The Martian author Andy Weir’s new novel Artemis is out this week, set in the titular city, the first on the Moon. It’s a fast-paced tale, narrated by Weir’s new heroine Jazz Bashara, and is already heading for the small screen, courtesy of Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. Shortly before publication, Weir took time out to answer a few questions from Paul Simpson.

 

Thanks for the time – I’ve deliberately not going into major story points in the questions, as I don’t want to spoil it for readers.

Rosebud was the name of Charles Foster Kane’s sled. HAHA RUJINED THAT ONE FOR YOU!

Artemis is a very different type of story from The Martian – what was its genesis? A particular scene? A particular character?

I’ve wanted to write a heist story for a long time. And I had also created the city of Artemis in my mind a long time ago. I’d worked out all the science behind it without inventing any of the main characters. So I thought “why not make a sci-fi heist story?”

What did you find to be the challenges of writing for this protagonist, compared with The Martian? Which part of the process do you find most rewarding?

The biggest challenge was that she’s a woman. I tried my best to have a female voice for her, and I ran the manuscript by as many women that I knew who I could trust with the manuscript. But in the end, I’m a man writing a woman and that’s hard to do.

There’s a lot of “world-building” in this in terms of day to day life on the Moon; did you work most of it out before writing, or did you tackle specific areas as you came to them? (e.g. currency)

I worked most of it out in advance. But that was the fun part!

Many writers will come up with an idea, and then check the science, perhaps tweaking it as necessary to work with their story. Given your background, do your story ideas tend to derive from the science first?

Yes, the science is non-negotiable for me. Everything has to work within that mould.

Were there particular (constructive) criticisms aimed at The Martian that you wanted to tackle in the way you presented this new story?

The Martian had no character depth or character growth. That’s not the kind of story I was trying to write. So for Artemis I tried to make much deeper characters, and have the protagonist change throughout the course of the novel. It’s up to the readers to decide if I accomplished that goal or not.

Do you plot the entire story out before starting to write, or do you have a rough outline and deviate from it if the story heads in a particular direction you weren’t expecting?

The latter. I generally know how I want to story to end. But if I see a cooler direction to go in the middle while I’m working on it then I tend to run with that.

How closely will you be working with Lord & Miller on the screen adaptation? Do you like to get heavily involved or prefer to see what someone else does with your ideas?

It’s still early days, but I don’t think I’ll be doing too much on it. I’ll certainly be available if they have any questions or want to pick my brain on anything. But for the most part, in Hollywood, the writer of the book has little to do with the film production.

 

 

Artemis is on sale now from Del Rey; click here to order from Amazon.co.uk

Thanks to Annabelle Wright for her help in arranging this interview. Photo of Andy Weir at NASA courtesy of NASA, James Blair & Lauren Harnett