The paperback is currently in its 17th printing.Ĭline's second novel, Armada, was released on July 14, 2015, by Crown Publishing Group. Cline also revealed that the competition's grand prize would be a 1981 DeLorean. This clue formed the first part of a series of staged video gaming tests, similar to the plot of the novel. Ten months later, with the hardcover release coinciding with the paperback release, Cline revealed on his blog that both the paperback and hardcover editions of Ready Player One contain an elaborately hidden Easter egg. The film rights to the novel were sold the following day, to Warner Bros., with Cline co-writing the screenplay. The book was sold in a bidding war to the Crown Publishing Group (a division of Random House). In June 2010, Cline sold his first novel, Ready Player One, a book that takes place in a dystopian vision of the 2040s. In fall 2013 Write Bloody Publishing published a new edition of The Importance of Being Ernest with new cover art by Gary Musgrave and new interior illustrations by Len Peralta. In 2001, Cline self-published a chapbook collection of his spoken-word writing, The Importance of Being Ernest, and released an album, The Geek Wants Out. His most popular spoken-word pieces include 'Dance, Monkeys, Dance,' 'Nerd Porn Auteur,' and 'When I Was a Kid.' Cline subsequently reworked 'Dance Monkeys Dance' into a faux educational filmstrip, which became a popular viral video that has now been translated into 29 different languages. He was the Austin Poetry Slam Champ in 19 and competed on the Austin Poetry Slam Teams at the 1998 Austin National Poetry Slam and the 2001 Seattle National Poetry Slam. Fanboys is my first real original screenplay, and it got made.' Spoken word įrom 1997 to 2001, Cline performed his original work at Austin Poetry Slam venues. Cline later recalled that the film 'changed my whole life.

It was finally released in 2009 after reshoots, reedits, and delays. Cline shot some low-budget scenes himself and shared his screenplay draft with Harry Knowles, whose connections in the film industry helped Cline get the film produced. Fanboys Ĭline co-wrote the screenplay for Fanboys, based on a storyline he had developed in the late 1990s while his mother was dying of cancer. He worked in information technology in his twenties and worked on screenwriting during his spare time. As a youth in the 1970s and 1980s, Cline was 'addicted to video games and movies,' especially Star Wars, the movies of John Hughes, and the tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons. He wrote the novels Ready Player One, Armada, and Ready Player Two and co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg.Ĭline was born and raised in Ashland, Ohio, the son of Ernest Christy Cline and Faye Imogene ( née Williams) Cline. Ernest Christy Cline (born March 29, 1972) is an American science fiction novelist, slam poet, and screenwriter.

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