a terrifying tale, beautifully told

I woke up yesterday morning to a couple dozen emails from Bandcamp, informing me that my novelette audiobook, Dead Trees Give No Shelter, is suddenly selling like crazy.

I figured someone must have shared a link somewhere, but I didn’t know it was Cory Doctorow at boingboing until I was looking at the Internet during lunch. Cory had incredibly kind things to say, and he praised my work pretty effusively. As someone who is a writer in large part because Cory supported me and gave me guidance when I was just starting out, getting this kind of recognition from a peer means more to me than I thought possible.

This is so awesome, and it makes me so happy! I have sold more copies in twenty-four hours than I have in the last twelve months! And the eBook is screaming up the charts in the Kindle store, too! Right now, it’s #2 90-minute fiction & literature short reads, #23 in horror, and #44 in horror literature & fiction. WOW!

I guess I’ll remind y’all that there is a limited edition, collectible hardcover coming out in about a month (it just depends on how long it takes the printer to get them to me), and I guess I’ll quote Cory’s incredibly kind comment on my writing, and narrating:

“Wil Wheaton’s 2017 standalone novelette Dead Trees Give No Shelter is a beautiful, spooky horror story in the vein of Stranger Things. A terrifying tale, beautifully told.”

and

“It literally made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.”

I have a hard time feeling good about myself, and I struggle to not dismiss the kind things people say about me and my work, so today I am making a choice to feel proud and accomplished, and to be so so so so happy that so many new people are going to be exposed to my writing and narrating, today.

Here are handy links, copypasted from boingboing:

35 thoughts on “a terrifying tale, beautifully told”

  1. Hooray! So happy you have been able to have the blog publish the post, and for the kind words of your friend, and for the sale of your novella. Claim that victory! That’s awesome!

    1. Hallie, I bought it as an ePub which means you can transfer it to your Kobo. It’s DRM-free so you shouldn’t have any issues!

  3. Selling like crazy is a wonderful thing. Enjoy the praise. I really want the hard copy!

  4. Despite having a Kindle that is well used, I really want the printed version of your book. I’m excited to read this and I’m not at all surprised there has been a great response so far. Since it’s so difficult for you to believe a compliment this may not sink in – but you are one of my favorite writers. Your words transport me to that place in my mind that visualizes every detail and allows me to feel the emotions described. That is pure talent, my friend.

  5. You deserve the praise and recognition Wil. I absolutely love this story and look forward to owning a hardcover copy. Thank you for creating and sharing.

    I’m hoping, once I get a bit more GM experience, to try and take the world/premise and make a short single session Dread adventure out of it. But not quite sure if I’m that creative.

  7. I’m so glad people are finding out about your story now, particularly when you could use the lift. It’s fantastic work and I know you leveled up at LEAST twice while working on it.

  8. I enjoyed it a lot when I read it way back when you first released it.

    I keep hoping you’ll revisit Hunter and flesh that out as I thought that was a really good premise and ended way too quickly!

  9. When I purchased your audiobook set Wil I gave you $50 instead $30 you were asking! Now off to Band Camp to listen! Wil NAMIWALKS was a great success raising $60 for NAMI walking to remember Mom! I made a short video at NAMIWALKS Veterans Park at Milwaukee WI the top video at YouTube.com/WenonaGardner

  10. Unsolicited praise from one’s peers is the best kind. Congratulations, Wil. You deserve every bit of it!

  12. This is why the two of you are the president and vice president of the Oasis

  14. Reading Dead Trees Give No Shelter now! Favorite line so far: “He carried its weight with him, propped it up with bottles whenever he could.” Lovely! So looking forward to more! Thank you!

  16. Just bought your book, and am looking forward to a chance to read it soon!

  17. You and Cory are such nice people that it makes sense why you are president and vice president of the Oasis

  19. So happy for you, Wil…congratulations! You wrote exactly the kind of book I LOVE to read! Write on!

  22. Yay! I loved listening to you tell your story. You are such an inspiration, both creatively and mental-healthily. I hope I can nab one of the hardcovers when it comes out!

  23. Listened and enjoyed, will recommend. It reminded me of the books of short horror stories I devoured as a kid but with a great sense of family and of family taken away. It has everything a short story needs plus a bit extra. The dialog is excellent, I think, Wil is great at telling story through dialog, which is rarer than it ought to be.

    I look forward to a novel.

    Oh, and Cory is right about Wil being an especially good audiobook reader, especially when he’s reading his own stuff.

    The story didn’t make the hairs on my neck stand up, but it evoked nostalgia about the scary children’s books they reminded me of and pissed all over them. Which – I should probably explain – is a British phrase meaning yours is better. That’s how to write that sort of story.

  24. I don’t have a kindle so I’ll have to download and convert the book. Looking forward to the read. The last book I purchased was PoC||GTFO, a highly recommended read.

  25. Wow, Being mentioned on boingboing is pretty cool!

    Even better, it reminded me to Buy The Damn Thing™, for now I opted for the audiobook. I read ebooks on my phone which is totally not that great and I really like your narration voice, so it’s a win-win.

    I’ll probably get the hard copy as well, dead trees give no shelter, but they have a nice haptic and look important on a book shelf.

  26. Super Happy for you. I’m glad that you got this professional recognition, and even happier that you are choosing to be proud of yourself. Yay Wil!

  27. I am so incredibly happy for you, because that’s awesome, and (almost) everyone (certainly you) deserves awesome things to happen to them!

    But.

    But, Wil.

    But.

    But, I bought that book ages ago, and am totally waiting for you to write more.

    (You owe me nothing. But, if you write it, I will read it. Deal.)

    1. I spent two year writing a novel! It’ll be released sometime in the near future, but I’ve been told to expect to wait until next year, at the earliest, because the publishing world moves slowly.

  30. Wow, congratulations Wil! This is so well deserved! I read “Dead Trees Give No Shelter” around last Halloween and was so inspired by it that I composed some music based on the story. I reminds me of Rod Serling, Stephen King, The X-Files, and so much of the sic-fi/horror I love from the 80s. Here is a link to the music on Bandcamp if you want to check it out:

    https://davidjosephwesley.bandcamp.com/album/pumpkin-patches-iii-season-of-the-switch

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