Nick Cole (author)
| Nick Cole | |
|---|---|
| Born | Nickolas Cole December 29, 1968 California, United States |
| Education | Concordia University |
| Known for | Writer, actor, military veteran |
| Website | www |
Nick Cole (born 29 December 1968) is an American science fiction writer, actor, and military veteran. His first novel, The Old Man and the Wasteland was an Amazon-published success that was the number 1 bestseller in the Science Fiction category on Amazon. Publishers Weekly gave a Starred Review to his dystopian future novel Soda Pop Soldier, which was published by HarperCollins. More recently, Cole teamed up with Jason Anspach to create the Galaxy's Edge series of Science Fiction novels which have enjoyed enormous success.
Cole is also a working actor who lives near Los Angeles. He served 4 years in the U.S. Army.
Early Years
Nick grew up in Southern California and attended Concordia College before joining the U.S. Army. He served four years and returned to California to pursue a career in acting and filmmaking. He starred in several independent features and did background work on such shows as The West Wing and Scrubs. He also performed Shakespeare in the Park with the Long Beach Shakespeare Company and attended South Coast Repertory’s Professional Program. In 2005 he signed with Literary agent Jeff Gerecke to represent his first novel, Fight the Rooster. The novel never sold, and in 2011 Nick published The Old Man and the Wasteland independently on Amazon.
Writing Career
The Old Man and the Wasteland is Cole’s homage to Hemingway’s classic The Old Man and the Sea. Cole’s novel resonated with Amazon readers during the digital publishing revolution of 2011, after which HarperCollins signed Cole to a four-book contract including The Old Man and the Wasteland and its two sequels collected as The Wasteland Saga. Nick Cole’s writing has been branded as ‘End of the World Hemingway’ due to his use of literary style and tone while telling pulp tales of science fiction and survival. Besides publishing a number of short stories in collected anthologies, Cole also pioneered the MMO’punk genre of gaming fiction. Soda Pop Soldier was awarded a Starred Review by Publisher’s Weekly for its ground-breaking use of game culture and action infused within a gritty noir dystopia.
HarperCollins Controversy
After CTRL ALT Revolt! was delivered to HarperCollins, an editorial assistant objected to the content of the novel, claiming it was deeply offensive. After editorial review, the novel was pulled, the contract cancelled, and Cole was involuntarily released from any further commitments with Harper Collins. In February of 2016 Nick posted a blog article describing what happened during his time with HarperCollins. CTRL ALT Revolt! was published independently to critical and commercial success. In 2016, it was published in multiple print editions by Castalia House and was awarded the Dragon Award for Best Post-Apocalyptic novel.
Since that time Nick has continued to publish novels as an independent and has signed several novels with Castalia House, including CTRL-ALT-Replay!, the sequel to CTRL-ALT-Revolt!, and The End of the World as We Knew It.
Bibliography
- Tunnel Rats: Episode One: The Diggers (2016)
- The Lost Castle, Wyrd Book Three (2016)
- Fight the Rooster (2016)
- CTRL ALT Revolt! (2016)
- The Pawn in the Portal: A Wyrd Short Story, Wyrd Book 2.5 (2016)
- The End of the World as We Knew It (2015)
- The Wasteland Saga: Three Novels: Old Man and the Wasteland, The Savage Boy, The Road is a River (2013)
- The Dark Knight, Wyrd Book Two (2015)
- The Red King, Wyrd Book One(2015)
- Soda Pop Soldier (2014)
- The Road is a River (2013)
- Savage Boy (2013)
- The Old Man and the Wasteland (2011)
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-2004 | General Hospital | various | |
| 2002 | The West Wing | Secret Service Agent | |
| 2003 | Scrubs | Doctor | |
| 2009 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Waiter | Season 7, Episode 10 |
