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Why Project Hail Mary is awesome and other sci-fi nuggets – Interview with Andy Weir
Check the book out here https://amzn.to/3nVHQ3f
Interview Timeline
Andy Weir spent over two decades as a software engineer before publishing the wildly popular novel The Martian which also came out as a movie starring Matt Damon. He also released Artemis, another successful novel, and has just released a new novel about a galaxy threatening danger. We spoke about the novel, Andy’s previous works, and his approach to science fiction and writing. Project Hail Mary (Ballantine Books, 2021)
0:53 – Andy talks about where the idea of Project Hail Mary came from.
5:06 – Andy talks about the details of the story.
6:40 – Andy talks about the research he did for the book.
8:07 – Andy talks about the various sciences he studied for this book.
8:51 – Andy talks about other Earth disaster works.
12:35 – Andy talks about space psychology and details of the story.
14:25 – Andy talks about the science and his plots.
16:06 – Andy talks about calculating stuff for the novel.
17:15 – Andy talks about his motivators.
21:35 – Andy talks about technology and dystopia.
24:56 – Andy talks about the four canonical plots.
25:59 – Andy talks about how many Beatles eggs are in the book.
27:30 – Andy talks about humor in his books.
28:36 – Andy talks about his writing process.
32:16 – Andy talks about his favorite board games.
34:09 – Andy talks about how he doesn’t like to fly.
36:10 – Andy talks about conventions.
37:50 – Andy talks about the games he prefers.
39:11 – Andy talks about changes in his writing methods.
42:51 – Andy talks about one of the central components of the novel.
43:12 – Andy talks about the Martian
44:06 – Andy talks about his previous work.
46:21 – Andy talks about how much he writes.
47:35 – Andy talks about what his goals had been for writing the Martian.
48:47 – Andy talks about loving time travel.
51:09 – Andy talks about the Back to the Future DeLoreans.
53:30 – Andy talks about being pigeon-holed in a writing style.
54:48 – Andy talks about the heist works he likes.
56:02 – Andy talks about his writing career.
1:00:12 – Andy is at andyweirauthor.com
Links of interest
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611060/project-hail-mary-by-andy-weir/
https://www.andyweirauthor.com/
Video version of the interview: https://wp.me/p7CDU9-5aL
Contact Information
For more “Full Contact Nerd” please follow me at crisalvarez.com, on Facebook at CrisAlvarezFCN, on youtube at Cris Alvarez on twitter @CrisAlvarezFCN, on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi, and on Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify for the podcast. Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.
Guests: Andy Weir
Host: Cris Alvarez
Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, podcast, Ballantine Books, science fiction, fiction,
Check the book out here https://amzn.to/3nVHQ3f
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