THE AFTERLIFE PROJECT receives a starred review from Library Journal
March 31, 2025 § 1 Comment
“Rousing seafaring adventure, combined with contemplative musings on life wrapped around a compelling romance make this a fascinating tale that is difficult to put down; the combination of dire ecological challenges and imaginative future discovery combine in this very engrossing read from Weed.” — Library Journal
This is a big deal, and should really help get the word out about this book. My humble and profound gratitude to all the great folks at Podium Entertainment, Page One Media, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents, and to the many of you who have already preordered or posted early reviews. The Afterlife Project comes out June 3, 2025; the paperback original, audiobook, and ebook are available for preorder now.
THE AFTERLIFE PROJECT is a Middlebury Magazine Editors’ Pick
March 10, 2025 § 1 Comment
It’s an honor to receive this notice from my alma mater, with a nice little book review as well. Here’s a pull quote:
“The dangers [the characters] endure along the way are set against an unfolding and impossible love story across the vastness of geological time, as the scientists work to keep humans in existence. It may sound like an end-of-the-world tale, but it defines the strength and bravery of human beings and what they will do to preserve this precious thing we call life in the face of overwhelming odds.” — Middlebury Magazine
Kirkus Reviews’ verdict on THE AFTERLIFE PROJECT
December 12, 2024 § 2 Comments
A real shot in the arm in the form of this highly favorable review by Kirkus!
This is something every novelist hopes for (you really never know with Kirkus) and to have it happen this early in the process feels like a good omen.
The novel comes out on June 3, 2025, but allow me to suggest (for various reasons, most having to do with the vicissitudes of publishing algorithms) that you preorder it NOW at your local independent bookstore or via Bookshop.org, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or (for audiobook) Audible
Book deal!
January 23, 2024 § 2 Comments
Those of you who’ve been keeping track will know that this deal has been a long time in development, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Coming to you in print, audio, and ebook in early 2025. Will be posting more about it here in the lead-up, obviously, but if you wanted to stay up to date on progress you can sign up for my “very occasional but always interesting” newsletter by using the form on the home page or sending me a quick message.
Meanwhile, if I see you in person I’m buying the drinks!
New essay out: Escapist Fiction in the Internet Age
August 18, 2020 § 4 Comments
Had a lot of fun writing this essay now up at CRAFT Literary: “Practicing the Ecstatic: On the Value of Escapist Fiction in the Internet Age.”
“Novel-writing is another kind of work that demands a sustained and often grueling daily practice. While scribbling or typing is less explicitly physical than dance or carpentry, ecstatic transportation is a defining characteristic of fiction as an art form.” Read the full essay here.
This isn’t my first time around with CRAFT, a nicely produced, very well edited publication dedicated to, well, the craft of writing, both fiction and CNF. You can check out all their stuff here.
Spring novel writing classes at GrubStreet
March 13, 2015 § Leave a comment
It’s been a great experience working with seven talented aspiring novelists in my 10 week Novel in Progress course this winter. I find that focusing in on particular aspects of craft of fiction is immediately beneficial in terms of one’s own work, and even more so in the long term, because it leads to greater fluency and range as a writer.
For these reasons, and because I very much enjoy teaching, I’ve agreed to offer yet another 10 week Novel in Progress course on Thursday evenings beginning April 9th. If you’re near Boston and working on a novel, join us! We have a lot of fun. And if my current students are any indication, you will make great strides on your project.
If you’re interested but can’t commit to 10 weeks, your can join one these intensive, one-off classes:
Voice and Dialog in Historical Fiction (Saturday, March 28, 10-5)
Crafting the Killer Novel Opening (Saturday, April 11, 10-5)
The Lost World: Harnessing the Power of Descriptive Prose in the Novel (Wednesday, June 17, 6-9 PM)
Click here for the full details on all my GrubStreet courses.
The Historical Novel Society reviews Will Poole’s Island
February 11, 2015 § Leave a comment
The Historical Novel Society is an organization I respect, so I am quite honored that they have deemed Will Poole’s Island important enough to feature. Their reviewer made some interesting points about the book, and I think that in the final analysis he “got” it. What more can a first-time novelist ask?
Here’s the quote the reviewer references regarding my approach to mythic thinking within the novel:
“Unless we can find some way to understand the reality of mythic thinking we remain prisoners of our own language, our own thoughtworld. In our world one story is real, the other, fantasy. In the Indian way of thinking both stories are true because they describe personal experience . . . Historical events happened once and are gone forever. Mythic events return like the swans of spring . . . They are essential truths, not contingent ones.” – Robin Ridington
Read the full review here.
Novel Excerpt in The Island Review
February 6, 2015 § Leave a comment
Nice to see this excerpt from Will Poole’s Island published today in The Island Review. My thanks to Malachy Tallack and the rest of the TIR staff – it’s a great publication to subscribe to if you love islands and good writing!
What Novels Can Do That Movies Can’t
January 10, 2015 § 1 Comment
In anticipation of the 10 week novel class I’m teaching at GrubStreet this winter, I have a little piece up at The Grub Daily called “What Novels Can do that Movies Can’t, and Why We Need to Keep Writing Them.” Here’s an excerpt:
“One of the great things about being alive in the twenty-first century is the abundance of good movies – and, lately, of good and even great TV series. But the happy truth is, even in this environment, novels are holding their own. This may be due to what novelist and writing teacher John Gardner referred to as the “vivid, continuous dream” of fiction, which is more than a writing workshop cliché.”
Read the whole post here.
An interview on travel and writing
October 24, 2014 § Leave a comment
Had a great discussion with Troy Shaheen of Putney Student Travel on writing, travel, and leaving the digital world behind. Here’s an excerpt:
“For me, writing is an essential part of traveling. It’s a way to filter the experience, to interpret and record and bestow meaning. Travel allows you to see the world fresh; good writing does the same thing. This is why travel programs with a writing component, or writing programs with a travel component, are so consistently enriching. Travel lends itself naturally to writing.”
You can read the full interview here. And here’s a photo with a wonderful group of young writers on a Putney Student Travel program in Ireland in 2013:
Tim Weed 