Travel
Fitness & Nutrition
Business & Finance
Technology
Charles Daly , “Charlie,” is a ghostwriter and developmental editor working with memoir and non-fiction. He helps authors “go there” with difficult topics and trauma, helping veterans, first responders, survivors, addicts in recovery, and outdoor adventurers tell their stories and put their experience on the page. He has worked on best-selling military memoirs and had his co-authored work featured on Jocko Podcast. He is drawn to stories of rogues, reluctant heroes, and true originals. He specializes in sea stories and nautical lore, drawing on personal experience as an expedition sea kayaker and maritime first responder.
Charlie is the co-author of I Will Follow You Anywhere: The True Story of a 9/11 Responder and a Comedian who Took on Congress by John Feal with Charles Daly, foreword by Jon Stewart (Benbella Books, 2026), and Make Peace or Die: A Life of Service, Leadership, and Nightmares. He has worked as a developmental editor on bestselling military memoirs, including From Lawyer to Warrior and Civil: Life After the Foreign Legion.
Charlie’s travel writing and long-form journalism has appeared in The Boston Globe, We Are The Mighty, Kōkatat, and Thought Catalog. He has also written white papers, case studies, ebooks, and other long-form B2B marketing content for Roku, SalesForce, Privy, and Palisis. He prides himself on lean prose, tight sentences, and getting projects turned around quickly, producing a draft in as little as six weeks.
A first-generation American and dual citizen of the U.S and Ireland, Charlie lives in a cottage on the Atlantic coast of Ireland with his wife, a Swiss crime novelist, and their cat. He has also worked as an English teacher in Korea, a surf instructor, and a defamed Stop & Shop cashier. When he’s not writing, he’s exploring the coast in small boats or on call with his local Lifeboat crew.
“This is the kind of book I love—a true-life memoir of a man who lived (and is still living) a multi-dimensional life of war, love, family, and service … and who writes about it like a bandit.”
– Steven Pressfield, on Make Peace or Die
Subjects
General
Specialties
Outdoors, survival, adventure, trauma, resilience, military and veterans’ stories.
Skills
- Books
- Content marketing
- Coaching
- Case studies
- White papers
- Articles
- E-books
- Editing
- Ghostwriting
- Web copy
Book Credits
Memoir/ Current Events
Co-author, I will Follow you Anywhere: The True Story of a 9/11 Responder and a Comedian who Took on Congress by John Feal with Charles Daly (BenBella Books, 2026)
- The story of the fight for healthcare and compensation for 9/11 responders and survivors exposed to toxic dust at Ground Zero.
- Foreword by Jon Stewart.
Memoir/ Military
Co-author, Make Peace or Die: A Life of Service, Leadership, and Nightmares (Houndstooth Press, 2020)
- A father/son collaboration that tells the story of an Irish immigrant who fought in Korea in the USMC and went on to serve in JFK’s West Wing.
- Featured on Jocko Podcast
Business/ B2B Advertising
Ghostwriter, Do What Works: The B2B Ads Handbook by Kevin Lord Barry, Founder of Right Percent (Right Percent, May 2025)
- Lessons learned from managing $150+ million in B2B ad spend for companies like Reddit, DoorDash, Motive, and way more.
- “Your portable B2B ads agency”
Business/ Marketing
Ghostwriter, The eCommerce Marketing Handbook by Privy (Privy, 2020)
- eCommerce marketing best practices from the number one app on Shopify.
- Features insights from over 30 eCommerce founders
Memoir/ Military
Editor, CIVIL: Life After the Foreign Legion by Joel Adam Stuthers (LE Projects, 2022)
- A former French Foreign Legion commando finds a new mission in civilian life, balancing adventure, duty, demons, and fatherhood.
- Long-term Amazon bestseller in multiple categories.
Memoir/ Military History
Editor, FINEX: Service, Sacrifice, and Country by Joel Adam Struthers (LE Projects, 2024)
- Joel Struthers, author of bestselling Civil and Appel! returns to France to trace his family connections to the French Resistance.
Memoir/ Military
Editor, From Lawyer to Warrior: Failing the Bar, Becoming a Marine, and Finding Meaning By Chris Pavlak (Houndstooth Press, 2023)
- Chris Pavlak’s incredible journey to becoming a USMC officer, leading sniper platoons, after failing the Bar exam forced him to do an “about face” in life.
Selected Work
As author, unless indicated otherwise.
The Serenity of an Abandoned Trip
A trip report from my first attempt to kayak around Ireland, written for Kokatat, the main sponsor of the trip.
ReadTexas Tower Number 4 vs. the North Atlantic (Shared byline with Joshua Maloney)
The story of a little-known maritime disaster off the coast of my hometown
How to Cope with Pulling an All-Nighter and Extended Periods of Sleep Deprivation
A guide for coping with sleep deprivation written for special operations units, combat medical support teams, and aid workers in high-stress environments. This guide helped the client, a sports and military nutrition company, bid on RFPs from the British Ministry of Defence. Due to the nature of this project, the document itself and the terms of those RFPs are classified. I worked on the unclassified side of this project.
National ZEV Investment Plan: Cycle 3 (Pages 47-60)
I wrote the marketing section of a white paper detailing Electrify America’s (Volkswagen) investment plan for 2022 and the outcomes from their marketing in 2020. The audience included Congressional subcommittees.
