« 11:48 p.m. | Main | Make Yourself »

May 19, 2003

skipping stones

I just processed my 400th pre-order for Dancing Barefoot!

Coupled with the bulk orders I've taken from some indie stores, that brings the pre-sales of my first book to over 600 in less than two weeks.

And here's exciting news to all of you international reders: Monolith Press is now shipping to the entire world. Take a look at the order page for details.

And guess what?

Steve Jackson liked my book!!

May 18, 2003: Dancing Barefoot

I just finished reading a book. I hadn't intended to read the whole thing tonight . . . actually, I just wanted to make sure the PDF was good, and see how long it was, so I could decide where "Read Wil's Book" would go on The List. But when I opened the PDF . . . well, why not read a bit?

So I read a few pages, and it was a good story. Sad, but good. It was real. And I knew how he felt, not because I've had that experience . . . no doubt I will someday, but I haven't yet . . . but because this guy is a good storyteller.

So I read the next one. And the next one (which is about when he was 15, and has the Car Wars Deluxe Edition in it). And the next. And then I was in the last story, which is the long one about a SF convention. And there was no way I was going to quit reading at that point.

And then I was done. And you know something? When I started reading, I was pretty used up. It had been a long day, and not a good one. But when I finished, I felt better. (OK, I'm a geek, I'll say it: I got some hit points back.) Because this is a real guy, with a real life, and he tells good stories.

If you read wilwheaton.net, you know what I'm talking about. For the rest of you: Wil Wheaton . . . who long ago, as a kid, played a kid named Wesley on TV . . . is still acting, but he's also writing. A lot of people read his blog at wilwheaton.net. He's also written two books: the autobiographical Just A Geek, which will be out soon, and Dancing Barefoot, which is the one that made my day. It's out now. You can get it from his publishing site, Monolith Press. This is me saying you should read it. There are a lot of bad books out there. This is a good one.

-- Steve Jackson

Holy shit. Steve freakin' Jackson, man. A childhood hero, who has SIGNIFICANTLY contributed to my life, and my geekdom. This is just beyond awesome. I have to stop tearing up when I read my reviews to my wife. It's hurting my image as a bad-ass.

In an e-mail to me, he also said:

Thanks for sending me the book. I think a lot of people will like this. You done good, man.

Does it get any better than this? If it does, I can't wait to find out how. :-)

Posted by wil at May 19, 2003 10:34 AM

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.wilwheaton.net/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/209

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference skipping stones:

» Dumples and Dancing from TankGrrl - Annotations On Life
Good stuff: ❤ New Strong Bad email. (Go Dumples!) ❤ Wil's book is shipping to Australia! (Go Wil!) I ordered my copy moments ago. (Thanks, Uncle Willy! Guess you didn't go to Vegas after all. heh) Bad stuff: ❤ I can't sleep. (Go no... [Read More]

Tracked on May 19, 2003 02:24 PM

» Wesley's new book from The Black Citadel
Wil Wheaton has a new book. The thing that makes me interested is that Steve Jackson is interested in it (sounds too much liek an Alpo commercial). this makes me want to share, since Steve jackson is the Best Game... [Read More]

Tracked on May 21, 2003 09:36 PM

» Wil, oh wil from something kawaii
wil's getting great reviews on his book - i can't wait until i get my copy. hopefully it's been sent already. i need something to read! really just an entry to check on my trackback funcitonality... i know i could... [Read More]

Tracked on May 27, 2003 04:04 PM