His first book, a collection of science fiction short stories titled Illumined Black, was published by Phantom Press Publications in 1995, when Tonnies was in college. It carried a cover blurb by Bruce Sterling and was positively reviewed in Booklist. His second book, After the Martian Apocalypse, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2004. His third book, The Cryptoterrestrials, was published posthumously by Anomalist Books in 2010.