David Wake was the Chairbeing of the University of Birmingham Science Fiction and Fantasy Society and a member of SF fandom ever since. He started writing for the theatre in 1998, with 18 plays produced, winning awards and taking two shows to the Edinburgh Fringe.
It was while taking an MA in Creative Writing at Birmingham City University that he was introduced to Indie Publishing.
He’s published 14 novels and you can find them Here in the UK and Here in the US.
The Derring-Do Club steampunk adventure series started with The Derring-Do Club and the Empire of the Dead (ArmadaCon 2013) and continued with The Derring-Do Club and the Year of the Chrononauts (Worldcon 2014), The Derring-Do Club and the Invasion of the Grey (Mancunicon 2016), The Derring-Do Club in Death on the Suez (Ytterbium 2019) and The Derring-Do Club and the Sisterhood of the Death-Goddess (ArmadaCon 2022).
The Thinkersphere series is Hashtag (Eastercon 2014), Atcode (Redemption 2019) and Plus Sign(Concentric 2020).
I, Phone (Eastercon 2013), Crossing the Bridge (2017), Roninko (ArmadaCon 2019), The Murders of Conky Whallop (2022) and Dawn and Dave of the Dead (2023) are all stand-alone novels.
His new The Daughters of Égraine trilogy starts with The Jackdaw’s Choice (ArmadaCon 2024). It continues with The Crow’s Law (ArmadaCon 2025).
The Dragon Sword Trilogy, written with J. R. Steel, begins with A Dragon in the Title (ArmadaCon 2025).
He’s been a Guest of Honour at the SF conventions, ArmadaCon and Redemption.
He’s on Facebook: Facebook Author Page and @davidwake.bsky.social.
He co-founded New Street Authors with Andy Conway, see newstreetauthors, which is a collective of Birmingham-based independent publishers.
And advice on indie publishing can be found at Punk Publishers.
Below are the recordings from the panels David has kindly taken part in…
The 1pm: Ideas Panel, the fourth panel of the 25 Jan 2026 Festival …
The 5pm: Science-fiction (SF), fantasy (F) and horror (H) panel, the eighth panel of the 25 Jan 2026 Festival …
#3b Monday 23rd February 2026 authors AA Abbott, Alan Meredith, David Wake, Donna Morfett, Ryan Stark joined Morgen for plotting vs pantsing
#6 Monday 16th March: the panel for plots ~ Cristina Loggia ~ David Wake ~ Denise Beddows, hosted by Morgen.
#7 Monday 23rd March: for description vs dialogue Morgen was joined by David Wake ~ Jill Todd ~ Nikki Copleston ~ Phil Oddy
MMF #8 ~ Monday 30th March: mixing genres and forms with: Andrea D Woolhead, David Wake, Jack Chandler, Janet Pywell, Martin Tracey, SJ Banham with Morgen with an ‘E’ hosting
On Monday 13th April 2026, we (BB Elsin, David Wake, Jill Todd, Karl W Newton, Meriet Duncan, Morgen) talked about the saggy middle of a novel
On Monday 27th April: David and Morgen chatted about editing (their day jobs).
MMF #13 Monday 4th May: cover design, illustration and formatting ~ Andrea D Woolhead ~ David Wake ~ Ella Hamilton ~ Jack Chandler, hosted by Self-Pub Fest founder Morgen.
#14 Monday 25th May: writing groups ~ AA Abbott ~ David Wake ~ John Moore ~ Ryan Stark ~ with Morgen hosting
On Thursday 28th May: scriptwriting ~ David Wake ~ Morgen with an ‘E’ (host)
On Tuesday 2nd June: the publishing route: get an agent, publisher, self-publish or a mix? ~ David Wake ~ Morgen with an ‘E’ (host)
#16 Monday 8th June: the publishing industry ~ Andrea D Woolhead ~ David Wake ~ with Morgen hosting
And do watch Morgen’s epic (over two hours!) chat with David about his writing journey (among many other topics!):
The recordings on this website are free to watch but we’re raising money for local book-related charities and we’d be really grateful if you would donate whatever you afford via the Charities & Donate page. Thank you so much.