Isaac Marion's Blog, page 12
April 1, 2011
Book stuff for people who read words
A couple minor missives from the Warm Bodies front:
I've created a fan page for the book on Facebook. Anything relevant to the book or the movie will show up there, and all your friends will be able to see how painfully cool and literate you are, so please Like it (I love capitalizing verbs) if you're into that sort of thing.
http://www.facebook.com/warmbodies
Also, remember that little trailer I made in 2009 when I was self publishing the book? The one I filmed in 4 hours with my brother's old camcorder and some halloween makeup, then edited on my brother's laptop in iMovie, which I'd never used before? Turns out none of the 20 major publishing houses now publishing the book think their professional marketing teams can do any better, so this pixelated home movie has become the official trailer for Warm Bodies. Luckily, I now have a whole mess of glowing reviews to pepper throughout the video, which does seem to grant an illusion of professionalism to the whole affair. Enjoy, and please spread around!
I've created a fan page for the book on Facebook. Anything relevant to the book or the movie will show up there, and all your friends will be able to see how painfully cool and literate you are, so please Like it (I love capitalizing verbs) if you're into that sort of thing.
http://www.facebook.com/warmbodies
Also, remember that little trailer I made in 2009 when I was self publishing the book? The one I filmed in 4 hours with my brother's old camcorder and some halloween makeup, then edited on my brother's laptop in iMovie, which I'd never used before? Turns out none of the 20 major publishing houses now publishing the book think their professional marketing teams can do any better, so this pixelated home movie has become the official trailer for Warm Bodies. Luckily, I now have a whole mess of glowing reviews to pepper throughout the video, which does seem to grant an illusion of professionalism to the whole affair. Enjoy, and please spread around!
March 10, 2011
Ouchies
My writing career may be on hold for a few days due my lack of a usable thumb. (I'm dictating this blog to my indentured manservant. (Did you know God says in his popular self-help book THE BIBLE it's okay to beat your slaves to death? Just be careful not to beat them so hard that they die right there in front of you, because that's obviously wrong. As long as they die at least a couple days later, you're in the clear, "because the slave is your own property." (Exodus 21:20-21) So don't like, shoot your slave in the head or anything, just maybe give them massive internal hemorrhaging with a lead pipe so they writhe in agony for a few days before expiring. Cause then, like, who's to say it was even your fault? Maybe they just had cancer or something? That defense might not hold up in court but it sure fools God, according to the Unchanging Truths contained in His Word. (This is why most modern Christians are pro-choice, because one of the major recurring themes in THE BIBLE is the disposability and un-sacredness of human life.)
Anyway, it's really a pretty impressive invention, this opposable thumb thing. Way to go, primates. Nice evolving. It's a simple thing but you really miss it when it's gone. Hard to tie your shoes or button your fly or pet your cat with the skill and enthusiasm to which he's become accustomed.
So where'd my thumb go, you're wondering? Well, it's still there, but it has a big hole through it. Last night, as my girlfriend and I were sitting in her bedroom getting ready to watch STAR TREK, a nearly comatose winter bee somehow flopped in through the open window and stung her. Nichole sometimes has severe reactions to bee stings, so she has an EpiPen on hand for emergencies. An EpiPen is a medicine delivery device which I didn't fully understand before this incident and which I'm now all too intimately familiar with.
So Nichole gets stung, she starts to panic, thinking she's going to swell up, hive up, stiffen up, whatever it is that's supposed to happen. But after a while, nothing's happened so we start to calm down. We decide not to use the EpiPen because Nichole is scared of needles and suspects the EpiPen's needle is huge. I decide to investigate. I open the pen and try to find the needle. It appears to be hidden inside the device somewhere. I remove a "safety cap", revealing what appears to be the button that one would push to make the needle come out. I push it.
KSSHH.
Oh. Now I see how it works. The EpiPen is not your typical syringe. It contains an explosive charge. The explosive charge is what makes the needle come out, through what I thought was a button. Then through my thumb, and out through my thumbnail.
Ouch.
We take a moment to stare at my thumb. The needle is about the thickness of a carpentry nail. The entire EpiPen apparatus, which is about the size of a large permanent marker, is hanging from my thumb, and I can't get it off. The needle is stuck inside my thumb. The tip of the needle has bent against the underside of my thumbnail, forming a hook which pokes slightly through the top of the nail. I yank on the EpiPen a few times. It won't come out. It hurts like hell.
I go into Nichole's room-mate's room to examine the situation in a brighter light. Her 4 year-old daughter is playing with stickers in the corner. I yank again. It won't come out. It hurts like hell. I eventually realize what I need to do, I grit my teeth and get pumped up and yank hard. The hooked needle rips down through my thumb and pops out in a spray of blood. It's all very 127 HOURS.
Apparently the drug in an EpiPen is mostly just pure adrenaline and would have turned me into a superhero for a few minutes before making my heart explode. Sounds fun, until that last part, but the pen was 3 years expired so I don't think any of the drug got into my system. I went back into the room-mate's room and apologized to her 4 year-old daughter for being yucky and scary in front of her.
"It's okay," she says. "But you got blood on my stickers."
Anyway, it's really a pretty impressive invention, this opposable thumb thing. Way to go, primates. Nice evolving. It's a simple thing but you really miss it when it's gone. Hard to tie your shoes or button your fly or pet your cat with the skill and enthusiasm to which he's become accustomed.
So where'd my thumb go, you're wondering? Well, it's still there, but it has a big hole through it. Last night, as my girlfriend and I were sitting in her bedroom getting ready to watch STAR TREK, a nearly comatose winter bee somehow flopped in through the open window and stung her. Nichole sometimes has severe reactions to bee stings, so she has an EpiPen on hand for emergencies. An EpiPen is a medicine delivery device which I didn't fully understand before this incident and which I'm now all too intimately familiar with.
So Nichole gets stung, she starts to panic, thinking she's going to swell up, hive up, stiffen up, whatever it is that's supposed to happen. But after a while, nothing's happened so we start to calm down. We decide not to use the EpiPen because Nichole is scared of needles and suspects the EpiPen's needle is huge. I decide to investigate. I open the pen and try to find the needle. It appears to be hidden inside the device somewhere. I remove a "safety cap", revealing what appears to be the button that one would push to make the needle come out. I push it.
KSSHH.
Oh. Now I see how it works. The EpiPen is not your typical syringe. It contains an explosive charge. The explosive charge is what makes the needle come out, through what I thought was a button. Then through my thumb, and out through my thumbnail.
Ouch.
We take a moment to stare at my thumb. The needle is about the thickness of a carpentry nail. The entire EpiPen apparatus, which is about the size of a large permanent marker, is hanging from my thumb, and I can't get it off. The needle is stuck inside my thumb. The tip of the needle has bent against the underside of my thumbnail, forming a hook which pokes slightly through the top of the nail. I yank on the EpiPen a few times. It won't come out. It hurts like hell.
I go into Nichole's room-mate's room to examine the situation in a brighter light. Her 4 year-old daughter is playing with stickers in the corner. I yank again. It won't come out. It hurts like hell. I eventually realize what I need to do, I grit my teeth and get pumped up and yank hard. The hooked needle rips down through my thumb and pops out in a spray of blood. It's all very 127 HOURS.
Apparently the drug in an EpiPen is mostly just pure adrenaline and would have turned me into a superhero for a few minutes before making my heart explode. Sounds fun, until that last part, but the pen was 3 years expired so I don't think any of the drug got into my system. I went back into the room-mate's room and apologized to her 4 year-old daughter for being yucky and scary in front of her.
"It's okay," she says. "But you got blood on my stickers."
March 2, 2011
Warm Bodies' first cast member! (Not April Fools this time, I swear!)
Hey guys. It looks like this whole crazy "words I wrote becoming a major motion picture" thing is actually going to happen. After much excruciatingly careful consideration, Summit Entertainment has found its R.
This man!
Wait, sorry. That's him when he was a precocious moppet in the film ABOUT A BOY. Here's him now:
You may have seen him in A SINGLE MAN, CLASH OF THE TITANS, or the British show SKINS. He's going to be playing Beast in the upcoming "young X-Men" X-Men film, and the titular giant killer in Bryan Singer's JACK THE GIANT KILLER. I think these roles should adequately prepare him to play our soft-hearted eater of children, R.
Pretty much everything has been on hold until R was cast, so now things should start rolling quickly. Next item of business: find a Julie!Stay tuned, or as Brits like Nicholas would say, "chuned".
Love,
Isaac
This man!
Wait, sorry. That's him when he was a precocious moppet in the film ABOUT A BOY. Here's him now:
You may have seen him in A SINGLE MAN, CLASH OF THE TITANS, or the British show SKINS. He's going to be playing Beast in the upcoming "young X-Men" X-Men film, and the titular giant killer in Bryan Singer's JACK THE GIANT KILLER. I think these roles should adequately prepare him to play our soft-hearted eater of children, R.
Pretty much everything has been on hold until R was cast, so now things should start rolling quickly. Next item of business: find a Julie!Stay tuned, or as Brits like Nicholas would say, "chuned".
Love,
Isaac
February 23, 2011
Warm Bodies US cover
Friends, after many months of back and forth struggle between me, my agent, my editor, her assistant, her art director, her designer, her sales team, her sales team's pet chinchillas, and her sales team's pet chinchillas' assistants, we have found a cover we can all smile about.
Granted, it's not what I would have designed myself, but that's probably for the best since I am a shitty designer. It's also not what I would have chosen if I had my pick of any possible art style, but that's also probably for the best since I am a pretentious fuck who doesn't know a sell-able book from a hole in the ground full of unsold books.
What this IS is a fairly kick-ass cover that has wide appeal but also dignity, that will jump out at the reader without raised lettering or holograms or Smell-O-Vision. (You don't want to read a zombie novel in Smell-O-Vision.)
Also, we have yet another official release date, and hopefully this one will be final:
APRIL 26, 2011
In other related news, I got my first mainstream American review from Kirkus Reviews, and it's excellent! Contains lines such as "This is no Team Edward sob story" and "So begins the weirdest courting in the history of literature." We're off to a great start!
Also, here's the latest tally of countries/languages Warm Bodies is being published in:
'Murrica (United States)
UK (England, Scotland, Ireland, also includes Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and most other countries filled with English speaking whiteys.)
Spain
Italy
China
Taiwan
Catalonia
Bulgaria
Russia
Czech Republic
Turkey
Holland
Germany
France
South Korea
Brazil
Portugal
Greece
Romania
Hungary
That's approximately 25 countries, 19 languages! Can you even wait to see all the wacky foreign covers?? Best believe I'll be posting them!
Cheers,
Isaac
Granted, it's not what I would have designed myself, but that's probably for the best since I am a shitty designer. It's also not what I would have chosen if I had my pick of any possible art style, but that's also probably for the best since I am a pretentious fuck who doesn't know a sell-able book from a hole in the ground full of unsold books.
What this IS is a fairly kick-ass cover that has wide appeal but also dignity, that will jump out at the reader without raised lettering or holograms or Smell-O-Vision. (You don't want to read a zombie novel in Smell-O-Vision.)
Also, we have yet another official release date, and hopefully this one will be final:
APRIL 26, 2011
In other related news, I got my first mainstream American review from Kirkus Reviews, and it's excellent! Contains lines such as "This is no Team Edward sob story" and "So begins the weirdest courting in the history of literature." We're off to a great start!
Also, here's the latest tally of countries/languages Warm Bodies is being published in:
'Murrica (United States)
UK (England, Scotland, Ireland, also includes Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and most other countries filled with English speaking whiteys.)
Spain
Italy
China
Taiwan
Catalonia
Bulgaria
Russia
Czech Republic
Turkey
Holland
Germany
France
South Korea
Brazil
Portugal
Greece
Romania
Hungary
That's approximately 25 countries, 19 languages! Can you even wait to see all the wacky foreign covers?? Best believe I'll be posting them!
Cheers,
Isaac
