in 1949.
Poyer graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1971. He wrote as an active duty naval officer and a naval reserve captain,[1] his service included duty in the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific, Caribbean, and Persian Gulf area, until his retirement from the navy in July 2001.
Poyer began writing in 1976 and up until 2011 has published almost 33 novels, and he is called "the most popular living author of American sea fiction".
Although best known for his naval fiction, in the 1980s, Poyer also wrote alternative history, and science fiction under the pseudonym David Andreissen. He has also published short fiction and nonfiction in numerous magazines.
Poyer's most popular novels, set in the present day, follow on the career of U.S. Navy officer Dan Lenson, a thoughtful surface line officer whose ethical questioning sometimes conflicts with his duty. Another, more slanted to the adventure genre, features an ex-Coast Guard commercial diver, Lyle "Tiller" Galloway.[1] Both series have been published by St. Martin's Press. A series about the US Navy during the American Civil War is also published by Simon & Schuster. According to Poyer, much of his work draws upon his own experiences in military service and as a cruising sailor and sport diver.
Poyer also published a series of books set in a fictional Hemlock County. They explore the history and folklore of north-western Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania oil industry that was the original basis for American industrial power. The best of these is "Thunder on the Mountain," set in the Great Depression period. These were critically praised but did not prove as popular as his sea fiction.
Poyer currently teaches in the Wilkes University MA/MFA low-residency program in Creative Writing at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He lives with novelist Lenore Hart and their daughter on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
Books
- White Continent Jove Publications 1980
- The Shiloh Project: What If The Civil War Happened Now? Avon Books 1981
- Star Seed (Starblaze Editions), Walsworth Publishing Company, 1982
- The Return of Philo T. McGiffin St.Martin's Press 1983
- The Dead of Winter (Hemlock County) Tor Books 1988
- Stepfather Bank St. Martin's Press 1988
- The Gulf (Dan Lenson Novels) St Martins Press 1990
- Task Force 61 New English Library Ltd 1990
- The Med (Dan Lenson Novels) St. Martin's Paperbacks 1991
- Bahamas Blue (Tiller Galloway Thrillers) St. Martin's Paperbacks 1992
- Hatteras Blue (Tiller Galloway Thrillers) St. Martin's Paperbacks 1992
- The Circle (Dan Lenson Novels) St. Martin's Paperbacks 1993
- Winter in the Heart Tor Books 1994
- Louisiana Blue (Tiller Galloway Thrillers) St. Martin's Paperbacks 1995
- The Only Thing to Fear Tor Books 1996
- The Passage (Dan Lenson Novels) St. Martin's Paperbacks 1997
- The Return of Philo T. McGiffin (Bluejacket Books) US Naval Institute Press 1997 (reissue)
- As The Wolf Loves Winter (Hemlock County) Forge Books 1997
- Down to a Sunless Sea (Tiller Galloway Thrillers) St. Martin's Paperbacks 1998
- Tomahawk (Dan Lenson Novels) St. Martin's Paperbacks 2000
- China Sea (Dan Lenson Novels) St. Martin's Press 2000
- Thunder on the Mountain (Hemlock County) Forge Books 2000
- Black Storm (Dan Lenson Novels) St. Martin's Paperbacks 2003
- Fire on the Waters : A Novel of the Civil War at Sea Simon & Schuster 2003
- The Command (Dan Lenson Novels) St. Martin's Press 2005
- A Country of Our Own: A Novel of the Confederate Raiders Simon & Schuster 2005
- That Anvil of Our Souls: A Novel of the Monitor and the Merrimack Simon & Schuster 2006
- Korea Strait (Dan Lenson Novels) St. Martin's Press 2007
- The Threat (Dan Lenson Novels) St. Martin's Paperbacks 2007
- The Weapon (Dan Lenson Novels) St. Martin's Press 2008
- The Crisis (Dan Lenson Novels) St. Martin's Press 2009
- Ghosting St. Martin's Press 2010
- The Towers (Dan Lenson Novels) St. Martin's Press 2011
- The Whiteness of the Whale, St. Martin's Press, 2013
- The Cruiser (Dan Lenson Novels) St. Martin's Press 2014
- Tipping Point (Dan Lenson Novels) St. Martin's Press 2015
Citations and notes
References
- Gidmark, Jill B., Encyclopedia of American Literature of the Sea and Great Lakes, Greenwood Press, 2000