Hi Reddit. I'm author M.R.Carey - ask me anything

[u/M_R_Carey]

Hello, Reddit. I’m author M.R.Carey. I wrote The Girl With All the Gifts (the novel and the screenplay for the movie) and I had a new book out last month, Fellside.

I've also written a fair few things as Mike Carey. Mostly comics (Lucifer, The Unwritten, X-Men, Hellblazer) but also the Felix Castor novels, a couple of mainstream thrillers and (along with my wife Linda and our daughter Louise) The City Of Silk and Steel and The House Of War and Witness.

I would love to talk books, movies, comics and stories in general with you. But the invitation is: ask me anything.

I’m going to be lurking between now and 5.00pm eastern time, then I’ll come on for a couple of hours to answer questions and chat. 7.00pm eastern will be my midnight, so I’ll crash then and check in tomorrow morning. I’ll answer any questions that come up in the course of tomorrow.

Thanks to the moderators for inviting me onto the board!

[u/oppositeofawake]

Not really a question, more of a sad observation. I read The Girl With all the Gifts recently, fully unspoiled. Meaning I had no idea there were going to be zombies. I liked the book (read it nearly in one sitting), and the zombie action part was new and fun to me because I've never read that type or prose. After finishing the book, I decided to write my own zombie story as an exercise in style. It ended up being one of the worst things I've written. So, yeah. Some people look down on zombie stories, but writing one is not easy :)

[u/jmarsh642]

what books and comics did you enjoy reading as you grew up?

[u/[deleted]]

The cover of your current book, Fellside, has an image of your previous book, The Girl With All The Gifts on it. My question for you is, will your next book have an image of the Fellside cover on it, and will that image itself include the nested cover image of The Girl With All The Gifts as well?

[u/BlackImladris]

Hi! If you could go back to the start. When you first sat down and thought, "I'm gonna write this!" What things, if anything, would you change? Are there any bad habits you tried in vain to rid yourself of?

[u/Scott_Hawkins]

Hi! I came to your novels via Girl With and your comics via The Unwritten. I read (and loved) both for quite a while without realizing that you were the author of both. I think it's really impressive.

I'm curious if you find it difficult to make the jump between writing comics, screenplays and novels? Do you have any particular strategies, or things you make a point to keep in mind when transitioning from one medium to the other?

[u/GKFinns]

Hi Mike! What can you tell us about your friendship/partnership with Peter Gross? Between Lucifer and Unwritten (one of my all time favorites) I bet you have some good stories of the two of you! How'd you meet?

[u/[deleted]]

What do you think of videogames as a storytelling medium? Also as Tetris is getting a movie adaption: What would be your dream version of that movie?

[u/[deleted]]

made an account because you are my FAVORITE author of all time. As a teenage girl with tourette's, sensory processing disorder, and other assorted weirdness TGWATG changed my life. Like, I feel like I can't adequately express right here how grateful I am for it. I have "She endures, and collates, and begins to understand" written on the wall next to my bed, and plan on getting it tattooed someday. I've never connected with a character like that. I bought Fellside yesterday, after seeing it and screaming in the bookstore (oops). What advice do you have about character building? It's something I struggle with. Melanie is maybe the most dynamic and wonderful character I've ever read.

[u/[deleted]]

I enjoyed reading The Girl With All the Gifts and I am excited for the movie. What are your favorite zombie or dystopian movies?

[u/rmzfm]

Will we see Felix Castor again?

[u/[deleted]]

what is your routine for writing?

[u/satanspanties]

I think my boyfriend might be really excited to ask you questions:

You had a long run on the original Hellblazer. What do you think about the two recent revamps of the series under the mainstream DCU? Would you consider a return to the series after Rebirth? And finally. Most top name publishers have had rebrandings over the last few years. Do you think this has been necessary? Or is it one (or more) too many?

Edit: He thought of more:

Oh oh oh. If there were plans to turn TGWATG into a graphic novel, would you be on board with it? And what artist would you most want to draw it?

[u/redhelldiver]

What was it like adapting your own work into a screenplay? If you had perfect say over everything about The Girl's adaptation, who did you envision playing the roles?

And since I just read this, what's it like collaborating with your family on a book? How do you navigate that many authors and the fact that you have to theoretically still like each other at the end of day?

Thanks for doing this AMA!

[u/[deleted]]

What are some of the best stories you've read in comics?

[u/Chtorrr]

Do you have any pets? tell us about them

[u/ahr19]

Hello Mike. I really enjoyed GIRL. Well done. What was your thought process to having such racially diverse characters in GIRL? I thought that added more realism to the story and the relationship with Melanie and Justineau really touched me.

Thanks!

[u/HellsquidsIntl]

Do you listen to music while you're working? If so, do you have a playlist you use, or does it depend on what you're writing? I'm reading Lucifer at the moment, and am a fan of Felix Castor, and they seem like they would have quite different soundtracks.

(Yes, let's ask the writer about music. Good plan, me.)

[u/[deleted]]

Hi Mike, Lucifer is by far one of my all time favourite books, how you tie the story and characters all back together is utterly mind blowing! Did you have a favourite character in Lucifer? Also does any one volume or arc stand out as a favourite? (this is probably like asking a parent to choose their favourite child)

[u/Chtorrr]

Have you read any good book lately?

[u/Zthe27th]

What X-Men issue are you most proud of?

Are you trying to set a record for most AMA's?

We talked during your last AMA about an interview with my site (Shameless plug for Xavier Files). Still interested?

[u/Prisaneify]

I really enjoyed the first part of The Girl With All the Gifts.... But then it changed into generic zombie apocalypse mayhem. What was your motivation behind doing this?

[u/FatherPhil]

I have never been a big zombie movie fan and I thought I would never like a zombie book, but TGWATG was fantastic. I picked it up on a whim after seeing a ton of positive Amazon reviews.

You wrote so well from each character's POV. Each voice was different and authentically so, if that makes sense. I am not sure how to explain what I mean, but I'll just say sometimes stylistic things like that can feel pretentous and forced, but your writing seemed true to real people. It was really well done. A very satisfying ending, too. Thanks for publishing it!

[-spoilers below for those who haven't read it-]

spoilers Does this work in the movie? I can't imagine how you would do that visually but I hope you figured out a way to do it.

I'm psyched to hear there is a movie. When is it coming out? Here's hoping you got an excellent child actress to play Melanie.

EDIT - hid the spoiler, hover to read it

[u/WuTiger]

who are some of your personal literary heroes? ever get to discuss shop with them?

[u/LiesandBalderdash]

Do you have any opinion on the Lucifer television show? It was so wildly different from the comics, so I know I and many others were disappointed. Also I hear you are working on a new project with Peter Gross! What's the process like with him? It seems like you two are the perfect author/artist team.

[u/happyjoim]

"The Girl With All The Gifts", and "The Coldest Girl in Coldtown" changed my view on zombies and vampires. Do you know of any more genre breaking horror/monster titles.