David McDaniel

David McDaniel
David McDaniel at his desk, writing, 1974.
Born	David Edward McDaniel (1939-06-16)June 16, 1939 Toledo, Ohio, United States
Died	November 1, 1977(1977-11-01) (aged 38) Sunland-Tujunga, California
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	American
Genre	Science fiction
Notable works	The Dagger Affair The Vampire Affair The Arsenal out of Time

David Edward McDaniel (June 16, 1939 – November 1, 1977) was an American science fiction author, who also wrote spy fiction, including several novels based upon the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E..

David McDaniel was born June 16, 1939, in Toledo, Ohio. He studied cinematography at San Diego State University, then moved to Los Angeles. While living in Los Angeles he joined science fiction fandom, using the pseudonym Ted Johnstone. This makes him one of the few authors to write under his real name but conduct his social life under a pseudonym. He was also known by the nickname "Tedron", the name of his character in a Shared universe fantasy called Coventry.

David McDaniel died sometime in the early morning of November 1, 1977 while alone at his home. At the time of his death he was contracted to fly to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for freelance work as a cameraman.

McDaniel sold two stories while still an undergraduate. Pulp writer Noel Loomis was teaching a course on writing at San Diego State, and offered an automatic "A" to any student who sold a story. McDaniel found a boy's magazine whose requirements he could meet, sent them two stories and they accepted both.

McDaniel wrote his first science fiction novel, titled The Weapons of XXX and submitted it to Ace Books in early 1965. Terry Carr, a junior editor at Ace, liked it, but the chief editor, Don Wollheim wasn't convinced, so they returned it. Ace then signed a contract to publish original novels based on the NBC television series "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.". Carr remembered McDaniel's The Weapons of XXX and since he knew McDaniel was a big fan of the television show, so he asked his to submit a novel for The Man from U.N.C.L.E project. The fourth novel to appear in the series was the result, The Dagger Affair (1965), which was one of the biggest sellers in the series. Carr asked him to write another, The Vampire Affair, and then signed him to a contract for six more. Royalty statements received from Ace Books showed The Vampire Affair as the biggest seller of the six U.N.C.L.E. novels that McDaniel wrote.