Awesome Fan Anecdote

One of the best parts of my job is meeting book people — readers, reviewers, book store employees, and book store owners.

In February 2008, skiing somewhere along the Continental Divide, Diana and I took a side trip to Leadville, Colorado, a beautiful, isolated mountain town upon which I'd visited 600,000 starving refugees and martial law in Plague Year. From that description, you wouldn't think I'd be a popular guy, but the fantastic Carol Hill, owner of The Book Mine, loved the book and had invited me to come for a book signing.

How can you say no to someone when you've visited the apocalypse upon their back yard?

Carol and I stay in contact. Even after I detonated a 50 megaton doomsday bomb over Leadville in Plague War, she keeps the books stocked in a special Local Interest display. Love it!

This week she emailed with the following anecdote:

I just sold the Plague trilogy on Sunday to a young woman who was looking for something apocalyptic. "Something grim," she said. So I told her these books are not only grim, but partly set in Colorado, including a lot of scenes right here in Leadville. Then she asked, "Are they gross?" I said something like, "Well, yeah, some parts are pretty gross." With a cheery smile, she said, "Perfect!" and snatched all three books off the shelf. I've never heard of "gross" being a criteria for a book before. Now I'm wondering about your fans….

Aha ha ha ha!!!!