Author Bio
David Z. Pyke is a native Texan related to one of the Alamo defenders. His great-great-great-great-great-granduncle, Isaac Millsaps, was one of the Immortal 32, the reinforcements from Gonzales who answered William Barret Travis's call for help, rode to San Antonio, and died in the Alamo on March 6, 1836.
A professional writer since 1975, Pyke has written for newspapers, magazines, and websites. He currently works for Texas Woman's University, writing news and feature articles about the College of Arts & Sciences for the TWU website, though his stories have been picked up by print and broadcast media.
In 1991, a mutual friend introduced David to Suzanne, an English literature teacher from Missouri. Their first date was on a Friday the 13th. She later confessed that before that first date, she read some of his stories to make sure he could write. Apparently, he received a passing grade. They were engaged five months later, married four months after that, and in 2022 celebrated their 30th anniversary.
Artwork
The images below are:
- Rescuing Crockett's cover
- author David Z. Pyke
- Fanny Calderon de la Barca
Fanny is included because her book, Life In Mexico, was critical in the development of Rescuing Crockett. When Pyke came up with the idea for the novel, all he had was the title and a basic concept, what if David Crockett survived the Alamo? During his research, he found Fanny's book and therein found multiple characters (including Fanny) and locations for the novel, but more importantly he discovered the triggering event that ignites the mystery and provides the through line that weaves the plot together.
Click an image for the full image.
Research
There are too many books and articles and websites involved in the research for Rescuing Crockett to list here, but these are the primary sources:
- Alamo Traces, New Evidence and New Conclusions, by Thomas Ricks Lindley
- A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, of the State of Tennessee, by David Crockett
- Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836–1986, by David Montejano
- A Revolution Remembered: The Memoirs and Selected Correspondence of Juan N. Seguín, edited by Jesús F. de la Teja
- Black Texans, by Alwyn Barr
- Built in Texas, edited by Francis Edward Abernethy, line drawings by Reese Kennedy
- David Crockett: Hero of the Common Man, by William Groneman III
- David Crockett: The Lion of the West, by Michael Wallis
- Early Texas Architecture, by Gordon Echols
- Eighteen Minutes: The Battle of San Jacinto and the Texas Independence Campaign, by Stephen L. Moore
- Elite Series: The Texas Rangers, by Dr. Stephen Hardin and Richard Hook
- Everyday Life and Politics in Nineteenth Century Mexico, by Mark Wasserman
- Faces of Béxar: Early San Antonio & Texas, by Jesús F. de la Teja
- Handbook of Texas, online from the Texas State Historical Association
- Historical Atlas of Texas, by A. Ray Stephens and Dr. William M. Holmes
- Horses, by Elwyn Hartley Edwards
- Joe, the Slave Who Became an Alamo Legend, by Ron J. Jackson Jr. and Lee Spencer White
- Life in Mexico, by Madame Calderón de la Barca
- Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans, by T.R. Fehrenbach
- Men-At-Arms Series: The Alamo and the War of Texan Independence 1835–36, by Philip Haythornthwaite and Paul Hannon
- Men-At-Arms Series: The Mexican-American War 1946–48, by Philip Katcher and G.A. Embleton
- Sea of Mud, by Gregg J. Dimmick
- Sleuthing the Alamo, by James E. Crisp
- The Alamo Remembered: Tejano Accounts and Perspectives, by Timothy M. Matovina
- The Immortal 32, by Rita Kerr
- The Peacemakers: Arms and Adventure in the American West, by R.L. Wilson
- The Tejano Community, 1836–1900, by Arnoldo De León
- Texian Iliad: A Military History of the Texas Revolution, by Stephen L. Hardin
- The Texas Republic: A Social & Economic History, by William Ransom Hogan
- Three Roads to the Alamo, by William C. Davis
- What It Is Like to Go to War, by Karl Marlantes
- With Santa Anna in Texas, by José Enrique de la Peña
Influences
A writer is the sum of their reading, and these authors and books have particularly influenced Pyke's writing. Rescuing Crockett is high-concept historical fiction and action/adventure, similar in style and pace to the historical adventures of Bernard Cornwell and Steven Pressfield.
- Peter Benchley's Jaws
- James Carlos Blake's In The Rogue Blood, Wildwood Boys, Friends of Pancho Villa, The Pistoleer, Red Grass River, A World of Thieves, Handsome Harry, and The Killings of Stanley Ketchel
- Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles
- Geraldine Brooks's The Secret Chord
- Max Brooks's World War Z and Devolution
- Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama
- Bernard Cornwell's The Warlord Chronicles, Sharpe series, The Last Kingdom series, Grail Quest series, Starbuck Chronicles, Stonehenge, Fools and Mortals, 1356, Agincourt, and Redcoat; and his nonfiction, Waterloo
- S.A. Cosby's Razorblade Tears
- Justin Cronin's The Passage, The Twelve, and City of Mirrors
- Clive Cussler's Raise The Titanic and Treasure
- Frederick Forsyth's The Day Of The Jackal, The Odessa File, The Dogs of War, and Avenger
- Neil Gaiman's American Gods
- Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, Mindbridge, and All My Sins Remembered
- Stephen Harrigan's The Gates of the Alamo
- Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers
- Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, It, The Stand, Cell, Duma Key, Elevation, and Billy Summers
- Elmore Leonard's Killshot
- Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove, Streets of Laredo, Dead Man’s Walk, Comanche Moon, Anything For Billy, and Zeke and Ned
- Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's Lucifer's Hammer
- Lauren Owen's The Quick
- Frederik Pohl's Gateway
- Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire, Tides of War, Last of the Amazons, The Virtues of War, The Afghan Campaign, Killing Rommel and A Man At Arms
- John Scalzi's Old Man's War series
- V.E. Schwab's Vicious and Vengeful
- Clifford D. Simak's Way Station
- Barry Strauss's The Death of Caesar, The Trojan War, The Spartacus War, The Battle of Salamis, Ten Caesars, and The War That Made The Roman Empire
- Stephan Talty's Agent Garbo and Empire of the Blue Water
- Studs Terkel's The Good War
- Leon Uris's Battle Cry
- Andy Weir's The Martian
- Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff
- and Audie Murphy's memoir, To Hell and Back
