13 Reasons Why and other Books to Screen

NY Times Bestseller Jay Asher has graced our pages several times and his blockbuster 13 Reasons Why is set to launch as a thirteen part series this Friday March 31st on Netflix.

We're thrilled for him and the whole 13 Reasons Why team and can't wait to binge on the series this weekend.

Interested in more page to screen projects? Check out these shows currently on air:

Hulu:

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
(Currently Available)

Starz:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman 
(Release Date: April 30, 2017)

Netflix:

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
(Currently Available)

                                                                  Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
                                                                  (Release Date: May 12, 2017)

                                                                 What do you plan to watch this weekend?

From Page to Screen (and back again): #1 NYT Bestselling Author Jay Asher Returns and Talks Netflix

It's been four years since we last spoke with author Jay Asher. At the time, his novel Thirteen Reasons Why had already spent over a year on the New York Times Bestseller's List and had been optioned by Universal Studios as a feature with Selena Gomez set to play lead, Hannah Baker. 

Fast forward to today, the novel is still going strong on the NYT Bestsellers List (over 208 weeks and counting!) and the film project has morphed into a thirteen episode miniseries (currently in production) on Netflix.  The miniseries stars newcomer Katherine Langford as Hannah, Dylan Minnette (Goosebumps) as Clay Jensen and Kate Walsh (Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy) as Hannah's mom. 

To add more power to the project, the Netflix series is executive produced by Selena Gomez with writer Brian Yorkey (co-playwright on the Pulitzer Prize winning musical Next to Normal), showrunner Diana Son (American Crime, Blue Bloods) and director Tom McCarthy (Spotlight).

Jay Asher

It's been quite the whirlwind adventure for Asher who has experienced a lot of change throughout the star-studded journey, but one thing remains the same. He is still the down to earth, cool, fun guy with a "can do" attitude that I met back in 2012. 

I had a chance to chat with Asher in July and reflect on the winding path that brought him to Netflix and his new book What Light to be released October 18, 2016 by Razorbill. 

JP: Could you reflect on the journey that took place from optioning the book at Universal to becoming a mini series at Netflix? What were some of the most exciting times and most challenging? 

JA: We first sold the rights for a theatrical film years ago. A script was written for it, but that's as far as we got. During that time, TV took off as an exciting place for high quality and unusual storytelling. When the producers approached me about pursuing that, it just felt perfect. They wanted to go after a 13-part series, one episode per "reason", which would let us explore each issue well beyond what we could do in a two hour film. The most exciting times have been seeing the quality of people coming on board, and hearing them talk so passionately about the project. We have a Pulitzer Prize winning series creator, an Oscar winning director working on the first two episodes, and every single actor is perfect for their role. Every one! The most challenging part has been watching some of the frustrations over the years from online fans who first heard about the movie rights and have been waiting all this time. Often, I had details that would make them excited, but I couldn't reveal them yet. Thankfully, I have a strong feeling that they'll see their patience rewarded.

JP: Selena Gomez was set to play Hannah, now she is Executive Producer. Did that transition occur organically? What is one thing about the film and tv world that you found contrasted the most with the literary/publishing world?

Leads Dylan Minnette & Katherine Langford

JA: Selena has been involved since the beginning. Years went by between the time we first sold the theatrical rights and this last time, so that transition to another actress did happen organically. I'm very happy that Selena is still involved as an EP. From the beginning, we shared a vision for this project, and I know that's why it maintains that vision to this day, even with all the other people brought into it. The difference from the publishing world is, in film and TV, there's so much more that needs to happen before a final product is seen. In publishing, except in extremely rare circumstances, if a publisher buys the rights to a manuscript, it will become a book. With this, there's a lot more money involved, and more people--the right people--need to sign on. And those "right people" have to be available at the right time.

JP: In our last interview, you spoke about that moment at the back of the airport shuttle on your way to a speaking gig in Georgia when you received the offer from Universal. If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself based on what you know now?

JA: I don't know if any advice would be warranted. Before we first sold the rights, I'd watched other authors go through the process. I was fairly realistic about the chances of it getting made. In fact, in the final weeks leading up to the filming for Netflix, I was still assuming something would keep it from happening. But the producers were telling me, "No, it's happening." And I'd respond, "Okay. We'll see."

Executive Producer Selena Gomez

JP: It must be exciting to see your “baby” grow but were you apprehensive to let go of the reigns? Could you describe your working relationship with writer/EP Brian Yorkey and the process that took place between author and showrunner?

JA: I'm normally a very anxious person with every aspect of publishing. My closest friends know how freaked out I get about my books coming out, and the editing, and covers... but they've all commented on my calmness over the TV series. Adapting a book is its own art, and it's exciting to watch these other incredible artists work on my story, and bringing themselves into it. I trust them all, yet I still have trouble believing all of these amazing people have come together for this book I started writing at a kitchen table in Wyoming. Many of them were fans of the book before they got hired for this job, including Brian Yorkey. The showrunner, Diana Son, is incredible. Honestly, every one of them, I'd love to hang out with outside of this project.

JP: Your new book What Light is coming out this Fall. How does the process and release of this novel compare to your previous experiences?

JA: In the nine years since my first book came out, this is only my third novel. Each, while having similar themes that connect them, have very different tones and structures. So there's a lot of anxiety about what people will think, even though I've been completely happy with how they all turned out. With all of them, even the one I co-wrote, they're exactly as I want them. Obviously, with the success of my first book, there's more interest in anything else I release. While it is exciting to see that interest, it comes with its own worries because the books are so different. But I do kind of like that each release feels just as nerve-racking and thrilling. It means I care about what I'm putting out!

JP: Between the Netflix series, your blog, new books, school visits, how do you juggle everything? What’s one thing that helps you to focus and keep writing?

JA: Juggle? I don't know how to juggle, physically or metaphorically. I just tackle things as they come and try not to let things slip too far off track. I travel a lot, and have never figured out a way to write while I travel. I also can't make myself write unless the idea is pounding to get out. I wish I knew how to change all of that, the juggling and writing, but in the nine years that I've been published, I'm starting to feel okay with my cluttered inconsistency.

JP: In our last interview, you spoke about the books you read and your reading process when you’re writing. Is there a book that you just finished that you would recommend?

JA: The last two YA books I read and loved, though they don't come out until later this year, were Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven and Honestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg.

You can find out more about Asher and his novels and adventures here.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

It's day four of Thinking to Inking's birthday month and the celebrations keep coming. Thanks to everyone for posting and tweeting about our anniversary and giveaways!  

June is all about throwbacks where we highlight some of our favourite blog posts from the past two years.  On Monday, I wrote about blogmate Stacy's publishing adventure. Every Wednesday, each contributor will talk about their favourite blog post from their own blog adventures.  

Over the years, I've learned a lot from my work as a blogger for Thinking to Inking.  Tips of the trade, what's new in the industry and growing with my blog-sisters.  But at the beginning, it was a bit nerve wracking.  How to you make yourself known in the blogsphere?  Who's going to read it? Will people like it? 

With my background in film and television, I had an idea to interview authors for a segment called "From Book to Screen (and back again)".  I would reach out to authors that have either had experience in script writing or who had recently had their novels optioned for film and television projects and ask them questions about their experience.  I had no idea where to start or if anyone would say yes.  

As luck would have it, I was at the 2012 LA Festival of Books when I stumbled upon the "YA to be Continued" Panel.  There, D.J. MacHale happened to be speaking.  Not only was he the author of the New York Times #1 bestselling Pendragon book series, he was also a writer, director, executive producer and creator of several popular television series and movies including Flight 29 Down and Are You Afraid of the Dark.

After his panel, I sheepishly approached him and asked if I could interview him for our new up and coming blog.  I totally expected him to blow me off, but he smiled, looked at his watch and said "I'm done shortly here, why don't we meet in a few hours."

I was flabbergasted.  The interview was informative, fun and so easy going.  Most importantly, it set the stage for our little blog that could.  Since then, I've had the privilege of interviewing great writers including Jay Asher, Holly Goldberg Sloan and Lauren Kate to name a few.  But it all started with D.J. MacHale and that's why I've chosen my interview with him as my favourite post. 

Click here to check out the original From Book to Screen (and back again) interview with D.J.. 

If you haven't already checked out our giveaway below, definitely take a look.  Lots of great prizes to be won!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

From Book to Screen (and back again): An Interview with New York Times No. 1 Bestselling Author Jay Asher

I first met best selling author Jay Asher at the SCBWI LA Conference in August.  He was a guest speaker and his presentation No Bookmarks Allowed! was both insightful and humorous.  I remember lining up with all the other inspired writers at the end of Jay's presentation, waiting for the chance to speak to him.  I hoped perhaps he would be up for a "From Book to Screen (and back again)" interview since Universal Studios optioned the film rights to his hit debut novel Thirteen Reasons Why.  You can imagine how nervous I was, after all, Thirteen Reasons Why was a New York Times Best Seller ...for over two years...and counting!  

Next in line, I readied my pitch, then sheepishly approached and blurted it all out in one fell swoop.  

His response: 

"Cool!".  

And that's pretty much the best way to describe Jay.  He's just a cool, fun guy with a "can do" attitude.

If you haven't read Thirteen Reasons Why, do because it's not only a beautifully written story that addresses hot button issues but it's also a great example of the writing process. What do I mean by that? Finish reading the novel, then read Thirteen Reasons Why (between the lines) at the end of the book.  Jay provides his answers to thirteen questions including "where did the overall idea for this book come from?" and "how did you decide on Hannah's thirteen reasons?".  What I love about this section is that Jay gives honest answers about his process and you soon realize it takes a lot to make something look so easy - a very inspiring tale for aspiring writers!

But enough about the process.  Now onto the interview!

JP: Did you ever dream that one day the film rights to Thirteen Reasons Why would be optioned?  We all know that the likelihood of having certain stars portray your characters on screen is slim to none but did you ever think "x or y would make a great Hannah or Clay?"

Jay Asher at SCBWI LA

JA: My favorite how-to-write books have always been screenwriting books. When I write, I probably think in more cinematic than literary terms. I visualize how each scene would look up on the screen, and that affects how I structure the scenes and which visual details I focus on. Since I've already imagined what the scenes would look like in a movie, I definitely let myself dream about one day seeing them in an actual theater. And sometimes, while writing, I'll watch a movie and think a certain actor would be interesting in one of the roles. But I started writing that book ten years ago, so those actors are too old for the parts now.

 

JP:  When you first found out that Thirteen Reasons Why was to be optioned, what went through your mind?

JA: When the offer came in from Universal, I was sitting in the back of an airport shuttle on my way to a speaking gig in Georgia. I was only allowed to tell certain people about the offer, and there was no way I could wait to reach my destination before telling them. The shuttle driver and the other passengers were annoyed by my constant texting and whispering into my phone. When they dropped me off, the driver even said, "I hope you didn't forget your phone."

 

JP: What surprised you most about the "option" process? 

JA: Not too much surprised me, mostly because I'd watched friends navigate the book-to-movie process and seen how every journey is different. I'd already let several offers pass as I waited for the right people to come along. When they did come along, I suppose I was a bit surprised by their personalities. We've all seen TV shows and movies where producers, actors, and all those Hollywood people act very...you know ...Hollywood! And maybe I'm just lucky, or maybe a project like Thirteen Reasons Why only attracts certain types of people, but everyone has been so down-to-earth and wonderful to work with. They're great at what they do, but they're also great people.

 

JP: What has been the funnest thing about the process so far?

Selena Gomez as Hannah

JA: Two moments stick out. The first happened when I went out to lunch with the producers and the screenwriter before the "official" business meeting was to begin. They began discussing the characters in Thirteen Reasons Why, and talking about them as if they were real people. In that moment, I thought back several years to when I began writing the opening pages to that book on my kitchen table. If that struggling writer could've eavesdropped into that conversation, he would've freaked! The other fun moment came when I attended a Selena Gomez concert with my wife, son, niece and nephew. (Selena is set to play the character of Hannah Baker.) We were in the middle of a mob of people from her fanclub, all waiting to go backstage. I noticed that a few of her fans had brought copies of my book for her to sign. When my wife told them who I was, they kind of freaked out.

 

JP: At what stage is the novel currently in the development cycle?

JA: I'm not supposed to get specific about what stage we're in, but things are moving in a positive direction. I had lunch with the producers two months ago, and it was exciting to hear some of the names being discussed. We all share a very similar vision for how we want this to look.

 

JP.  

If there’s one thing you would advise aspiring YA writers on the process of writing their first novel, what would that be?  And if there’s one thing you would advise a writer - with dreams of someday having their book optioned for a feature or TV production, what would that be?

JA: When I write, I'm always thinking about what would make the book a page turner. Whether it's a novel dealing with serious issues or a comedy, if you can make it difficult for people to put your book down, you'll end up giving them a better reading experience. The same thing applies for books being turned into movies. If a producer reads a books, is fascinated by the story and can't put it down, it makes it so much easier to picture audiences not being able to get up to take a restroom break. 

 

JP: What are you currently working on and what can we expect next from Jay Asher?

JA: Something and someday. :-) 

 

JP: What are you currently reading?  And is there a book you would recommend others to read?

JA: I always have so many books going at once, and they're mostly non-fiction. When I'm writing, I can't enjoy much fiction because I overanalyze it. And I like to read several things at once so that, no matter what mood I'm in, there's always something to read. I did just finish Drama by Raina Telgemeier. I think it was only the third graphic novel I've read, and I completely enjoyed it.

You can find out more about Jay and his novels Thirteen Reasons Why and The Future of Us here.

From Book to Screen (and back again): Let's Roll!

Young Adult fiction continues to be a hit with kids and adults alike and with the success of The Hunger Games, Twilight and Harry Potter, entertainment companies are quick to option new properties in the young adult space. 

The LA Times recently published a list of newly optioned young adult and middle grade fiction.  These include Veronica Roth's Divergent, John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, and Veronica Rossi's Under the Never Sky.  It's great to see the variety of projects that are being optioned and should the one's I've mentioned make their way from development to production, they show great promise because they are after all, based on great books. 

I've had the pleasure of interviewing a number of bestselling authors for Thinking to Inking's From Book to Screen (and back again) series including D.J. MacHale, Holly Goldberg Sloan and Lauren Kate.  All have been gracious with their time and provided thoughtful and informative answers to my questions. 

This Fall is gearing up to be no exception. I'm excited to announce that I will be posting From Book to Screen (and back again) interviews with authors Lesley Livingston, Lissa Price and Jay Asher prior to the New Year.  

All have had their first published novel optioned and are currently in the process of transforming their babies from the written word to the big screen. 

This is an especially busy week for two of these authors as Lesley Livingson will be launching her new novel Starling in the U.S. (launched last week in Canada) and Lissa Price will be at Chicon's Sudden Inspiration Panel - How Do You Get Your Ideas?  If you're there, be sure to check it out!