Andy Weir
Author of The Martian
Discussion
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Andy Weir
@andyweirauthor · Writer
Hi, Andy here. I was first hired as a programmer for a national laboratory at age 15 and have been working as a software engineer ever since. I am also a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist of subjects like relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight. The Martian is my first novel.
EDIT - Okay folks. I'm out. Thanks for the questions. If you missed the event and have a burning question, feel free to email me at sephalon@gmail.com. I answer all fan mail (though sometimes it takes me a while to get to all of it)
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Russ Frushtick
@russfrushtick
@andyweirauthor To date, who is the most interesting fan of The Martian that you’ve been in touch with?
Ryan Hoover
@rrhoover · Founder, Product Hunt
I'm excited for the film based on your book, The Martian. Epic trailer:
How involved are you in the production of the movie?
@andyweirauthor Not a question... But just wanted to say The Martian was the best book I ever read.
Danny Short
@dannyshort · Campaign Designer
@andyweirauthor How much research did you do for the novel did you talk to anyone at NASA?
@dannyshortThe research effort ended up being tons and tons of Google searches and a bunch of math. I didn’t know anyone in aerospace at the time I wrote the novel, so I was on my own. But I like researching, it’s fun for me. So it wasn’t a problem. I spent about three years writing the book and I'd say half of that time was spent researching
Aric Boyles
@centralparker
@andyweirauthor are you involved with the upcoming Martian movie? Are you pleased with the way your book was interpreted for the movie?
Patrick Traughber
@ptraughber · Product Manager at Twitter
@andyweirauthor what tools (note takers, word processors, etc.) did you use to write The Martian?
Katherine Young
@kyoung415
@andyweirauthor What are your thoughts on the Mars One mission? Will we be able to support Martian colonist by 2030?
@kyoung415 I don't take Mars One seriously at all. They have something like $400,000 in funding. That's not enough money to colonize Nebraska, let alone Mars. They think they can make tens of billions of dollars of revenue from a reality show. But that's about 100x as much money as any TV show has ever made, ever. I do think they serve a good purpose as a think-tank, though.
I don't think we'll *colonize* Mars any time this century. But a manned mission is certainly possible within our lifetimes. I'm guessing around 2050.
Duane Morin
@shakespearegeek
@andyweirauthor My son, who is 9, saw the movie poster and would like to go see it but I'm pretty sure it's going to end up rated R for language, isn't it? What are your thoughts on the importance of keeping the book's colorful language, versus limiting the younger audience?
@shakespearegeek It's going to be PG. they toned down the language from the book quite a lot.
Duane Morin
@shakespearegeek
@andyweirauthor Really? Woohoo! He'll be so excited. When even the trailer's got cursing in it, I think everybody assumed it was going to have the same kind of language the book has.
Chandler VDW
@chandlervdw · Designer / Front-end Developer
@andyweirauthor how long did you have the idea for The Martian and how long did you plan on writing it as a novel?