And after that it turned into a police car…and then a Boeing 747…and then…
Seriously, the novelization actually turned out pretty well, I thought. I’m always kind of amazed when a novelization reads smoothly, because while I’m in the middle of it, it always feels like it’s patchwork as I integrate my own scenes and dialogue with what’s in the script. But when I sat down and proofread it, it was pretty seamless. So I’m rather pleased with it. This is my first really sustained involvement with the Transformers and I didn’t realize what a fun bunch of characters they can be.
Plus what helped tremendously was that I had direct access to Hasbro. As opposed to some other occasions where everything has to be routed through the editor and, consequently, getting things questions answered can take a while, this was a snap because if there was anything I needed clarified, I went right to Hasbro and my contact there filled me in. So it was as smooth a process as it could possibly have been.
I don’t know the pub date, but I’d imagine it’ll be between four and six weeks before the film.
One hopes it will be available in places other than Costco and Sam’s Club.
.
PAD
• 
As someone who’s both a major fan of Transformers and of your work, let me just say that the two things converging is like a dream come true. I look forward to reading it.
What is next in the agenda? Please say a ST:New Frontier book.
For me, it will likely be a case of buy the book…skip the movie.
But when I sat down and proofread it,
.
This may be a question with no reasonable answer, but how many times in the course of writing a book do you tend to re-read it?
.
It’s something I’ve kinda wondered ever since reading Asimov’s “Galley Slave”. With proofreading it and checking galleys and… whatever, about how many times would you end up going through your own work?
Congrats. And thanks for the heads up.
Have you caught episode 12 in the second season of SCI FI SCIENCE – PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE? In it, Dr. Kaku brings up technologies we’re going to need to develop (some we’re working on now) to come up with transforming robots that should be even more versatile than those in the TRANSFORMERS franchise.
Let’s see… T3 is scheduled for July 1, so that would put the book out mid-May or early June.
.
And Shore Leave, where I make a point of seeing PAD every year, runs July 8-10.
.
I better set aside my $20.00, just in case…
.
And did anyone notice that PAD just announced this two weeks ago? PAD, did you hold off on the announcement, or did you really whip this sucker out in two weeks flat?
.
We know you’re fast, but ÐÃMN…
.
J.
I was already writing it by that point, but it wasn’t a ton more than two weeks. I was virtually working 24/7 on it.
.
PAD
Peter, speaking of stuff you’re writing that coming out next year, will X-Factor tie into “Fear Itself” company-wide mega-event storyline?
Marvel’s doing another mega-event? Can’t somebody please stop them?
Yes. We’re doing a major tie-in.
.
(Actually we’re not, but you already asked me this on another thread and I answered it, so I was reluctant to say the same thing twice.
.
PAD
Sorry, I missed it.
.
Mary, they’re pretty much going to do ’em on a regular basis, since they sell, and fans (at least a significant segment of them) want them.
They’re not going to do them every single year, but Quesada explained at the December 21 press conference that they will follow a pattern of tension building up to release, then get a break, and then work it up again.
.
I doubt they’re going to go away as long as they sell well.
WOW that was fast. THey ARE fun characters, aren’t they? Who were your favorite and least favorite to write?
As ridiculous as it sounds, I can’t answer that. I’m legally bound not to reveal ANY aspect of the plot including who’s in it.
.
PAD
.
Well, can you at least tell us if there are big robots who fight each other in the thing? We need to know!
PAD can’t say publicly, but he did talk to me off the record.
.
According to him, Raydeen was the easiest and most fun, but Dangard Ace took him a while to really get a handle on.
.
J.
.
So no Mazinga?
Next sequel, Jerry.
.
J.
You mean you can’t even say if Optimus Prime will be in it or not? 😮
Given prior history, the novelization will be available all over the place. And Diamond will ship any copies that stores ordered through them some time around September.
Loved your Marvel movie adaptation novels (wish the Spider-Man 3 movie was as good as your book). I know you said you cannot reveal characters, but some characters are common knowledge to be in the film (i.e. Prime, Megatron, Starscream, Bumblebee, etc.)
If given the opportunity, how interested are you in ever writing a non-movie based Transformers novel [based either on the movie characters or the franchise in general]? Which character(s) backstory would you like to further explore?
I would love to read an original TF fiction by you.
I’d love to do an entire novel based on Skids and Mudflap, just because people hate them so much. It’d be a real challenge to make them sympathetic.
.
PAD
PAD, that is awesome, and I’d love to see it happen.
I can’t believe that nobody’s said this already – how does a Transformer novel go about turning itself into a publisher?
.
Does it unfold over and over until it’s a building with printing presses, or does it flicker and sparkle and turn into Alfred Knopf hisself?
Argh. Somehow failed to see the first line as i read the article, dammit!
I’m not a TFs fan, but I’ll probably pick up the novel to see how Peter handles these characters.
I just thought of using a shopping mall gift card that I received, but the novel won’t be out until May/June and the local mall subtracts a certain amount, every month, from the total value of an unused gift card. Arrgh! |:(
Alan Dean Foster wrote the novelizations for the first two, as well as prequels to both of them, “Ghosts of Yesterday” for the first, and “The Veiled Threat”. My question is whether or not he will write a prequel novel like Foster. Or even another Transformers novel at all?