Welcome to Dean Wesley Smith’s 70@70 Challenge

In 2020, as Dean was approaching his 70^th birthday, he set a challenge for himself: To publish 70 major books between his 70^th and 71^st birthdays. For this challenge, a major book is a novel, a novella, a collection, or any major editing project with Dean’s name on the cover. Here is the jaw-dropping result of that project (a total of 1.3 million words).

Here is a complete list of the 70@70 Challenge books in order of publication (click on the link to learn more about each book or for buy links):

1: Fiction River Presents: Time Travelers
2: The Year of the Cat: A Cat of Heroic Heart
3: A Twist of a Knife: Mystery Stories from the Pages of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine
4: The Year of the Cat: A Cat of Roving Nature
5: Smith’s Monthly: Issue #45
6: Aliens Among Us: Stories from Pulphouse Fiction Magazine
7: Fiction River: Chances
8: Smith’s Monthly: Issue #46
9: The Year of the Cat: A Cat of Artistic Sensibilities
10: Pulphouse Fiction Magazine: Issue #10
11: Smith’s Monthly: Issue #47
12: The Year of the Cat: A Cat of Fantastic Whims
13: Fiction River: Dark & Deadly Passions
14: Smith’s Monthly: Issue #48
15: The Year of the Cat: A Cat of Feral Instincts
16: Pulphouse Fiction Magazine: Issue #11
17: Colliding Worlds, Vol. 1
18: Colliding Worlds, Vol. 2
19: Colliding Worlds, Vol. 3
20: Colliding Worlds, Vol. 4
21: Colliding Worlds, Vol. 5
22: Colliding Worlds, Vol. 6
23: Bitter Mountain Moonlight: A Cave Creek Anthology
24: Open Ended Threat: A Cave Creek Anthology
25: Promise in the Gold: A Cave Creek Anthology
26: Card Sharp Silver: A Cave Creek Novel
27: Smith’s Monthly: Issue #49
28: The Year of the Cat: A Cat of Romantic Soul
29: How to Write a Novel in Half a Month: A WMG Writer’s Guide
30: Bottom Pair: A Cold Poker Gang Mystery
31: Cattitude
32: The Year of the Cat: The Complete Collection
33: Ring Game hardcover
34: Heads Up hardcover
35: Burn Card hardcover
36: Ace High hardcover
37: Freezeout hardcover
38: Dead Hand hardcover
39: Bad Beat hardcover
40: Calling Dead hardcover
41: Cold Call hardcover
42: Kill Game hardcover
43: Pulphouse Fiction Magazine: Issue #12
44: Smith’s Monthly: Issue #50
45: Stories from the Original Pulphouse: A Fiction Magazine
46: That’s Really Messed Up
47: The First Year: A Marble Grant Novel
48: Smith’s Monthly: Issue #51
49: The Big Tom: A Pakhet Jones Short Novel
50: Smith’s Monthly: Issue #52
51: Pulphouse Fiction Magazine: Issue #13
52: Ball of Confusion: An Earth Protection League Novella
53: Smith’s Monthly: Issue #53
54: Hot Springs Meadow: A Thunder Mountain Novella
55: Don’t Touch My Magic!: Stories from Pulphouse Fiction Magazine
56: Ghosts Among Us: Stories from Pulphouse Fiction Magazine
57: Run!! Creatures, Critters, and Pulphousers…: Stories from Pulphouse Fiction Magazine
58: There’ll Be Blue Popcorn Without You!: Stories from Pulphouse Fiction Magazine
59: Twisted Robots, Oh, My!: Stories from Pulphouse Fiction Magazine
60: Pulphouse Fiction Magazine: Issue #14
61: A Case for Aliens: Six Really, Really, Really Whacked Out Alien Stories
62: Fantasy Love: Six Really, Really, Really Whacked Out Love Stories
63: Time for Cool Madness: Six Really, Really, Really Strange Marble Grant Stories
64: Weird Crime: Six Really, Really, Really Whacked Out Crime Stories
65: Holiday Insanity: Six Really, Really, Really, Whacked Out Holiday Stories
66: Smith’s Monthly: Issue #54
67: A Poker Boy Christmas: A Poker Boy Collection
68: Ghosts are Weird: Six Really, Really, Really Whacked Out Ghost Stories
69: Too Strange for the Name: Six Really, Really, Really Whacked Out Stories with Sex
70: The End Might Be Interesting After All: Six Really, Really Whacked Out End-of-Things Stories

• • Published 37 short stories standalone worldwide, and another four in other venues.
  • Wrote, launched, and ran 6 major Kickstarters.
  • Put together and ran 4 Storybundles.
  • Wrote 365 blogs of different types, one per day.
  • Taught 84 six-week workshops.
  • Recorded and taught 14 nine-week collections workshops.
  • Created and recorded 21 Pop-Up writer’s classes.
  • Moved two condos full of offices and books into a third.
  • Ran a marathon and finished and also participated in 10 5K charity races.

And now, the fun really begins. Dean will be spending the next few months blogging about how he achieved this remarkable goal. To join along on this adventure of incredible achievement, follow his blog here.