Hey, Guess Who Just Finished a Novel?
Posted on December 18, 2022 Posted by John Scalzi 30 Comments
SPOILER:
It’s me, hi, I finished a novel, it’s me.
Starter Villain, available to you from Tor Books, probably next August.
I’ll write a long piece about being finished later. For now, uhhhh, I might take a nap.
— JS
Awesome news!
Congratulations!
Looking forward to reading it.
Congratulations! Now you can relax over the holidays. Looking forward to reading it.
Hooray! I read a decent amount of superhero spec fic so I’m terrifically curious to read what appears to be your take on that particular sub genre.
Wishing a Happy Holidays to you and yours.
Woohoo! That last few weeks before the Tuesday (why Tuesday?) publication of a new Scalzi novel is always a period of delightful anticipation.
checks Amazon, comes back here to complain, then remembers that publishing takes time
Congratulations! I envy your writing skill. Also, I’m looking forward to reading it.
Good jobe mate! Can’t wait to read it.
We never doubted you. Well, ok, maybe a little. But we had faith that Patrick knew how to motivate you to finish in a timely manner. Rack, screws, fire, whips, all the behavior modification classics.
Well done and congratulations!
What? No foreplay? Right to the dénouement?
Few things feel better than finishing a manuscript. 1/3 done, now though. But you know that.
Congratulations. Sleep is good.
Congratulations! That must feel awfully good, since now you can put it out of your mind entirely and just focus on having fun with your family during the holidays. What a terrific gift to give yourself!
Good on you, John. Every one of your books has been worth the wait, but it’s still tough. We’ll be counting down the days.
Get some rest, you earned it.
Congrats. Looking forward to some new reading this summer.
And a lovely (and maybe appropriate?) “Anti-hero” reference, too.
This is wonderful news, indeed!
Wooohooo! Congratulations. Get some rest, eat a burrito.
Looking forward to it. A new Scalzi release is a “clear my calendar for the day” type event!
Congratulations! You may have a cookie. They are white chocolate fruit* cookies, and they are delicious.
*They were meant to be white chocolate cranberry cookies, but we didn’t have enough dried cranberries, so they also have raisins, blueberries, and tart cherries.
Congratulations! Looking forward to it.
Glad to hear the great news, you finished your homework. Feel free to go watch TV or relax in how you best choose.
Come August, I have a new book to read.
Congratulations! Do you get to nap the rest of the year?
Congratulations! What a nice holiday present for you and your family. Happy holidays.
Congratulations 🎉
Darn it, I guessed wrong. I was a Scalzi book is not a bad consolation prize.
Good morning! Feeling rested? Great!
Now about the promised story for Christmas, you have one week. May we suggest titles?
“The Burrito At Scalzi’s House That Dam’ Near Killed Santa Claus!”
What a coincidence. I finished a novel just yesterday. Uhm … reading, not writing. But I still get a nap, right.
Congratulations! Job well done!
Wooo!
Looking forward to our somewhat-annual listening to Scalzi while driving to the Midwest trip. We’ve saved the latest Dispatcher. :D (And will follow it up with the second Andrea Vernon, which is likely in the same genre as Starter Villain– hidden social commentary about government structures and all. Then Hank and John podcast episodes to fill in the gaps.)
Congratulations on finishing it and thank you: this reminded me to keep working on finishing the first draft of a novel, which would be my first novel regardless of which partially-written book I finish writing. I have a feeling it might be one of the ones with less already written on it.
Also, this is my first comment (as far as I recall) on your blog, but I read Kaiju Preservation Society recently and found it to be a relaxing read; it’s fitting that someone is complaining about it being real world noise because it felt like a novel that was relatable. Is what’s relatable to me the reality they want to avoid?
All the more inspiration for me to write books that will inevitably irk those readers that don’t want to see diversity and reality in their books simply for including a realistic range of characters; yet without even trying to irk them, simply not censoring myself for their sake. I know I’ll reach readers like myself and that fills me with joy, people who probably enjoy books like Kaiju Preservation Society.
Do the readers that hated it, hate the Band Name game too? That’s been a piece of my reality for literal years and seeing characters in a book playing that game made them feel more real and dimensional. It made the setting feel more real, and that in turn makes the real world feel a bit more magical and mysterious instead of grimmer and darker like it often is; it made my life better.
For me books like Kaiju Preservation Society don’t exist in shadows cast by the real world, but instead illuminate that real world. A world that can be really tough to live in; a book might be an escape, but the best books make me want to live life instead of just continuing to try to escape life through fiction (including escaping by writing). And a fun book can do that, which is what that book was for me.
About damn time, dude.
;)
And that is a great title, by the way. Sign me up.
Hey, I finished one yesterday, too! [holds out fist for virtual fist-bump]
Congrats, I look forward to reading it. (Though I’m behind on your work, I still haven’t read the Kaiju book.)