About daniel neff - Story Architect

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Daniel was born in 1963 on the banks of the Ohio River, in the shadow of the Queen City of Cincinnati, Ohio, the third of four children born to Maurice and Sarah Neff. He is a Kentucky native, however, and bluegrass runs in his veins. When Daniel was ten years old, the family moved the land of waving wheat and winds that sweep down the plains. If you aren’t familiar with the classic musical, that is Oklahoma. From the age of 12, Daniel dreamed of being an architect. Whether it was the influence of Mike Brady, the father of the Brady Bunch, or his mother’s interest in painting and drawing, Daniel wanted to be an architect, but that dream got put way back on the back burner, because he didn’t believe that he was one of those “special people” that architects are, or so he believed.

Years later, and another move to beautiful, exotic South Jersey (Southern New Jersey), he prepared for college. Because his sister and boyfriend (eventual husband) went to Virginia Tech, Daniel accompanied the family to move his older sister to college. He fell in love with Hokey Stone buildings and the gorgeous campus nestled in the hills of Southwestern Virginia. Daniel didn’t even consider architecture, but instead chose computer science as a major. Unbeknownst to him, Virginia Tech has a highly respected architecture program. His first year at Tech, Daniel’s roommate was a third-year architecture student. Their dorm building was across the street from the architecture building – literally right across the street. Daniel’s roommate gave him a tour of the building, showed him all the labs and the models the students were working on. He even invited Daniel to parties at a fraternity populated mostly by architects where he was fortunate enough to meet other architects. It was as if it was God’s plan for Daniel to be an architect, and He did everything but take him by the hand to go down to the administration building to apply for the architecture program. However, deep down, his own insecurities and the misguided notion that architects belonged to an exclusive sect of society, which he felt he wasn’t up to the standards of, held him back.

Fast forward about 16 years, Daniel is married with a young child, living in Northeast Florida, with his own handyman business, doing several odd jobs at the home of Mr. Smith (his actual name). Mr. Smith was a retired ARCHITECT in his 70s. This reawakened the desire to become an architect and Daniel decided to finally pursue that lifelong dream. He applied to the University of Cincinnati and was accepted, to begin in the Fall of 2000 at the age of 36. In May of 2000, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. After six months of Chemo treatments, instead of getting better, he was getting worse, and the only option left was the bone marrow transplant. Guided by God and divine intervention, he found solace in the conviction that his destined path would lead him to abandon all medical interventions. In February of 2001, when his doctors stated, "Your life expectancy will be measured in months, perhaps weeks," he faced a choice that looked beyond medical treatments. This personal journey was guided by relying on faith and an unwavering belief that, in embracing his unique path, he discovered a peace that surpassed the limitations of conventional prognosis.

A visit from an elderly Episcopal priest and his wife led Daniel to the inescapable conclusion that he was to abandon his lifelong dream of being an architect and dedicate himself entirely to working with troubled teenagers in group homes. He and his wife were blessed to be able to work with troubled teenagers for about 10 years. Following the end of the journey he felt an irresistible compulsion to write a book to tell his story about how he survived “terminal cancer.” Daniel had never tried or even considered writing a book before. Within six months, he had written his first book and was self-published on Amazon. The writing process came naturally to Daniel, as if it was meant to be, and he continue to write which led to 6 books to date, with multiple sequels and other book projects in the works.

While Daniel may not have achieved his childhood dream of becoming an architect of buildings and houses, life took an unexpected turn, leading him to a different form of architectural expression. Today, he finds fulfillment as an architect of words, constructing stories instead of physical structures. In this unexpected pivot, he discovered that his true passion wasn't just in physical structures, but in the art of telling a story that would resonate with the human experience. Though his life did not turn out as he thought it should and took a path that was seemingly detrimental, Dan’s journey as a writer has proven that sometimes, the most profound dreams are those that unfold in the realm of imagination and narrative. In Daniel’s own word, “I honestly don’t think I would have enjoyed architecture as much as I enjoy writing books.”

Daniel currently resides in the Charlotte, NC area with his two beautiful German Shepherds, Liesel and Cinder, and one cat, Penelope. Liesel wants to run and jump for a ball or frisbee for hours, while Cinder is content to lie down to the side and chew an old basketball into a million pieces. Penelope is a petite, beautiful hunter. She would prefer to spend all of her time outdoors stalking prey and has brought a trophy into the house on many occasions.

(Go to his website for pictures and videos of the furbabies - authorspeakerdanielneff.com )

Daniel's first book, "God Said Not Yet," a memoir about his personal battle with "terminal" cancer, is a previous bestseller among memoirs on Amazon, with more than 15,000 copies in print and Kindle.

Daniel has four fiction works available:

One is a novel titled "Donovan's Island," 

another novel, titled "The Mystery of Lake Clandestine" is published under the pen name - Van Morgan, 

and the third is a novella titled "When You Die in Your Dreams."

Daniel's latest work is a fiction novel titled “Into Each Life A Little Rain Must Fall.” The title is based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Rainy Day and the story is loosely based on Daniel's years of experience working with troubled teenagers.

Daniel has one other nonfiction book titled I Am Perfect: In God's Eyes

He has several other fiction book projects in production.