I just read that the new movie called The Martian was written by a man in Mt. View, California, which is in the area where I grew up. (I went to high school in Mt. View.) It was originally a self-published eBook, that became popular to the point where agents, publishers, and movie producers were contacting him instead of the other way around. Talk about a positive turn in a writer's life. Wow.
If only it could be so easy. Or maybe it wasn't. I understand it wasn't his first book. I read that he hates his first book, which wasn't published, and all copies but one have been destroyed. Well, so what. If agents, publishers, and movie producers are contacting you, you did something right, no matter how many books you've written.
But the guy was a computer engineer. He had a large following, I understand, since he was a program writer for some video game company. It wasn't just any company, I believe it was a big one, or at least the video game was big. I don't know much about video games, because I never play them. I'm from the generation right before the generation of video game junkies.
All I am is a teacher. I can reach some kids and maybe their parents, but I have no avenue to a large computer-based following, like this guy apparently did. Of course, the story must be compelling. As I understand it, it's about a manned mission to Mars, and a Martian storm separates one of the astronauts from the others, so they believe he's dead and take off without him. So the astronaut is stranded on Mars alone and figures out how to survive until a rescue mission saves him.
As I write this, I'm reminded of the 1964 movie, Robinson Crusoe on Mars. (I loved that movie, btw.) I wonder if this guy was influenced by that movie. Like The Martian, it was about an astronaut who was stranded on Mars. It seems like a similar plot, but what makes The Martian different is the fact that this writer used his computer knowledge to make the computer related elements accurate.
The only thing I read that wasn't accurate, was the fact that Mars doesn't have storms. So who knows. Maybe one day someone will like Killer of Killers or The Vase enough to contact me with the desire to make a movie. Maybe the day pigs fly. So let's get started on inventing pig wings. LOL.
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