On January 13-14, 2022, our beloved friend and Superstars co-founder Dave Wolverton (a.k.a. David Farland) passed away.
David Farland—also published as 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.
David became a judge for that contest in 1991. In addition, he edited the annual anthology before passing on the role to Algis Budrys in 1999. In 2011 he returned and served as lead judge and editor until he passed away in January of 2022.
He won several awards for his work. His novel On My Way to Paradise won the Philip K. Dick Memorial Special Award. 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 NextGen Book Award for Best Young Adult Novel, as well as others.
In the summer of 1999 David broke the world record for the most books signed in one sitting, which he achieved with the novel A Very Strange Trip.
David also worked as a creative writing instructor at Brigham Young University, where he mentored such people as Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, and Stephenie Meyer. In addition, he held writing workshops for aspiring and established writers. He taught writers such as Brandon Mull, Jessica Day George, Eric Flint, and James Dashner, among others.
He worked in the gaming industry and in Hollywood. In 1997, he started working part-time at Saffire studios, where he was co-leader on the design team for the game Starcraft: Brood War. In 2002, David began working as a movie producer and also greenlighted movies. He is working on a film adaptation of his Runelords series.
David wrote and edited more than fifty books. These include novels for adults, young adults, anthologies, middle-grade readers, and picture books. He was perhaps best known for his epic fantasy series The Runelords.
As part of his dedication to helping other writers, he wrote David Farland’s Writing Tips, a free email advice column for writers. Countless authors have expressed gratitude for his advice and mentorship over the years.
