Andy Weir

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This article is about the novelist and computer programmer. For other people, see Andrew Weir (disambiguation).
Andy Weir
Weir in 2015
Weir in 2015
Born (1972-06-16) June 16, 1972 (age 49)
Davis, California, U.S.[1]
Pen nameJack Sharp[2]
OccupationNovelist, programmer
EducationUniversity of California, San Diego (did not graduate)
Period2010–present
GenreScience fiction
Notable works"The Egg"
The Martian
Project Hail Mary
Notable awardsGoodreads Choice Award for Best Science Fiction
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
SpouseAshley
Signature
Website
www.galactanet.com

Andrew Taylor Weir (born June 16, 1972) is an American novelist and former computer programmer.[3] His 2011 novel The Martian was adapted into the 2015 film of the same name directed by Ridley Scott. He received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2016.[4]

Early life[]

Weir was raised in Milpitas, California. His father was a physicist and his mother was an electrical engineer. He was an only child, and his parents divorced when he was eight.[3] Weir grew up reading classic science fiction such as the works of Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov.[1] At the age of 15, he began working as a computer programmer for Sandia National Laboratories.[5]

After high school, Weir studied computer science at the University of California, San Diego, though he did not graduate. He worked as a programmer for several software companies, including AOL, Palm, MobileIron, and Blizzard, where he worked on the video game Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness.[1][6]

Writing[]

Weir began writing science fiction in his twenties and published work on his website for years. He also authored a humor web comic called Casey and Andy[NB 1] featuring fictionalized "mad scientist" versions of himself and his friends (such as writer Jennifer Brozek) from 2001 to 2008; he also briefly worked on another comic called Cheshire Crossing bridging Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins.[7] The attention these gained him has been attributed as later helping launch his writing career,[8] following the failure to publish his first novel attempt called Theft of Pride.[9] His first work to gain significant attention was "The Egg", a short story that has been adapted into a number of YouTube videos, a one-act play, and is the overarching concept of Everybody, the third album by American rapper Logic.[1][10]

He wrote his first published novel, The Martian, to be as scientifically accurate as possible, doing extensive research into orbital mechanics, conditions on the planet Mars, the history of human spaceflight, and botany.[6] Originally published as a free serial on his website, some readers requested he make it available on Amazon Kindle. First sold for 99 cents, the novel made it to the Kindle bestsellers list. Weir was then approached by a literary agent and sold the rights to Crown Publishing Group. The print version (slightly edited from the original) of the novel debuted at #12 on The New York Times bestseller list.[11] The Wall Street Journal called it "the best pure sci-fi novel in years".[12] It was adapted into a film starring Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain, which was released in 2015.[13]

In 2015 Weir announced he was working on his second novel, provisionally titled Zhek, which he described as "a more traditional sci-fi novel with aliens, telepathy, faster-than-light travel, etc."[14] A fan-fiction story written by Weir, Lacero, was published in the 2016 edition of Ready Player One, making it canonical to the book's fictional universe. The work functions as a prequel to the main novel.[NB 2][15] Also in 2016, Weir released The Principles of Uncertainty collection of short stories on the website/app Tapas.[16]

After announcing that the Zhek project had been "back-burnered", Weir moved on to another hard sci-fi novel titled Artemis, with a female protagonist, set on the Moon in the 2080s-2090s.[17] The thriller, published in 2017, follows "Jazz", a twenty-six-year-old woman constrained by her small town (which is also the only city on the Moon).[18] On September 26, 2017, it was announced that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller had been hired to develop and direct a science fiction film based on the novel.[19]

In 2017 CBS picked up a pilot written by Weir titled Mission Control, following a group of young NASA astronauts and scientists.[20] In May of the same year, Weir collaborated with webcomic artist Sarah Andersen to remake Cheshire Crossing for Tapas, before publishing it as a stand-alone graphic novel in July 2019.[21] In November 2019, a film adaptation was announced from Amblin Partners and Walt Disney Pictures, to be produced by Michael De Luca and written by Erin Cressida Wilson.[22]

In May 2021, Weir's third novel, Project Hail Mary, was released. The plot revolves around an astronaut, Ryland Grace, who wakes up from a coma on a strange spacecraft and is afflicted with amnesia. Ryan Gosling is slated to produce and star in a film adaption.[23]

Personal life[]

According to Weir, he grew up in Milpitas, CA where he attended Rancho Milpitas Junior High School[24] and Milpitas High School.[citation needed]

In 2015, Weir lived in Mountain View, California, in a rented two-bedroom apartment.[25] Since he has a fear of flying, he never visited the set of the film adaptation of The Martian in Budapest,[25][26] where most of the scenes set on Mars were shot at Korda Studios.[27][28] In 2015, with the help of therapy and medication, he was able to fly to Houston to visit the Johnson Space Center, and to San Diego to attend Comic-Con.[29]

Weir is married to Ashley, whom he met while he was in Los Angeles to pitch a TV series.[30] He has stated that he is agnostic, and has described his political views as fiscally conservative and socially liberal.[31]

Works[]

Weir's original website lists his works, with free versions of many of his short stories.[NB 3]

Novels[]

  • Theft of Pride (web version 2000[9])
  • The Martian (web version 2011; Random House 2014[32]) ISBN 978-0804139021
  • Artemis (Random House 2017) ISBN 978-0553448122
  • Project Hail Mary (Random House 2021) ISBN 978-0593135204

Serial novels and long stories[]

  • Detectives (1986)[NB 4]
  • Bonnie MacKenzie: The Life Story of a Mermaid (an on-going story)
  • Moriarty (Holmesian fanfiction)
  • The Romana Chronicles/The Xoloans (Doctor Who fanfiction)

Short stories[]

  • Principles of Uncertainty[16] (collection of flash fiction, Tapas e-book 2016). Includes the following stories:
    • "Access"
    • "Annie's Day"
    • "Antihypoxiant"
    • "Meeting Sarah"
    • "The Midtown Butcher"
    • "The Chef"
    • "The Egg" (short story/audiobook) 2009
    • "The Real Deal"
    • "Yuri Gagarin Saves the Galaxy"
  • "Bored World"
  • "Twarrior"
  • "Rat"
  • Lacero, prequel to Ready Player One (Ernest Cline, ed.), Subterranean Press 2016[NB 2]
  • Diary of an AssCan (2015), tie-in prequel to "The Martian"[33]

Comics and graphic novels[]

  • Casey and Andy (2001-2008), a webcomic written and drawn by Andy Weir[NB 1]
  • Cheshire Crossing (independent web version 2006–2008 with art by Weir; Tapas web version 2017–2019 and Random House 2019 with art by Sarah Andersen[34]) ISBN 978-0399582073

Audio[]

  • James Moriarty, Consulting Criminal (Audible Studios 2017)
  • The Egg and Other Stories (Audible Studios 2017)

Sourcebooks[]

Other works[]

  • Der Mars Survival Guide (in German), an interview with Andy Weir and his tips for surviving on Mars, published as a booklet[37]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Galactanet - The Creative Writings of Andy Weir, Casey and Andy (webcomic)
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Galactanet - The Creative Writings of Andy Weir, "Lacero" (short story fanfic)
  3. ^ Galactanet - The Creative Writings of Andy Weir; Creative Writings of Andy Weir (list)
  4. ^ Galactanet - The Creative Writings of Andy Weir, Detectives (short story)

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Rowe, Georgia (10 March 2014). "Andy Weir's self-published 'The Martian' travels through space to best-sellerdom". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  2. ^ "Philosophical 4chan". Reddit. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Vilkomerson, Sara. "Andy Weir on his strange journey from self-publishing to Hollywood". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  4. ^ "2016 Hugo Awards Announced". The Hugo Awards. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  5. ^ "The Martian". Skepticality. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Altar, Alexandra (14 February 2014). "A Survival Guide to Mars". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  7. ^ Novelli, Michael A. (2 October 2008). "An Interview with Andy Weir, author of Casey and Andy". The Agony Booth. Archived from the original on 26 June 2017.
  8. ^ Garrity, Shaenon (2 May 2016). "The Old Masters". The Comics Journal. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b Sharp, Jack (11 May 2000). "Theft of Pride". Galactnet. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  10. ^ Moran, Rita (10 January 2013). "Moorpark College students write, direct and stage five intriguing one-acts". Ventura County Star. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  11. ^ "Bestsellers: Hardcover Fiction". The New York Times. 16 March 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  12. ^ Shippey, Tom (7 February 2014). "Book Review: 'The Martian' by Andy Weir". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  13. ^ "The Martian". Fox Movies. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  14. ^ "I am Andy Weir, author of "The Martian", soon to be a major motion picture. AMA!". Reddit. January 2015.
  15. ^ Brock Wilbur (28 March 2016). "How 'The Martian' Impacted the 'Ready Player One' Movie". INverse.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b Ryan Britt (24 August 2016). "'The Martian' Author Andy Weir's New Story Isn't a Book, It's an App". inVERSE.
  17. ^ "huff interview AMA!". Huffingtonpost. December 2015.
  18. ^ "Fox Scores "Martian" Author's "Artemis"". Dark Horizons. May 2017.
  19. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 26, 2017). "Phil Lord & Christopher Miller To Direct 'Martian' Author Andy Weir's New Novel 'Artemis'". Deadline. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  20. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (17 January 2017). "CBS Picks Up Dana Klein-Mark Feuerstein Comedy Pilot, NASA Drama". Deadline. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  21. ^ Krishna, Swapna (24 May 2017). "Tapas' Cheshire Crossing: Interview with Andy Weir and Sarah Andersen". Syfy. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  22. ^ Kit, Borys (15 November 2019). "Amblin, Michael De Luca Tackling Martian Author's Fantasy Graphic Novel Cheshire Crossing (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  23. ^ McNary, Dave. "Ryan Gosling to Star in Astronaut Movie ‘Project Hail Mary’". Variety. March 27, 2020. URL: https://variety.com/2020/film/news/ryan-gosling-astronaut-movie-hail-mary-1203547436/. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  24. ^ "When I was in eighth grade at Rancho Junior High School in Milpitas, CA". Facebook. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b Sheryl Garratt (11 September 2015). "The Martian: how a self-published e-book became a Hollywood blockbuster". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  26. ^ "The Skeptics Guide to the Universe". Skeptics Guide (Podcast). 3 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  27. ^ Nick Goundry (25 September 2015). "Ridley Scott and Matt Damon film The Martian on location near Budapest". The Location Guide. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  28. ^ Vilkomerson, Sara. "Andy Weir on his strange journey from self-publishing to Hollywood". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  29. ^ Berger, Eric (5 August 2015). "Would Andy Weir, author of The Martian, ever go into space? Hell no, he says in a lengthy interview". SciGuy blog. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  30. ^ Alexandra Alter (3 May 2021). "Andy Weir's New Space Odyssey". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  31. ^ "I am Andy Weir, and I wrote "The Egg". AMA". Reddit. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  32. ^ The Martian, Random House. Accessed 13 February 2018.
  33. ^ "Andy Weir: The Short Story Prequel to The Martian". WHSmith. 30 September 2015.
  34. ^ Cheshire Crossing, Random House. Accessed 5 June 2019.
  35. ^ "Warehouse 23 - GURPS Casey & Andy". www.warehouse23.com. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
  36. ^ "Daily Illuminator: GURPS Casey & Andy – Brand New For GURPS Fourth Edition!". www.sjgames.com. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
  37. ^ Andy Weir. Der Mars Survival Guide (in German). Heyne Verlag. ASIN B0759RS89L.

External links[]

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