Dan Wells spent his childhood in
Salt Lake City, Utah, and began writing at a young age. While in the second grade, he wrote his first stories based on the Choose Your Own Adventure series. He has cited Where the Wild Things Are as one of his first influences.[1] During his childhood, Wells was also exposed to science fiction and fantasy: namely, titles such as The Hobbit and Star Wars.[2] He frequented the library and loved to read.[3] In addition to sci-fi and fantasy novels, he read classics, including those of French and Russian literature.[2] He also enjoyed writing scripts, songs, and poetry as a child.[4]
In high school, Wells wrote a series of comic books, novellas, and a serial.[5] He began to take writing more seriously in college,[4] finishing his first serious novel when he was 22.[5] He studied English and anthropology at
Brigham Young University (BYU). It was there that he met his wife, Dawn.[1] As a student, Wells also worked on BYU's speculative fiction magazine, Leading Edge, and began writing game reviews; he has since described himself as a "rabid gamer".[2] Before becoming a published novelist, he worked as a corporate writer for
NuSkin.[6]
Career
Wells's debut novel, I Am Not a Serial Killer, was published in 2009.[7][8] It has been printed in English, Spanish, French, German, and Russian.[9] Wells did extensive research to make the novel's protagonist, John Cleaver, appear genuine. His fascination with serial killer predictors also inspired him to write the novel.[1] In 2016, it was adapted into a film, starring
Max Records and
Christopher Lloyd.[10] Wells wrote a sequel, Mr. Monster, which was published by
Tor Books in 2010.[11][12] In 2011, his third installment to the John Cleaver series, I Don't Want to Kill You, was published.[13][14] Wells continued John Cleaver's story with a second trilogy,[15] in which the protagonist changes and develops. In 2016, Wells told Deseret News that the fifth book in the series, Over Your Dead Body, was one of the most challenging to write.[16] Some of Wells's novels feature main characters with mental health issues. In Serial Killer, John Cleaver is diagnosed with
antisocial personality disorder,[17][better source needed] and the protagonist of The Hollow City has
schizophrenia.[4]
Wells expanded into young adult dystopia with Partials Sequence in 2012.[18][19] The series made an appearance on the
New York Times Best Seller list for children's series in 2014.[20] He followed up in 2016 with a Young Adult science fiction novel, Bluescreen, set in Los Angeles in the year 2050.[21][22] He continued this Mirador series with Ones and Zeroes in 2017[23][24] and Active Memory in 2018.[25][26] Other releases include middle-grade sci-fi audiobooks Zero G (2018),[27][28]Dragon Planet (2019),[27] and Stargazer (2021).[29][30]
He and author
Brandon Sanderson make the podcast Intentionally Blank together where they discuss everything from writing to other fantasy-related topics to their own lives and more.
Wells has described himself as a "card-carrying
socialist" and does not like the musical Cats.[36]
School Library Journal described his novel Bluescreen as "exciting and innovative".[37] A School Library Journal review of Ones and Zeroes complimented Wells's complex and diverse characters, plausible dystopian plot, and understandable descriptions of future technology.[38]Kirkus said that Partials' "rushed ending" signaled there would be a sequel.[19]
In February 2017, Wells was the Literary Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the 35th annual
Life, the Universe, & Everything professional science fiction and fantasy arts symposium.[43]
A Night of Blacker Darkness, written as Frederick Whithers (author) and Cecil G. Bagsworth III (editor) (July 2011, Fearful Symmetry,
ISBN978-1-4660-0075-9)[31]
^
abcCrowder, Ben (October 12, 2013).
"Dan Wells — Mormon Artist". mormonartist.net.
Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
^My four cents on the Hugo thing, by Dan Wells, at FearfulSymmetry.net; published April 7, 2015; retrieved April 7, 2022, via
archive.org; "(...) my own Sad Puppies nomination last year. I was on the slate, didn't take it seriously, and then when I actually ended up on the finals list for novella (...)
^"Dan Wells". HarperCollins Publishers: World-Leading Book Publisher. Retrieved March 3, 2020.