About Val Walker
About the Author
Val Walker
Val Walker writes from lived experience rather than observation. Her career spans commercial aviation, law enforcement aviation, federal training programs, and aviation journalism, giving her an uncommon understanding of pressure, protocol, and responsibility in high-risk environments.
As an airline captain flying major international routes, Walker spent decades operating inside tightly regulated systems where precision is not optional, and mistakes carry weight. This professional discipline shapes her storytelling, allowing scenes to feel grounded without explanation and tension to rise naturally from procedure, silence, and choice.
Beyond the flight deck, Walker served as a police aerial patrol helicopter pilot and later became one of the first airline pilots selected for the Federal Flight Deck Officer program following September 11. That experience placed her at the intersection of aviation, security, and human vulnerability during a defining period in modern history.
Walker is also an established aviation writer, having authored more than a hundred articles as a managing editor, art director, and flight test pilot for leading aviation publications. Her nonfiction background informs fiction that values clarity, restraint, and credibility over spectacle.
Outside aviation, Walker teaches defensive tactics to flight crews and continues to fly vintage military aircraft for charitable causes. She lives in Utah, where she writes, paints, hikes, and remains deeply connected to the aviation community that shaped both her career and her voice as a novelist.
Author’s Vision
Val Walker’s vision is to tell stories grounded in lived experience, where credibility matters as much as emotion. Her work aims to reflect how ordinary professionals operate under extraordinary pressure, honoring realism, restraint, and the quiet moments where responsibility, fear, and integrity intersect without explanation or spectacle.
Author’s Mission
Val Walker’s mission is to write fiction that respects intelligence and experience. She seeks to portray aviation, leadership, and security through accuracy rather than exaggeration, offering stories shaped by discipline, consequence, and human choice. Each book is written to preserve authenticity while exploring how individuals carry responsibility when systems begin to strain.