No, I don’t know what that means, but I do know that it means at the bottom of this post I have some photos, including a photo of vultures. Because vultures are awesome, that’s why. Don’t forget that one of their self-defense mechanisms is HOT ROTTEN VOMIT.
Merry Christmas!
Anyway, just some quick newsy bits before we get to the photos —
Do not forget that I give gift ideas for THE WEIRDO WRITERS IN YOUR LIFE.
Wanderers has also hit more year-end lists, to my shock and delight —
Polygon lists it as a top of 2019.
As does Rob Hart at LitReactor Staff Picks of 2019. (Quote from him on the book that I love: “800-something pages and I read it in three days. Wendig took everything you see on Twitter that keeps you awake at night and condenses it all into a cohesive narrative about our garbage-fire reality, and makes it a ripping thriller on top of that.” Also, if you’ve not yet read The Warehouse, get on it.)
And finally, NPR! Holy crap. It hit their Book Concierge list, and I’m floored.
So, not that anybody’s counting (okay, I’m counting), it’s hit best of the year lists at:
Bookpage
Guardian
Kirkus
Library Journal
LitReactor
NPR
Polygon
Publishers Weekly
Washington Post
It’s very exciting. It’s the first time any of my books has had this kind of reach.
Anyway! What else?
Some books of mine are still on sale:
Invasive is still $1.99 for your Kindlemachine. It’s probably the best precursor to Wanderers, in fact. (It does not require having read Zer0es, despite what some sites will say.)
Atlanta Burns is $0.99, so if you like Nazis getting punched, well.
Under the Empyrean Sky is $0.99, too, as are the rest of the books in that series — cornpunk YA, Star Wars by way of John Steinbeck and Hunger Games.
Damn Fine Story is only $4.99 for your Kindle, too.
And if you want a Hydrate and Read Books t-shirt, Worldbuilders has you covered. And don’t forget about their year’s end charity run, which ends tomorrow, and affords you a chance to win a bunch of my books.
Finally, pretty cool that Aftermath gets a shout-out from Chris Terrio, the screenwriter of Rise of Skywalker. No, I don’t expect this means the movie does anything with the books! But it’s happy to see, just the same.
ANYWAY
HERE HAVE SOME PHOTOS, FRANDOLORIANS
Priscilla Bettis says:
Congrats on such a successful year. OMGosh, the two dog photos are SO frickin’ cute.
December 16, 2019 — 1:44 PM
terribleminds says:
They’re cuties. Except when they get muddy. Then they are monsters. Cute monsters. But monsters.
December 16, 2019 — 5:49 PM
Deborah Makarios says:
Apparently stick insects also use the vomit-on-attacker method – if “pretend to be a stick” has failed them.
That’s still not as gross as the sea cucumber, which shoots parts of its respiratory system out its bum to entangle predators, thus allowing our hero the sea-cucumber to escape. (Why DO people eat sea cucumbers??? Because the sea-cucumber’s respiratory system isn’t big enough to entangle us?)
Side note: if you have small children – of any age – to entertain, I can recommend Does It Fart? by Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti. You will learn things about the inhabitants of sea-cucumber bums you never imagined in your wildest dreams. And by wildest dreams, I mean worst nightmares.
December 16, 2019 — 11:49 PM
Tracy Black says:
Jesus, thanks for the waking nightmare. I’ve been up since 4 reading “Wanderers,” and I’m not sure I know which reality this is right now. This is so close to the daily shit show, it’s terrifying. It’s an incredible book, but I seriously don’t like you right now. As I turned off the light to go to bed, I wondered if I should think about not finishing it, just forget it exists. I’m no quitter, I guess, and it’s time to grow some ovaries. Gotta gear up for the Impeach Now rally tonight anyway. Dystopia, here I come.
December 17, 2019 — 7:24 AM
terribleminds says:
At least there’s no sleepwalking disorder!
December 17, 2019 — 8:00 AM
Debra Raymond says:
I read it in 4 days and days later can’t get it out of my head. I can see several more books . A whole world to be built!
December 19, 2019 — 11:29 PM
Joan Enoch says:
Chuck, I love your site. Do your know it is not secure? Read somewhere you should tell people their sites are not secure, but I feel – awkward – doing so. You have been on the scene for a long time, but I am a relative new-comer.
December 17, 2019 — 9:15 AM
terribleminds says:
Oh, thank you! I assume you mean, http vs https?
December 17, 2019 — 9:44 AM
Joan Enoch says:
I’m not sure what what means! If I go through the Reader, which I do, I have been noticing that there is a ‘not secure’ sign. Most other people’s seem to have a locked – secure – sing. I’ve been looking at it for a while – wondering.
December 17, 2019 — 10:00 AM
Joan Enoch says:
It is a http thing as opposed to an https thing.
December 17, 2019 — 10:14 AM
Leif Husselbee says:
Is the chubby grey bird a Junco? We used to get a lot of them in MA when I was living there. Beautiful shot. What kind of camera do you use? Seems like a nicer picture than my old Canon Rebel.
December 17, 2019 — 9:51 AM
janinmi says:
Did you know that turkey vultures are actually raptors? It’s the hooked beak. No, really! Teevees are one of my two favorite birds, because without them and beetles we’d be over our eyebrows in corpses by tomorrow morning. Also, teevees kettle: they do these lazy slo-mo tornadoes in the sky in group of 3 to 30+ (that I’ve witnessed) that move laterally. Sometimes hawks hide in the kettle, looking for prey. SO COOL. Okay, fan girl out. Thanks for the photos!
December 17, 2019 — 12:21 PM