World War II Novel

The War Begins in Paris is a Bestseller!

| Ted Wheeler

Big news from last week!

The War Begins in Paris popped up on the USA Today BESTSELLER list!

I’m still a little bit in awe of the moment. I have always hoped something like this could happen, of course, though the process seemed so random, the prospects so miniscule that it felt ridiculous to even mention the possibility. But here we are!

Traveling around the country over the last two months, getting such a warm reception from readers and booksellers alike, has been an amazing experience in itself. This is just the cherry on top.

The War Begins in Paris is officially a national bestseller. Cheers!

THE WAR BEGINS IN PARIS IS OUT NOW!

| Ted Wheeler

Tuesday last week was publication day for THE WAR BEGINS IN PARIS!!!

This is the first novel I wrote from start to finish as a published author, and the first since I became a bookseller. Every day when I got to work on these pages I tried to keep my audience in mind, treating the writing as a sort of performance and an invitation to engage. (As a book written mostly during the pandemic, maybe this was a matter of emotional survival.) The result is, I believe, my best work yet: an imaginative war novel that will challenge, delight, and resonate with many of the scores of readers I have met over the last six years, and hopefully many more.

All my work is topical in some way, but I think this is my most timely novel yet, as a novel about American fascism, but also about strained friendship and lost family. The idea for this story was born out of my experience as a political reporter during the last two presidential elections. The threats against journalists, the denigration of honest reporters, and the cynicism of propagandists—all this was on my mind as I worked on these pages.

Thanks so much to my family for putting up with my shenanigans. This is the fourth book we’ve launched together in seven years. That’s a lot of author relations work on their part, which isn’t easy. All my love. The same to my publishing family, especially my agent Stephanie Delman and editor Vivian Lee. Three novels together! And hopefully many more yet to come.

I hope you enjoy The War Begins in Paris at least a quarter as much as I did while writing it. Let me know what you think; share reviews online; come see me on my book tour; invite me to come visit your book club; request that your local library or bookstore put the book in stock; or suggest the book to a friend who might enjoy reading it. Most of all, I hope you have the time and inclination to read The War Begins in Paris. Whatever support you can give, I appreciate it, truly, knowing what it takes.

Best wishes. Yours in solidarity. Keep up the good fight.

Riverside Chats

| Ted Wheeler

Thanks so much to host Tom Knoblauch and producer Courtney Bierman for having me back on Riverside Chats to talk about The War Begins in Paris, American fascism, celebrity journalism, disingenuous political actors, and all sorts of critically-important stuff. This is such a great program; one we’re lucky to have in Omaha.

The conversation aired earlier today on Omaha’s local NPR affiliate, but you can catch it online, of course, at the link below. Or read a transcript here!

Goodreads giveaway for the war begins in paris

| Ted Wheeler
(Photo by Vivian Lee.)

It’s Goodreads Giveaway time!

Thanks so much to my publisher, Little, Brown & Co., for giving away 75 free copies of The War Begins in Paris.

When you have a moment, please add the book to your ‘want to read’ stack on Goodreads and enter to win an advance copy. This is also a great way to help spread the word about the novel: the more people who enter win a copy, the more visibility the book will have on Goodreads, the more people will enter to win a copy…

Enter to win a copy here.

If you feel even more inclined to help out, pre-order a copy on Bookshop. Not only does that help support my new novel, but it helps support independent bookstores around the country. This way, we’re all winners.

Cover reveal!

| Ted Wheeler

It’s cover reveal day for my new novel, The War Begins in Paris!!!

What do you think?

I love the dark fog, those ominous birds. I’ve been dipping my toes into the literary noir genre for some time now. This cover feels like I’m squarely there at this point.

The book is also now available for pre-order, should you be so inclined. The book page here on my website has links to several popular vendors, though I encourage you to order either from Bookshop.org or from your local independent bookshop.

Might I suggest Dundee Book Company, the little shop my family runs in Omaha. If you order from us, you get the added bonus of receiving a signed copy, so please make a note about how you want your copy inscribed.

(The Bookworm will also be selling signed copies, so please make a note for them as well.)

Pre-orders are vitally important for authors, as publishers, in part, use this as an enthusiasm gauge to help determine how many copies to print and how much publicity money to put behind a book. (If you want to order from Amazon, Target, or Walmart, it all still helps, as pre-orders influence their book buyers as well.) I do hope to see many of you at a reading or book-signing event when the book is actually out running free in the world, but please know that pre-orders are a great way to help a book receive a larger platform and build excitement. (Rant over.)

More news and excitement is in the offing the next few months. I have new author photos to share; some great blurbs have been coming in; there will be events and appearances to announce.

In the meantime, here’s what one of my favorite authors, James Han Mattson, has to say about the book. Cheers!

“Propulsive, immersive, and beautifully rendered, Theodore Wheeler’s The War Begins in Paris is that rare novel that’s both contemplative and energetic, pulse-pounding and utterly devastating. Through Mielle and Jane, Wheeler deftly illuminates themes of friendship, love, sacrifice, and heroism, and shows us how loyalty and conviction can move in unpredictable patterns under wartime duress. This is a major gut-punch of a novel, and I, for one, am thankful it exists.” —James Han Mattson, author of Reprieve