FANBOYS screenwriter & Poetry Slam God - Ernie Cline sold his first Novel for a few bucks!

Hey folks, Harry here... and that awesomely fast bastard, Mike Fleming gets the credit for nabbing the news first... even if his Logline isn't quite right. Long time friend of mine, Ernest (Ernie) Cline has sold his first novel for an advance of high Six Figures to Random House in a deal brokered by Foundry Literary + Media and Yfat Reiss Gendell.. Now - there are big geeks in the world - I should know, I'm one of them... but in terms of 80s geeks, there is no question in MY mind who the biggest geek in the world is. Ernie Cline. You see - unlike Mike Fleming, I've actually read READY PLAYER ONE. And I can say - without any hesitation - this is the most awesome 80s geek novel ever written - and it is set 60 years further down the road in the 2040s. Well, here's the official logline:

READY PLAYER ONE - In the near future, outcast teenager Wade Watts escapes from his bleak surroundings by logging in to the OASIS, a globally networked virtual utopia where users can lead idyllic alternate lives. When the eccentric billionaire who created the OASIS dies, he offers up his vast fortune as the prize in an elaborate treasure hunt. Along with gamers from around the world Wade joins the adventure, and quickly finds himself pitted against powerful corporate foes who will do anything, in the oasis or the real world, to reach the treasure first. Think Willy Wonka, The Matrix, and Avatar all rolled into one.

Yeah. "Think Willy Wonka, The Matrix and Avatar all rolled into one..." then add every 80s thing you've ever known... be it DnD, the early video games, all the great 80s films, music & television... the Hacker world, the politics of that world, everything that Ernie & Mine's particular age group holds over all you younger and older generations as being why being a kid in the 80s was simply better than every other decade before or since. BUT - this isn't a Nostalgia novel, it is a mystery, an incredibly viable science fiction future - and the film it would make would BLOW THE MINDS OF THE UNIVERSE - and ideally would be directed by Robert Zemeckis in my estimation. It would require an awesome amount of licensing - but the real key would be to launch Ernie's OASIS to replace the Internet. That's the real dream of the novel. There's a soul to his novel that I absolutely love. And yes he's a friend, that's why I chose not to write anything in advance of this sale. But the first person I called when I landed in Atlanta on my way back from Aruba was Ernie, as I had read his first novel on my iPad on the flight to and from Aruba - and had to call and spend a good hour or so geeking out about the novel - and his own particular brand of mental illness. In addition to the news about the sale of the book to Random House, I've heard there's a couple of studios that have already shown up trying to acquire the film rights. Of that... I have no doubt. I've already seen the movie, in my brain screen and it was pretty damn awesome. Congrats to Ernie! And when Random House publishes this - You'll bet I'll be telling you about it. It's the best GEEK novel I've read in ages! Just wait till you read about "THE STACKS" not to mention what the "Quarter" is for.