David Sherman

David Sherman is an American novelist who deals overwhelmingly with military themes at the small-unit tactical level. His experiences as a United States Marine during the Vietnam War show prominently in his work.

Biography
Sherman was born in Niles, Ohio. He grew up in Kansas, Texas, New Jersey and Omaha, Nebraska, from where he joined the United States Marine Corps soon after turning 18. While a Marine he served in the peace time infantry, a tour as a military policeman, and fought a war in Vietnam. After his departure from the U.S. Marine Corps he moved to Philadelphia where he studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He had a brief stint as a sculptor, winning awards for his work. He began writing in 1983, and his first book, Knives in the Night, was published in 1987. Altogether, as of June 2007, Sherman has published 26 novels, including 15 with his co-author, Dan Cragg.

After a long residence in Philadelphia, in 2004 he moved to southern Florida.

Education
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Military career
David Sherman enlisted in the US Marine Corps directly out of high school. He went through Boot Camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, CA and Infantry Training Regiment at Camp San Onofre, a part of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, CA. He was promoted to Private First Class (PFC) prior to reporting to his first duty station, the First Marine Brigade at Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, HI, where he was assigned to third platoon, Lima Company, Third Battalion, Fourth Marines. While there he was promoted to Lance Corporal and rose from basic rifleman to fire team leader. Following that tour in the peace time infantry, he served as a military policeman at MCAS Cherry Point, NC. His last tour of duty was in the Republic of Vietnam, where he first was a fire team leader in India Company, First Battalion, First Marines, then in a Combined Action Platoon at Hoa Bun hamlet, several miles from the Chu Lai Marine base. He was promoted to Corporal at the same time he joined the CAP. He was released from active duty on his return from Vietnam and honorably discharged upon completion of his six years combined active and reserve service. He holds the Combat Action Ribbon, several unit citations, both US and Vietnamese, the Good Conduct Medal, and service and campaign medals.

Overview
Sherman says this of himself:


 * "I began my writing career writing novels about US Marines fighting the war in Vietnam (I was one and I did). Today I'm writing novels about Marines fighting wars centuries in the future and in a world that never existed. Seems I've been typecast."

On October 24, 2008, Sherman was interviewed for Armed Forces Network (a network and website for US military personnel in Europe), and the interview was posted on their website. In the interview he discusses Starfist, how the series came to be, and mentions that a motion picture screenplay of the first book, First to Fight, was being shopped around Hollywood. The screenplay was not written by either Sherman or his co-author Dan Cragg, but by a die hard fan of the Starfist series Eric Bean.

Literary themes
Sherman's fiction thus far deals with military themes, in particular, military themes involving Marine enlisted men. His only novel that doesn't deal with this theme directly is his Star Wars universe novel (with Dan Cragg), Jedi Trial.

The Night Fighter Saga

 * Knives in the Night; Ivy Books, 1987
 * Main Force Assault; Ivy Books, 1987
 * Out of the Fire; Ivy Books, 1987
 * ''A Rock and a Hard Place; Ivy Books, 1988
 * ''A Nghu Night Falls; Ivy Books, 1988
 * ''Charlie Don't Live Here Anymore; Ivy Books, 1989

Novels not part of a series

 * There I Was: The War of Corporal Henry J Morris, USMC (1989)
 * The Squad (1990)

The StarFist series (with Dan Cragg)

 * First to Fight, (1997)
 * School of Fire, (1998)
 * Steel Gauntlet, (1999)
 * Blood Contact, (1999)
 * TechnoKill, (2000)
 * Hangfire, (2000)
 * Kingdom's Swords, (2002)
 * Kingdom's Fury, (2003)
 * Lazarus Rising, (2003)
 * A World of Hurt, (2004)
 * Flashfire, (2006)
 * Firestorm, (2007)
 * Wings of Hell, (2008)
 * Double Jeopardy, (2009)

The StarFist: Force Recon Saga (with Dan Cragg)

 * Backshot, 2005
 * PointBlank, 2006
 * Recoil, 2008

The DemonTech Saga
Books published by Del Rey Books
 * 1) Onslaught (2002)
 * 2) Rally Point (2003)
 * 3) Gulf Run (2004)

Books published by DTF Publications (a division of Dark Quest Books )
 * Get Her Back! (2011) (novella) (Review )
 * "Surrender and Die" (short story) appearing in So It Begins, edited by Mike McPhail
 * "Delaying Action" (short story) appearing in By Other Means, edited by Mike McPhail

In reference to the novella and short stories, David Sherman says on his web site:


 * "Those three stories amount to the first 35% or 40% of DemonTech book 4. My current thinking is that I will write two more novellas and a couple of short stories, all to be published by Dark Quest Books under their DTF Publications imprint (the same as Get Her Back!). Then I will combine them with some connecting material, and voila, book 4!"

Novels not part of a series

 * Jedi Trial (with Dan Cragg) (2004)