Origins and Background
Andy Weir was born June 16, 1972 in Davis, California. He was born and raised in California, specifically spending his childhood in Livermore, CA. Many people knew that Andy Weir was going to be very intelligent because his dad, John Weir, was a physicist at Sandia National Laboratories, and his mother was an electrical engineer. Both those jobs require a lot of intelligence. He was an only child, and his parents divorced when he was eight. He grew up reading a lot of his dads science fiction books from his collection. Andy really enjoyed things like books, science, and space growing up. When Andy was a teenager he would write a lot of short stories and comics. He attended UC San Diego’s BS program for computer science for four years. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough money, so he was forced to drop out of college after 4 years in college. “I’ve always been a space dork, but I also always wanted to be a writer.” At this moment in time he knew that trying to become a professional writer would be his sole passion and income. “Andy Weir built a two-decade career as a software engineer until the success of his first published novel, The Martian, allowed him to live out his dream of writing full-time.” He wrote the Martian as a hobby, and published it on his personal website.
Inspiration:
Andy claims that his dad was a full out nerd, while he was working as a physicist. “My mom is much more into literature. I guess you could say that’s how I came to be a half-literature, half-science nerd.” His parents' personalities shaped him into the man and writer he is today. Throughout his life his hobbies were relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight. He wanted to write science fiction books, but still didn’t know everything about space, math, and science. He had to do a lot of research before starting to write. Andy's scientific background allows him to write accurate science fiction novels. He had anxiety as a kid, and frames internal conflicts that his characters must overcome. “He cites Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and Arthur C. Clarke as his "holy trinity" of influences.”
Books and success:
Andy’s first well known book was The Egg. He wrote this book in 2009 when he was 37 years old. The book is a short story that explores the idea of a single soul reincarnating through every human life throughout history. The story highlights that every hardship someone goes through, the soul evolves towards a god-like understanding. The next book that made Andy extremely well known/famous was The Martian that he wrote in 2011. He had to do a lot of research for this book, and a lot of problems and solutions went into it. “After initially identifying himself as the first colonist of Mars, and later as a space pirate, we learn in The Martian that Mark Watney has a rich sense of humor as well as a keen mind for science.” Andy sold 3 million copies of The Martian, and later a movie came out about The Martian in 2015. In 2017, Andy came out with his next big book called Artemis. The antagonist's name is Jazz Bashara and she is a criminal. Again this book is a science fiction novel. “Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire.” This society is a prime example of economic inequality because there are very poor people and very rich people. Lastly, his book Project Hail Mary is where Ryland Grace has to save his planet. “Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.” This book was so popular that in the summer of 2026 they are releasing a movie about it.
Current life:
In 2022 Andy moved to Winnetka, Illinois, after he lived in California his whole life. He and his wife bought a mansion for $4.51 million. Only after two years of living in the Chicago suburbs, they moved back to California. He and his wife grew up in California their whole life and missed it too much. Weir has come out and said that he is working on a new book. He has said that the book has something to do with Artificial Intelligence. Weir is a producer on the movie adaptation of Project Hail Mary. The film is scheduled for release in March 2026 and stars Ryan Gosling. Currently he is 53 years old, and has one child who is a young adult male. He has expressed interest in writing sequels on Project Hail Mary and Artemis. Recently, Andy has been getting into trying to produce television shows.
Link to Class of 2026 Author Study Page: https://sites.google.com/coalcityschools.org/aplitauthorstudy26/home