Books by Wil Wheaton

Welcome to Wil Wheaton's Virtual Bookshelf

Hi there, and welcome to my virtual bookshelf, where you'll find descriptions, art work, reviews, and links to purchase all of my books in one nifty location.

Thanks for dropping by! If you have any questions about my work, feel free to contact me.

Sunken Treasure

Every year, before the summer convention season gets underway, I pull some excerpts from whatever I plan to release in the fall, take them to my local print shop, and make a deliberately lo-fi, limited edition chapbook to take with me on the obligatory summer convention circuit.

I’ve done previews of Dancing Barefoot, The Happiest Days of Our Lives, and Memories of the Future*, but in 2008, I couldn’t excerpt my planned fall release, because it was so top secret, I would have had to print it on self-destructing paper, and while that would have made it a very limited edition, the costs associated were … prohibitive.**

The thing about these chapbooks is that you can only get them from me if you come see me at a convention. Since I don't do many conventions, this leaves a lot of you — Europe, Canada, and the East Coast, I'm looking in your direction*** — without a chance to get your hands on one. Later this week, I will correct this glaring error, by releasing last year's chapbook, Sunken Treasure, via a print on demand system that works like this: you place an order, they print your book, and the service I use ships it to you. A couple of my friends have used the same service I'm using, and they're super happy with the quality of their books, the customer service, and everything about the whole process. Print on demand services used to be kind of sketchy, but they've grown up a lot recently, and I'm willing to give this particular one a try.

If this works the way I think it will, it's going to be super awesome for all of us as I release books in the future: You don't have to worry about me screwing up your order, I don't have to invest in a thousand books at a time, you get your book in a few days instead of a few weeks because I'm not shipping it myself, and I can spend more time creating new stories while remaining independent. Best of all, I'll have the time to write and release more than one or two books a year.

I'm proud of Sunken Treasure, and people who read it seemed to really like it. But if you were wondering what you're getting into, here's part of the introduction I wrote for this release:

With the help of my editor Andrew, who is a former ninja warrior and recreational time traveler, I pulled together things I liked from all three of my books, my blog, and this groovy collaborative fiction project I played with called Ficlets. I also included, for the first time anywhere, one of the scripts I wrote for a sketch comedy show at the ACME Comedy Theater.

When we printed out the resulting chapbook so we could proof it, Andrew and I both noticed that without really trying, we’d managed to put together something that was a lot cooler than we’d expected.

“This is a great way to introduce people to my writing,” I said.

“Maybe we should consider making it a more substantial release,” Andrew said. “So more than 200 people can have a chance to read it.”

I thought that was an excellent idea. It was such an excellent idea, I completely forgot about it until the beginning of 2009, when I found six unsold copies in my office. I took them with me to a convention in Phoenix, sold them all, and began thinking about putting together the book that you have in your hands right now.

I’ve expanded this version from the original just a little bit, and included the production diary I wrote about my experiences working on Criminal Minds last year, because of everything I wrote in 2008, that was what people seemed to like the most, and I’m all about making the people happy.

I hope you enjoy this little collection, and I hope you’ll share it with your friends.

Unlike the autographed limited edition I took to cons last year, it's, um, not limited, and not autographed, but it is expanded a little bit, and it's not deliberately lo-fi. It won't feel like a 'zine at all. My friend Matt did a beautiful cover for it, and if enough people ask, I can easily offer a hardcover version with just a few clicks.

I hope it will find its way to all the people who wanted to read it, but couldn't make it out to any of the very few conventions I attended last year. I'm working out the final details of publishing it right now, and I'll have all that information available in a day or so.

I have created two editions, a US Edition and a World Edition. They are identical in content, but the World Edition is in a slightly larger format, so it's $2.00 more. The trade off is that you don't have to spend a million dollars on shipping if you're not in the US. Yay!

Here's the book's description at Lulu:

Sunken Treasure is a short collection of my favorite pieces from my books and blog, including a production diary from my 2008 role in Criminal Minds, and excerpts from a collaborative fiction I took part in called Ficlets. As a bonus feature, it also includes the never-before-seen script to a sketch I wrote and performed at the ACME Comedy Theater.

If you ever wanted to know where to start with all my writing, Sunken Treasure is the book for you.

The book is 90 pages long. The US edition is $13 + shipping, and the world edition is $15 +shipping.

*Watch how I bury this in the footnote: Memories of the Future is what I'm calling the book of TNG reviews.

**As it turns out, that project self-destructed, so it worked out that I didn't risk releasing excerpts.

***Nearly all the e-mails I've gotten from people who can't come to my conventions are from these places. Obviously, you will be able to purchase this book from anywhere in the world.

The Happiest Days of Our Lives (audio)

You can buy the audio version of The Happiest Days of Our Lives right here, for just $19.72. "Why $19.72?" You ask? Because that's the year I was born, and since nobody else is the boss of me, I can do that sort of thing. "How long is it?" You say? "That's what she said!" I reply. Then I tell you that it's about three and a-half hours long, and we laugh and laugh before the episode ends with a hilarious freeze frame.

Like the audio version of Just A Geek, this is a super-annotated edition, filled with tons of what I call "audio footnotes" for lack of a less stupid-sounding term. I hope we've created something that's more like sitting down in a room with me while I tell you stories, than it is a typical audiobook. I don't think a traditional publisher would let me get away with doing it this way, which is a big reason I do these things on my own. If you've ever heard me perform my work at a show, or listened to any of my podcasts, you should have some idea of what you're getting into.

Unlike the audio version of Just A Geek, the audio performance of The Happiest Days of Our Lives will only be available as a download. We found that the costs associated with creating and shipping physical media for JAG:tA vastly outweighed the benefits, and most people just rip the CDs to their favorite digital format, anyway.

Now, I'm sure most of you reading this don't need to hear it, but I'm a dad, and that means I often say things at great length that don't need to be said, so I'd appreciate it if you pretended to listen. I've made it really clear that I despise DRM and think it's stupid, and I will never willingly infect something you buy from me with DRM. In accordance with my philosophy, there is no DRM or restriction of any kind on this audiobook. I don't think I'll lose any sales of The Happiest Days audiobook to piracy, because people who would steal from me aren't people who wouldn't buy it, anyway, but I need to say this. If you're considering trying to steal it in some way, there's very little I can do to stop you – it's a game of whack-a-mole that I don't have the time or resources to play – but I hope you'll consider that when you steal from me, you're not sticking it to a giant company with millions of dollars in annual revenue. When you steal from me, you're directly hurting my family, because this is how I support the four of us (and our dogs, who say that they love you no matter what, because they're dogs and that's what they do.)

I hope everyone who wants to hear me perform The Happiest Days of Our Lives will get a chance to enjoy to it, and I think that I've chosen a price point that's fair, reasonable, and affordable. I know the economy isn't great, so if you're looking to hear me perform my work for free, you can find stuff in my podcasts, listen to me perform Blue Light Special at the 2008 Phoenix Comicon or wait until early next year when I'm releasing, for free, performances of all the extra material I'm adding into Subterranean Press' special expanded edition of The Happiest Days of Our Lives.

Okay, end of dad voice. Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoy my performance of The Happiest Days of Our Lives. Let me know if you review it, because I'll be compiling a page of stuff like that. You know, for kids.

(Epic thanks to Val for the incredibly cool graphic. Wait until you see the flyers and banner images she made!)

The Happiest Days of Our Lives (special edition)

Shortly after I published The Happiest Days of Our Lives , Bill Schafer, who is the publisher and owner of Subterranean Press, contacted me about doing a special limited edition. I discovered Subterranean Press when they published John Scalzi's Questions for a Soldier, and I fell in love with their special editions when I got Charlie Stross' Missile Gap and Neil Gaiman's Coraline. The idea of having my little book treated the same as books by John Scalzi, Elizabeth Bear, Ray Bradbury, and Neal Stephenson was awesome, but I wasn't sure if it was a good idea - I didn't want to put out yet another edition of a book people already owned, and I really didn't want to do something that would devalue the 300.

I talked it over with Anne, sought advice from my friend and editor Andrew, and I asked some friends who have worked with Bill what they thought (it turns out that everyone who works with him adores him, which ended up being very important to me). After a few weeks of consideration, I realized that this was a unique opportunity, and I would be a fool to pass it up.

I got in touch with Bill and accepted his offer. We decided that instead of just doing a different printing of a book people already had, I'd look through the material that just missed the final cut, and put together a special expanded edition. I would also take all those pictures that are on the cover, and create a special photo insert section. (I'm really excited about this; my idea is to create something that looks and feels like a family photo album, complete with handwritten captions.)

Limited: $35
ISBN: 978-1-59606-244-3
Lettered: $300

Length: 200 pages (tentative)

Readers of Wil Wheaton’s website know that he is a masterful teller of elegant stories about his life. Building on the critical success of Dancing Barefoot and Just A Geek, he has collected more of his own favorite stories in his third book, The Happiest Days of Our Lives. These are the stories Wil loves to tell, because they are the closest to his heart: stories about being a huge geek, passing his geeky hobbies and values along to his own children, and vividly painting what it meant to grow up in the ’70s and come of age in the ’80s as part of the video game/D&D/BBS/Star Wars figures generation.

Within the pages of The Happiest Days of Our Lives, you will find:

• “The Butterfly Tree”: how one Back to School night continues to shape Wil’s sense of social justice, thirty years later;
• “Blue Light Special”: the greatest challenge a ten year-old could face in 1982: save his allowance, or buy Star Wars figures?
• “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Geek”: why fantasy role-playing games are such an important part of Wil’s past – and his present
• “The Big Goodbye”: a visit to Paramount gives Wheaton a second chance to say farewell to Star Trek . . . properly, this time
• “Let Go”: a moving eulogy for a beloved friend

In all of these tales, Wheaton brings the reader into the raw heart of the story, holding nothing back, and you are invited to join him on a journey through The Happiest Days of Our Lives.

“Wil Wheaton’s made a new career out of doing well that which is in fact the hardest thing to do at all: he writes, brilliantly and simply and gloriously, about joy.”
--Warren Ellis, author of Crooked Little Vein, Transmetropolitan, and Planetary

The Subterranean Press edition of The Happiest Days of Our Lives will be expanded from the version Wil released himself, to include additional essays, and a photo section.

Limited: 2000 signed hardcover copies
Lettered: 26 signed leatherbound copies, housed in a custom traycase

Just A Geek (audio)

Hey, if you've enjoyed my Radio Free Burrito podcasts, I think you may like the audio version of Just A Geek:

This journey is a fascinating read, made even more intimate and fulfilling by Wil's narrative. This is not just an audio book, it's a glimpse into the psyche of the man who considers himself... Just a Geek. NOTE: Due to graphic language, some content may be unsuitable for younger audiences.

A few RFB listeners have commented to me that they picked up the audio book after listening to the podcast, so I thought I'd make it nice and easy for anyone who is interested in checking it out. It's available as a set of 9 CDs for $35 (normally $39), or as an instantly-downloadable, non-DRM MP3, also for $35 (normally $35.)

I'm very proud of the audio book. I've talked in the past about what a huge letdown my experience wih O'Reilly was on the print version of the book, and much of the joy I'd hoped to feel with its release has instead come from the recording of the audio version, which ended up being a performance, with asides, commentary, and reflections on the material that aren't in the print version of the book. I guess it's like I'm reading the book to you, and occasionally setting it down to give some meta-commentary on various passages.

So if you liked the print book, my PAX keynote, my performance of The Trade, or if you like the podcasts, I'm pretty sure you'll dig the audiobook.

Here's all the nifty stuff they put at Amazon about the print version:

Review
"A cleverly constructed and vivid collection of memoirs with flashes of brilliant wit, this title betters even Dancing Barefoot." - Paul Hudson, Linux Format, Nov (top stuff award)

Product Description
Wil Wheaton has never been one to take the conventional path to success. Despite early stardom through his childhood role in the motion picture "Stand By Me", and growing up on television as Wesley Crusher on "Star Trek: The Next Generation", Wil left Hollywood in pursuit of happiness, purpose, and a viable means of paying the bills. In the oddest of places, Topeka, Kansas, Wil discovered that despite his claims to fame, he was at heart Just a Geek.

In this, his newest book, Wil shares his deeply personal and difficult journey to find himself. You'll understand the rigors, and joys, of Wil's rediscovering of himself, as he comes to terms with what it means to be famous, or, ironically, famous for once having been famous. Writing with honesty and disarming humanity, Wil touches on the frustrations associated with his acting career, his inability to distance himself from Ensign Crusher in the public's eyes, the launch of his incredibly successful web site, wilwheaton.net, and the joy he's found in writing. Through all of this, Wil shares the ups and downs he encountered along the journey, along with the support and love he discovered from his friends and family.

The stories in Just a Geek include:

- Wil's plunge from teen star to struggling actor
- Discovering the joys of HTML, blogging, Linux, and web design
- The struggle between Wesley Crusher, Starfleet ensign, and Wil Wheaton, author and blogger
- Gut-wrenching reactions to the 9-11 disaster
- Moving tales of Wil's relationships with his wife, step-children, and extended family
- The transition from a B-list actor to an A-list author

Wil Wheaton--celebrity, blogger, and geek--writes for the geek in all of us. Engaging, witty, and pleasantly self-deprecating, Just a Geek will surprise you and make you laugh.

Hey, if you've enjoyed my Radio Free Burrito podcasts, I think you may like the audio version of Just A Geek:

This journey is a fascinating read, made even more intimate and fulfilling by Wil's narrative. This is not just an audio book, it's a glimpse into the psyche of the man who considers himself... Just a Geek. NOTE: Due to graphic language, some content may be unsuitable for younger audiences.

A few RFB listeners have commented to me that they picked up the audio book after listening to the podcast, so I thought I'd make it nice and easy for anyone who is interested in checking it out. It's available as a set of 9 CDs for $35 (normally $39), or as an instantly-downloadable, non-DRM MP3, also for $35 (normally $35.)

I'm very proud of the audio book. I've talked in the past about what a huge letdown my experience wih O'Reilly was on the print version of the book, and much of the joy I'd hoped to feel with its release has instead come from the recording of the audio version, which ended up being a performance, with asides, commentary, and reflections on the material that aren't in the print version of the book. I guess it's like I'm reading the book to you, and occasionally setting it down to give some meta-commentary on various passages.

So if you liked the print book, my PAX keynote, my performance of The Trade, or if you like the podcasts, I'm pretty sure you'll dig the audiobook.

Just A Geek

Review
"A cleverly constructed and vivid collection of memoirs with flashes of brilliant wit, this title betters even Dancing Barefoot." - Paul Hudson, Linux Format, Nov (top stuff award)

Product Description
Wil Wheaton has never been one to take the conventional path to success. Despite early stardom through his childhood role in the motion picture "Stand By Me", and growing up on television as Wesley Crusher on "Star Trek: The Next Generation", Wil left Hollywood in pursuit of happiness, purpose, and a viable means of paying the bills. In the oddest of places, Topeka, Kansas, Wil discovered that despite his claims to fame, he was at heart Just a Geek.

In this, his newest book, Wil shares his deeply personal and difficult journey to find himself. You'll understand the rigors, and joys, of Wil's rediscovering of himself, as he comes to terms with what it means to be famous, or, ironically, famous for once having been famous. Writing with honesty and disarming humanity, Wil touches on the frustrations associated with his acting career, his inability to distance himself from Ensign Crusher in the public's eyes, the launch of his incredibly successful web site, wilwheaton.net, and the joy he's found in writing. Through all of this, Wil shares the ups and downs he encountered along the journey, along with the support and love he discovered from his friends and family.

The stories in Just a Geek include:

- Wil's plunge from teen star to struggling actor
- Discovering the joys of HTML, blogging, Linux, and web design
- The struggle between Wesley Crusher, Starfleet ensign, and Wil Wheaton, author and blogger
- Gut-wrenching reactions to the 9-11 disaster
- Moving tales of Wil's relationships with his wife, step-children, and extended family
- The transition from a B-list actor to an A-list author

Wil Wheaton--celebrity, blogger, and geek--writes for the geek in all of us. Engaging, witty, and pleasantly self-deprecating, Just a Geek will surprise you and make you laugh.

Star Trek: The Manga Volume 3: Uchu

My story The Art of War in the latest Star Trek manga got a really nice mention at Trek Movie dot Com:

Fans of Wil Wheaton’s blog or books know him to be an adroit writer of nonfiction, an almost Mark Twain for the geek crowd if you don’t mind such a comparison. Yet his "Art of War" story shows he is talented with fictional narratives, too. The story involves Kirk and a Klingon named Kring both trapped together in a collapsed mine on the planet Angrena. The "enemies forced to cooperate" situation isn’t unique to science fiction or to Star Trek, be it the film Enemy Mine or "The Enemy" and "Darmok" episodes of TNG. These kinds of narratives succeed if there is something different about how they are told and if they provide the reader with something to think about with the characters or a social lesson. Wheaton does all of these things with his comic.

The story begins with both Kirk and Kring having to answer for their behaviors of helping the other person survive. One side of the page tell the story from Kirk’s experience, the other side of the page is from Kring’s. This allows for a juxtaposition of the Federation and Klingon cultures throughout the narrative. Also, we learn something about Captain Kirk and his decisions here show why he is such a great leader. There is also a social lesson here about not treating people, especially the enemy during war, as stereotypes. It is a lesson which is in the grand tradition of Star Trek.

The art by E.J. Su is effective, although one of my complaints about manga comics and Star Trek has historically been the lack of colors. The tradition for manga is of course black and white art, yet Star Trek’s tradition is bright colors. In fact, colors are an important storytelling device in Star Trek, from adding danger to scenes with red shirts to reinforcing the symbolism of diversity. I am not suggesting that a manga should have colors, it is that the lack of colors for a Star Trek comic are disconcerting and obviously distracting. That being said, Su’s art is quintessential manga art, with sharp lines that show the expressions of the characters in exaggerated and fun styles.

They gave me 10 out of 10! Dude!

Buy Star Trek The Manga Volume 3 at Amazon.

Star Trek: The Manga Volume 2: Kakan ni Shinkou

Like that television classic, these new journeys venture into the terrain of social politics, personal reflection...and bare-knuckled brawls between the dashing Captain Kirk and the galaxy’s most cunning alien species. Vulcan science officer Spock's unflappable logic, Doctor “Bones” McCoy’s flare for drama, chief engineer Scott's perpetual struggle to keep the warp engines online, and the never before told origin story of one of the Star Trek universe’s most popular adversaries, all come at you in a fresh, new style.

TrekMovie had some very nice things to say about my story in Star Trek: The Manga volume 2:

Wil Wheaton skipped the easy Wesley Crusher story (are there any other kind?) to pen a TOS tale for Tokyopop’s second Star Trek: The Manga collection that debuted last year, and it’s easily one of the best in the book. Drawn by E.J. Su, recently of IDW’s Transformers comics —official non-Trek plug accomplished!— Wheaton’s “Cura Te Ipsum” (Latin for “heal thyself”) tackles a Kirk vs. the Prime Directive tale with surprising skill, and establishes his cred as a comics creator well beyond his celebrated cult of geek.

Buy Star Trek: The Manga Volume 2 at Amazon.

Dancing Barefoot

Review
"Short but sweet, a highly recommended addtition to anyone's bookshelf - Trekker, Trekkie, geek or otherwise - we can't wait for his next book!" - Paul Hudson, Linux Format, July - Linux Format Top Stuff Award

Product Description
Wil Wheaton--blogger, geek, and Star Trek: The Next Generation's Wesley Crusher--gives us five short-but-true tales of life in the so-called Space Age in Dancing Barefoot. With a true geek's unflinching honesty, Wil examines life, love, the web, and the absurdities of Hollywood in these compelling autobiographical narratives. chronicle a teen TV star's journey to maturity and self-acceptance. Far from the usual celebrity tell-all, Dancing Barefoot is a vivid account of one man's version of that universal story, the search for self. If you've ever fallen in love, wondered what goes on behind the scenes at a Star Trek convention, or thought hard about the meaning of life, you'll find a kindred soul in the pages of Dancing Barefoot. In the process of uncovering his true geeky self, Wil Wheaton speaks to the inner geek in all of us.

The stories:

Houses in Motion - Memories fill the emptiness left within a childhood home, and saying goodbye brings them to life.

Ready Or Not Here I Come - A game of hide-n-seek with the kids works as a time machine, taking Wil on a tour of the hiding and seeking of years gone by.

Inferno - Two 15-year-olds pass in the night leaving behind pleasant memories and a perfumed Car Wars Deluxe Edition Box Set.

We Close Our Eyes - A few beautiful moments spent dancing in the rain.

The Saga of SpongeBob VegasPants - A story of love, hate, laughter and the acceptance of all things Trek.

Buy Dancing Barefoot at Amazon.