Publishers Weekly has a lovely article about my next novel, Afterworlds, which comes out September 23.
The piece has lots of interesting details about the book, and some bonus news about the super secret Uglies deal I’ve been working on for the last few months. (More on that in the next few weeks, right here!) Also news about my “How to Write YA” book, which also comes out this year, and which will be serialized on this very blog.
And just to round things out, here’s the lovely cover from the Hungarian edition of Goliath, painted by Richárd Vass:
There will be lots more in this blog about Afterworlds as the year goes on!
Aaaaaaah, we get the Uglies news soon!
And a book about how to write? I want them I want them both! Excited!
And I like the Hungarian cover. As I’ve said before, everywhere else seems to have cooler covers than the US.
BOOKS BOOKS NEW BOOKS SOON YAY
More covers <3 This just makes me want to buy all the foreign copies. *sigh*
Afterworlds sounds interesting and, if it’s anything like So Yesterday, I’m sure it will be fantastic! I’m wondering whether the two alternating stories eventually meet somewhere? Like the fantasy elements spill out into the real world? Hmmmm. Already debating and the book isn’t even published yet!
UGLIES IS BECOMING A TV SERIES?!?!?!?!? WHAT. WHAT. WHAT. WHAT.
Ok…..
Not to sound ungrateful but I’m concerned. I know Scott wouldn’t let his series be butchered but I can’t help worry that the world of Uglies won’t be brought to life as well in TV as it would in a film. Obviously TV series have much smaller budgets and we all know that to recreate Pretties (will they even digitally enhance them?), the city, the hoverboards, the Smoke, basically everything, will cost a ton. So unless this series is extremely successful I’m scared it could be a flop.
Fingers crossed.
What do you guys think?
Scott…you just made my life with that Uglies news. I was so worried about a movie in the middle of this whole wave of dystopian movies being put out, but this is just perfection. I know, I know, TV shows can flop, I’m realistic, but I’m also optimistic! If we even only get one season, that’s enough for me…I’ll cherish that one season. Currently re-reading Uglies right now, actually, and it gets more amazing and brilliant each time I read it. Thank you!!!!!
I always think it’s weird when books get adapted into TV series. I feel like a successful TV series is too long for how much material is in the books (unless it’s like a serial series that has a bajillion books). But still cool! Congrats!
And I can’t wait to read Afterworlds and the “how to write YA” book. 😀
WHAT! TV SHOW!? I honestly don’t know what my emotions are telling me 😛 this is just awesome news! 🙂
And I just noticed that the advanced time means this was posted on Pi Day! O.O
I think the TV series could go well. At least there’ll be time to put everything in, even if the special (heh) effects aren’t as good. But now there’ll be a movie and a TV series…? Well, I’ll watch both! 😀
I was definitely hoping for the chance of Uglies becoming a movie trilogy; the idea of it being adapted into a TV series is a weird one – it would have to end much sooner than necessary. It’s one of my all time favorite book series, and I just hope it gets moving in the direction toward a movie adaptation rather than a TV show. (Plus, I was looking forward to open casting calls for the movie xD)
Either way, I will watch it!!!
8: I’m pretty sure it’s still being made into a movie, it’s just also being made into a TV series.
@9: No, I seriously doubt that both are happening. Just the TV show.
How come?
@11: Doesn’t one person/company/whatever acquire the rights, and that’s it until whatever copyright is up? I don’t think Scott can sell it to two different people. And why would the same person do both? And I’m pretty sure movie rights and TV rights are the same rights (screen-adaptation rights?). That’s why people always redo old stories like the classics, because those copyrights are long expired.
@12: I never knew that. Okay.
Years ago, I would’ve been ecstatic if I heard that there was going to be an adaptation of The Uglies.
There are only a handful of good adaptations of novels e.g. Game of Thrones.
The Uglies is going to need a fairly large budget (setting, technology, etc. — trying to make those things look real is not going to be cheap).
1. There are only four books. 2. A lot of popular American TV shows drag on for seasons on end. 3. A lot of shows adapted from novels deviate from the source material. Therefore, it’s highly likely that they will deviate from the books, which I probably won’t like.
The Uglies is so good, but I wouldn’t want to see it adapted into a TV show unless it’s given the adaptation that it deserves.
I am actually excited about the prospect of the books becoming a TV series. I think it would work best as a mini series with only 6-8 episodes instead of 20-ish per year. Each book could have its own season allowing for a more accurate translation of the book from the page to the screen. I don’t know how the producers would be able do any more than a mini series with each book…
I’m not quite sure how I feel about the Uglies news. Obviously it’s great that it’s going to be adapted into something, and if it’s done well, the TV show is an awesome idea. If each book had a season, the story could be told with much more depth and detail than in a movie.
On the other hand, movies do have bigger budgets, so it’s going to be a challenge to make everything look real.
I would have loved a movie, but this TV business is different, and I like it, I hope it will turn out good 🙂
@17: Miniseries are SOOO underrated! So many things that would be great miniseries are instead made into a full TV show and just drag on for as long as they can. For example, I think the show Once Upon a Time should have been a miniseries comprised of the first season (with minor changes, like the ending of course, lol). Honestly, the second season was horrible, and it just felt like the writers/creators were just pulling material from wherever they could find it, regardless of the actual story. I had to quit watching, which is sad because the first season was so good! A miniseries is like an extremely long movie, the best of both worlds! (Of course, most miniseries are only like 2 episodes long nowadays, unfortunately.)
(By the way, if anyone likes Once Upon a Time-type fantasy, I suggest the miniseries The 10th Kingdom. It is perfect. 😀 )
Woah woah woahl. There won’t be both a film and a TV series! @Roxanne was right about copyright PLUS who would fund two expensive adaptions?
Looking back on this again, my two biggest concerns about an Uglies TV series is that a) the smaller budget won’t allow them to recreate the awesomeness of the novel and b) the storyline will be vastly different to that of the books.
But I guess any adaption is better than no adaption? We obviously weren’t going to be getting a film any time soon…
Has anyone on here heard of Delirium by Lauren Oliver? It’s a dystopian romance series that was actually pretty good. It got optioned to become a TV series and there were even some big names attached (if you call Emma Roberts “big”). However, after filming the pilot the series got abandoned and just as well because judging from what they’d filmed (some of the footage got released) and the synopsis ( completely different to the book) it would have been a disaster to any fans of the book! I’m worried Uglies could go down that path…. ANYWAY I know Scott won’t let his books be ruined by pitiful adaptions so I guess we should just hope for the best.
@20: I’ve heard of it. Haven’t read it, though. I knew it was being made into a TV series with Emma Roberts and that girl who won So You Think You Can Dance, but I didn’t realize it had been dropped. They aren’t even going to air the pilot? That doesn’t even make sense. Why would they abandon something after taking the time to make an episode before they even know how popular it is?
Guys, stop freaking out about the Uglies news. Honestly, I think this is better than a movie.
Why? Look at The Walking Dead (if you don’t watch it, start ASAP). It’s not a perfect adaptation of the comic series, but then again, is anything? If we look at movie adaptations of recent YA books, none of them have been particularly like the book, which upsets us fans. But, if you have a TV series, the nature of the thing is to adapt the source material (the Uglies series) to fit the small screen. Therefore, the adaptations will be more honest and have better original ideas compared to the would-be movie, which would screw everything up just because Hollywood.
And come on. Do you really think Scott-la would let Uglies suck, as a movie or TV show?
@22: According to everyone I know who watches the show, season 3 of The Walking Dead is quite possibly the worst thing ever.
@22: I have heard that The Walking Dead is actually awful compared to the books…. :/
@17: I do think Uglies would be much better as a miniseries. My experience with literature adapted into miniseries (miniserieses?) has always been good…. A lot of books lose depth when made into movies. Then again, there are good adaptations like The Lord of the Rings. (Despite the fact that they did cut out/reduce several big things.) LotR is three movies, however, and only one book. (It did start out as one movie, though, and I’m so glad it was stretched to three. And yes, despite commonly being split into three volumes, Tolkien intended it as one book. He didn’t make the decision; his publishers did. They thought no one would buy such a huge book. :D)
@24: That’s true. The same thing happened with Scott. The Succession duology was supposed to be one book, but the publisher split into The Risen Empire and The Killing of Worlds because of length.
LotR really would have been a massive volume, though. 😉
And it’s “miniseries,” singular and plural.
@25: I have to ask: Have you read Succession? (Sorry if the wording of that seems kinda…sassy…it isn’t meant to be.)
@26: No, but I want to! Why? Have you?
I got so caught up in the Uglies news I hardly read the rest of Scott’s post. So what’s this How To Write book? Is the whole thing going to be released on this blog AND published as a book or just one or the other?
It will be exciting to read though! All Scott’s NaNoWriMo tips were amazing and written in a easy-to-understand way 😀
@28: I love the NaNoWriMo tips! I have them all printed out. When I did CampNaNo almost two years ago (how time flies) I read one every day. They’re so helpful. (You’ve read Justine’s, too, I assume?) Anyway, I’m really excited. 😀
@27: I have. I’m trying to find as many others as I can who have; it seems there isn’t many.
@23 & @24
Hmmm…. I have not heard that. I only know a few people who have read the comics, and none of them seemed to bummed out that it was so different.
But the argument is still true: if they intentionally adapt the story for creative purposes, that’s way better than trashing it simply in the name of Hollywood.
Take The Lion King for instance. It’s a retelling of Hamlet, but because it was only inspired by the story, and didn’t try to be very exact (obviously) then The Lion King is able to be an amazing story, and ruin Hamlet for no one.
Also, what exactly is a miniseries?
@32: It’s like a really long movie, separated into episodes that air on TV over the course of a few weeks (usually two to five 1-2-hour installments), like a really short, concise TV series (hence the name miniseries).
For example, Syfy channel’s Alice had two 2-hour episodes that aired consecutively over two days (for a total of 3 commercial-free hours). Conversely, NBC’s The 10th Kingdom had five 2-hour episodes that aired once a week for five weeks (for a total of 7 commercial-free hours). I’ve heard of others that are even longer (I think one pretty old one was like 30 hours or something?).
@32-34: Ooh, ooh! And when Angels in America was adapted into a movie-type-thing, it played as three episodes! It’s so wonderful. I’ve only watched the first episode, but LVNALVKDNVLSDKVN. It’s wacky and just so so wonderful. Has anyone here seen it?
@35: No, but it looks…interesting. Kinda like a cross between Rent and Good Omens. 😉