Hi! I’m David. Feel free to contact me at davidwaltonfiction /AT/ gmail.com. Fans write me with questions about my books, for advice about writing, or even to point out mistakes, and I always respond. Go ahead and write–I’d love to hear from you!
If you’d like to receive occasional email updates about my latest books, sign up for my mailing list.
For matters of business, my agent, Eleanor Wood, can also be contacted at the Spectrum Literary Agency.
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I live near Philadelphia with my wife and seven children. I enjoy playing jazz and musical numbers on the piano, long walks with my family, and playing Chess and Go. I work as an engineer for Lockheed Martin. I’m a member of Tenth Presbyterian Church.
I love reading and writing science fiction. Science fiction is a genre where the big ideas of life, what it means to be human, what our future will be like, and how things could be different than they are, can be explored from every possible angle. I’m continually astonished and thrilled that get to be a part of this dialog, writing stories that contribute, in a small way, to the canon of ideas that great writers before me have built, and continue to build.
I am a Christian. Unfortunately, these days Christianity gets associated with certain political views, most of which I do not hold. As a Christian, I am for the oppressed, the downtrodden, the helpless, the poor, the immigrant, and the refugee. I am for all voices being heard, and all lives being valued. I believe we gain knowledge and wisdom by listening to those who are different than we are and learning to understand what life is like from the perspective of those most unlike ourselves.
Fiction can help us do this. I will only ever live in my own head, but by reading fiction, I can live for a short time as someone else, feeling what they feel and seeing the world as they do. Science fiction can show us the viewpoints of people whose lives and experiences are so far away from ours that, like an astronaut viewing the Earth from space, our minds are stretched and our vision is expanded and we return forever changed.
I do not write “Christian” novels, because I don’t want my stories to connect only to people with one particular point of view. The themes of science fiction cover the biggest questions there are: Who am I? Why am I here? What is the purpose of life? Where are we headed from here? These questions are for all of us to grapple with. My hope is that people of any religious perspective or background will find much to enjoy and relate to in my novels, because–if I have succeeded–they will recognize in them their own experience of what it means to be human.
People often wonder how I can reconcile my faith with the love of science (and particularly the theory of evolution) that is evident in my books. I’ve written a series of blog entries on this subject:
1. How Can A Christian Write Science Fiction?
2. The Age of the Stars
3. The Age of the Rocks
4. Random Chance vs. Design
5. Science and Genesis 1
6. Science and Adam
7. The Philosophy of Science
If this long description isn’t enough and you’d like to find out even more about me, there have been quite a few interviews of me over the years. Here are a few of them you can check out:
- Civilian Reader
- Buzzy Mag (video interview)
- World Magazine
- Geekadelphia
- Fantasy Literature (chat with Marion)
- Fantasy Literature (chat with Bill)
- Fantasy Literature (another chat with Bill)
- My Bookish Ways
- The Book Plank
I belong–body and soul, in life and in death–not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. sDg
davidwaltonfiction.com 
Hello Mr. Walton: My name is Chuck Zovko. I am the staff photographer for the Lafayette College Alumni Magazine. I have been ask to contact you, to set up a time and day to photograph you for an upcoming Alumni Profile on you, in the Lafayette College Alumni Magazine. Would it be possible to arrange a day and time that you might be available?
the actually photo session should only take about 30 minutes of your day.
thank you for your help. I look forward to meeting you.
Most sincerely,
Chuck Zovko
chuckzovko@mac.com
http://www.chuckzovko.com
http://www.BethlehemSteelPhotos.com
(610) 417-2571
Hello, there..
This is a bit of a long-shot, but are you the same person involved in a software title for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum?
I realise you’re probably very busy, but I’d appreciate it if you could reply to this query – even if it’s a single-word “Yes/No” 🙂
Cheers,
Gerard
Nope — sorry!
Dave,
I’m on chapter 9 of Terminal Mind, and I wanted to tell you how thoroughly I am enjoying it! I’m a novice Science Fiction reader and had never had any interest in the genre until recently. I heard of your book and wanted to give it a try. Now I’m recommending it to everyone.
I read incessantly and find good plots coupled with poor writing annoying. I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your writing talent. You’ve created a world that is not only accessible to someone unfamiliar with the genre but incredibly compelling. You’ve coupled this with an intelligent plot that keeps my mind thinking, characters who I care about and universal, timeless social themes.
THANK YOU for sharing your gift! Congratulations on the award and signing with Tor. I look forward to finishing your book… although a good book’s ending is always bittersweet. I am now a fan and will be sure to read future books and recommend them to others.
Wishing you all the best-
Danita
Here’s a copy of the review I left for you on Amazon. As a doctor who is a Christian, I have come to many of the same conclusions you echo in your book Quintessence. I’m happy to find that someone has been having the same thought. Thank you.
I love this book because I get to watch a good author growing into an excellent one. It’s not a perfect book but Usain Bolt couldn’t sprint the 100m from birth either. This author has a ton of potential and does a great deal well for a first book. There are a few problems here and there with pace of character development. But man… everything else, he does well. Philosophy, faith, magic/science, quantum physics, feminism are all topics that are relatively uncomfortable with each other in the same room. Beyond all this, they are heavy topics that if mishandled can suck the life from a conversation. But they’re all in this book and they’re not heavy, they’re woven in seamlessly and become part of the whole narrative being told. Ideas do get fleshed out or at least get aired out. Characters do get fleshed out and acquire depth. New worlds get built. Magic and science and religion have a real conversation. Alternate histories are told. Father and daughter relate. He even has a token black guy :-). I love how he reverses the Pilgrims meeting Native Americans story and its subsequent betrayal. He’s telling us all again about the discovery of America and you wouldn’t know it until you thought about it because the story is engrossing. Above all doesn’t seem forced and he finds his stride. Definitely passes the “I didn’t sleep last night because I couldn’t put it down” test. I would definitely tell my brothers to read this book. There aren’t too many popular books written at a language level teenagers can understand with a well told story that can encourage and deal so effortlessly with true thoughts. Well done Mr. Walton.
Thanks for reading, and for writing a review! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you for having the courage to so openly profess your faith. I am a Christian Scientist and a fellow science fiction writer.
Hello David,
I’m just reading my first book of yours, The Genius Plague. Picked it up at the library and it seems intriguing. The problem is, page 25, you list the points for a word in Scrabble incorrectly. T-a-p is six points, not four. Being that the game has a fair amount of relevance to the story, I’d think you would have caught that. And the dad could certainly have used a few extra points.
IMHO, Robots Need to Know *we* Can Die at Any Minute…
https://futurism.com/the-byte/robots-perform-better-fear-death
https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/robots/a29831507/robots-mortality/
The unique setting thrusts the story to a new perspective, where the characters have a different and limited means of solving their problem than how they normally would have.