Tails of the Apocalypse

A Word from Nick Cole

My first published novel is a book called The Old Man and the Wasteland. It’s part Hemingway, part Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, a suspenseful odyssey into the dark heart of the post-apocalyptic American Southwest. Here’s the description:

“Forty years after the destruction of civilization, human beings are reduced to salvaging the ruins of a broken world. One survivor’s most prized possession is Hemingway’s classic The Old Man and the Sea. With the words of the novel echoing across the wasteland, a living victim of the Nuclear Holocaust journeys into the unknown to break a curse. What follows is an incredible tale of grit and endurance. A lone traveler must survive the desert wilderness and mankind gone savage to discover the truth of Hemingway’s classic tale of man versus nature.” I wrote three books in this series, and they’re collected in The Wasteland Saga. This short story is set in the same world, and if you look closely, you’ll find some characters mentioned that recur in the Saga.

I really loved engaging with this story because I enjoy telling stories inside the post-apocalyptic wasteland. The Man and Dog story is a classic, and especially so in the post-apocalyptic genre; images from Fallout the video game and The Road Warrior came to mind. I wanted Dog not just to be a companion, but a friend. A friend to someone who needed one very badly. I think we’ve all had those moments.

If you’d like to check some of my other post-apocalyptic writing, go to NickColeBooks.com and pick up some of my other novels. I’ve even got a free one over there for you called Apocalypse Weird: The Red King. And I’ve just recently released a new novel The End of the World As We Knew It. It’s basically The Notebook meets The Walking Dead. Hope to hear from you and please say “Hi!” if you get a chance. Also, join my newsletter; I sometimes give away advanced reader copies of my latest works. Thank you so much for reading this story, and I hope you enjoyed it.