Liability Insurance | ScreenPlay
Wendy Gordon’s screenplay, Liability Insurance qualified as a "Second Rounder" in both Drama Feature and Sci Fi Award categories for the Austin Film Festival 2023.
Liability Insurance, a screenplay by Wendy Gordon, was selected as a quarterfinalist in the 2023 Vail Film Festival.
It’s Always 9/11 | Novel
Book Trailer for It’s Always 9/11
Advance Praise for It’s Always 9/11
“It’s Always 9/11 is about the dystopia of the present moment, when many of our fears about contagion, totalitarianism, environmental destruction, and civil liberties—until now, mostly constrained to speculative fiction—are manifesting in every facet of daily life. For fans of Omar El Akkad’s American War, Gordon’s prescient story of one family’s high-stakes determination to fight societal collapse is a searing, fast-paced warning to resist that all readers should heed.”
—Rhianna Walton, Managing Editor, Powell’s Books
“Wendy gives us a believable dystopia in the not-too-distant, not-too-different future. She tells a detailed story with jarringly accurate turns of phrase, characters you feel like you know, and a situation you hope you’ll never know.”
—Elise Schumock, owner, Rose City Book Pub
“In the remarkable It’s Always 9/11, Wendy Gordon seamlessly juxtaposes a dire dystopian tale of America’s demise with a riveting story of a family facing the challenges of this frightening nightmare. Ms. Gordon masterfully builds tension through strong character development, especially in her complex and compelling central character Tessa; rich language (Every day after that was a slow step into the remade world.); and dramatic, often explosive narrative. The crescendo grows organically and the stunning climax is powerful, true and brilliant.”
—Nancy Johnson, arts and nonprofits consultant
“It’s Always 9/11 is an eerily prescient, harrowing trek through the experience of a mysterious illness that results in Portland, Oregon being propelled to political ground zero in the midst of a pandemic. This novel explores ideas of mind control, independent thought, and courage in the face of the emergence of a fascist state. I highly recommend!”
—Amanda Weber-Welch, High School Counselor and College Counselor Lead, Cleveland High School
“The timeliness of this novel cannot be overstated. Ms. Gordon does a masterful job of setting the reader in a familiar and comfortable setting (messy and loving middle class family life in Portland) only to have the reader experience, through the eyes of the protagonist, a slow dystopian creep that eventually turns everything on its head. A very surprising and satisfying read.”
—Kirsten McAteer, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Abri Radically Open DBT
News & Reviews for It’s Always 9/11
“In the new novel ‘It’s Always 9/11,’ Portlanders rebel against authoritarianism” by Amy Wang. Check out the review of It’s Always 9/11 in Oregon Live, Aug. 6, 2021
“In Portland author Wendy Gordon’s new novel, ‘It’s Always 9/11,’ an epidemic and an increasingly authoritarian president set an everyday Oregon family on a course with devastating consequences for their city and nation.”
“Wendy Gordon ’76 Publishes Prescient Dystopian Novel” Read the write up by the author’s alma mater, Simmons College!
“Throughout It’s Always 9/11, Gordon explores themes of technocratic control, the impact of fear on behavior, and her protagonist’s capacity for humanity and violence. To avoid being pigeonholed into science fiction genres, she rooted her story and main character in relatable settings and circumstances of everyday life. Gordon describes it as ‘mundane . . . until it isn’t.’”
It’s Always 9/11 is featured in Book Beginnings, Rose City Reader, Oct. 13, 2022
“Set in a dystopian ‘not to distant future,’ It's Always 9/11 is the story of a family trying to live a normal life in the middle of increasingly difficult daily circumstances and scary political developments. Until they decide they can't sit passively by, waiting for things to change.”
It’s Always 9/11 is featured in Powell’s blog: 9/9/21: Writing in Uncertain Times
https://www.powells.com>post
Wrong Highway | Novel
Advance Praise for Wrong Highway
“Wrong Highway spins a bored cliche—the disenchanted housewife—into a thrilling exploration of how to grasp meaning in the minutiae of family life. Struggling within the confines of suburbia and her family’s expectations, Wall Street wife and mother of four Erica Richards finds solace in a drug habit that makes the world seem bright and infinite. Set on Long Island in the technicolor 1980s, Wrong Highway is a gripping novel about family, self-hood, and what it takes to escape prisons of our own making."
–Rhianna Walton, new book buyer, Powell’s Books
“Wrong Highway is a captivating debut novel.”
–Kim Bissell, co-owner, Broadway Books
“Wrong Highway is, by turns, funny, sad, quirky, and surprising, but always engaging. It's Erica’s story and she tells it at dazzling speed, with vibrant language, and with high (pun intended) energy, and insight. It’s a story that captures a full spectrum of family dynamics many of us have experienced, yet viewed through a unique lens that questions the meaning of it all, even if it looks from the outside, that you have it all. Babies, children, sisters, parents, in-laws, nephews, a loving but largely absent husband, Erica shares it all with brutal and amusing honesty. Her coping mechanism may be a little unorthodox, but her drug of choice and her struggles reflect an important and transformative American decade. A riveting and entertaining read.”
–Nancy Johnson, Marketing Consultant working in the Arts and Non-Profit Arena
News & Reviews for Wrong Highway
Literary Mama | “An Unsettled Mother in an Unsettled World” by Wendy Gordon. December 2016.
“But there remained the gaps where the darkness seeped out. I could knit a sweater or bake a birthday cake, I could construct my own little world, but it could never totally camouflage the chaos lurking underneath. I could ignore it, let it fester, and live a half life. Or I could acknowledge it the way I knew best, by putting it down on paper. Confined to print, twisted, stretched, elaborated, and disguised, the darkness was under my control. One of those works of fiction turned out to be the embryonic beginnings of my novel, Wrong Highway.”
Powell’s Books | Wrong Highway is #2 on the Powell's bestseller list for the week of June 22. June 22, 2016.
No More Grumpy Bookseller | Review of Wrong Highway by Wendy Gordon. June 13, 2016.
Erica Richards is a suburban housewife who has everything she could ever want—except excitement. . . . Jared her nephew, offers a release. Something new. And something thrilling. . . . Wrong Highway is a quick and engaging read—and a character driven one for sure. . . . The combination of setting (the eighties) and Erica herself had me completely hooked. . . hers was a story I definitely wanted to see through to the end.
Rose City Reader | The Rose City Reader interviews author Wendy Gordon about her novel, Wrong Highway. June 8, 2016.
Rose City Reader | August 22, 2016 review for Powell’s Books:
”Wendy Gordon's debut novel, Wrong Highway, gives fresh energy to the story of a frazzled suburban mom trying to meet her family obligations and what happens when she takes that first wrong turn. Erica and Debbie are sisters, both married and living seemingly calm family lives on Long Island. But when Debbie’s teenage son rebels against his straight-laced parents and turns to Erica for help, Erica is the one who ends up in trouble. The book takes place in 1980s and has a strong ‘80s vibe, with music and cultural references that capture the brash, sometimes destructive energy of the decade. While many of the themes of the story are timeless, the pre-digital setting gives Gordon room to explore themes of family obligation, personal freedom, addiction, and secrecy without technical interruptions from today’s text messages and social media. Whether or not you grew up in the ’80s, if you enjoy family dramas with well-developed, original female characters, you will like Wrong Highway.”
Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb | Q&A with Wendy Gordon, author of Wrong Highway. June 1, 2016.