Quick Facts
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Dave Wolverton (born 1957) is a science fiction author who also goes under the pseudonym David Farland for his fantasy works. He lives in St. George, Utah with his wife and five children and is best known for his Runelords series.
Career
Dave Wolverton began writing during college and entered short stories into various contests. His career began in 1987 when he won the top award in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future contest.
Dave Wolverton became a judge for that contest in 1991. In addition, he edited the annual anthology before passing on the role to Algis Budrys.
He has won several awards for his work. His novel On My Way to Paradise won the Philip K. Dick Memorial Special Award for Best Novel in the English Language. His historical novel In the Company of Angels won the Whitney Award for best novel of the year. In 2012, his young adult fantasy thriller Nightingale won the International Book Award for best Young Adult Novel of the Year, the Grand Prize at The Hollywood Book Festival, and the Southern California Book Festival for Best Young Adult Novel. It was also a finalist in the Global Ebook Awards.
He has been nominated for other awards, including the Nebula Award in the Best Novellette category for his short story "After a Lean Winter."
In the summer of 1998 Dave Wolverton broke the world record for the most book signings in one sitting, which he achieved with A Very Strange Trip.
Wolverton has also worked as an English professor at Brigham Young University. Today, he holds writing workshops for aspiring and established writers. He has taught writers Brandon Sanderson, Brandon Mull, Jessica Day George, Eric Flint, James Dashner, as well as others.
He has worked in the gaming industry and in Hollywood. In 1998, Wolverton started working part-time at Saffire studios, helping create video games. He is responsible for the concept of "lurkers" in the well-known RTS (Real-time strategy) game Starcraft: Brood War. In 2002, Wolverton began working as a movie producer and also greenlighted movies. He is working on a film adaptation of his Runelords series.
Under his pseudonym David Farland, he writes fantasy, leaving his real name for his science fiction novels.