David Wichman is an author, speaker, sexual healer and entrepreneur who is respected and well-known all over the world to those who seek to live free of stigma, shame, and fear around sex, love and intimacy.
Raised in Fremont, California, David survived a childhood marked by severe neglect and abuse, which led him into years of homelessness, alcoholism and drug addiction. After decades of struggle and rehabilitation failures, he finally obtained freedom from his addiction in 2005. He remains an active member of New Thought and recovery movements to this day.
In 2006, David found a calling in sex work. While working with seniors, the disabled and those with severe intimacy issues, he discovered the profound transformational power that sex work creates for both client and provider. In 2009, he founded his travel-companion company, the Male Adventure, through which he has accompanied clients on life-changing adventures to all seven continents. He is an activist, vocal ally and grateful member of the LGBTQI2 community.
In 2016, David co-founded Heal-VR, a software development company that merges ancient spiritual principles and meditation techniques with modern virtual reality technology.
David lives with his partners and their dogs in the Coachella Valley area of California.
BOOKS:
Every Grain of Sand (2020)
Your biggest literary influences:
John Irving. His writing is like a drug to a junkie. After reading each page, I can’t wait to get my next fix. His stories always involve something that turns the world on end, takes a sharp left, and dives off into the abyss. Like a storytelling time machine, I always feel transported into another world in a different time and in a different place.
Roald Dahl. As a kid, I devoured his works. I could identify myself in the faces of the broken characters that populated his stories—Charlie, James and Matilda. Given what I was going through at the time, I needed those victories and happy endings.
Last book read:
The Essential Path: Making the Daring Decision to Be Who You Truly Are by Neale Donald Walsch, the author of Conversations with God
The book that changed your life:
Conscious Being by TJ Woodward, which came into view at a pivotal moment in my life. I was on a continuous journey to fix myself. I had this nagging feeling that something was wrong with me. Search as I might for this elusive “problem,” this book gave me a new perspective: The only thing that was wrong was believing that something was wrong. Once the illusion had been smashed, I felt armed with the magic of seeing possibilities instead of seeking answers. A game changer.
Your favorite literary character:
James Henry Trotter from James and the Giant Peach — James and his band of talking giant insects mirrors my childhood. I don’t know if I could have made it through if I hadn’t believed in my heart that triumph awaited. Could I get through the next challenge? Keep the peach moving; find a new life. I had my version of Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge, but I also had my giant old grasshoppers and spiders and earthworms. There were many along the way. I longed to be safe, loved, and just OK. I longed for that victory, and today I live it at last.
Currently working on:
I wrote an oracle deck called Living in the Questions, which I self-published. I’m currently writing the book that goes with each of the seventy-two questions. The second book will be stories from my overseas adventures and encounters with wildlife and the spiritual experiences and messages that emerged from those trips.
Words to live by:
What else is possible in this situation, and how can I see this differently?
Advice for aspiring authors:
Take a step back from your story and let go of your assumptions about what it should be or how it might turn out in the end. Take breaks — smoke, drink, cuss if you must — but be sure to finish what you started.
