Oak Forest HS Students Interview Author Ernie Cline

Recently, Mrs. Schanz’s Study of Contemporary Literature classes had the opportunity to interview Ernie Cline. Cline is the author of fan favorite Ready Player One, which the students had read in class. Students asked Mr. Cline numerous questions about writing, his personal life, other famous fans and plans he has to write future books. He was laid back and easily approachable and students could see into his video game filled office throughout the Skype interview.

Some of the most specific questions were about the book, Ready Player One, that the class had read together recently. Students wanted to know if there would be a sequel to Ready Player One. Mr. Cline said, “Yes, I have already secured the Ready Player Two and Ready Player Three websites.” Students were excited to hear there will be more books set in that universe.

Inspired by the author likes of Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, George Carlin, Bill Hicks, and Eric Bogosian, Cline has quite a routine when he starts to write. He said, “I avoid writing! I watch a movie, do “research” because I am my own boss but the least pushy boss ever! It was hard when I was working full time and felt like writing was a hobby. Now I write when my daughter is at school. I rewrite [what I’ve already written] first, then get back into writing new material.” Life experiences have informed his writing. He said, “Stephen King said that writing a novel reveals everything about yourself.”

Movies are a big part of Mr. Cline’s life. “Star Wars was my first experience at storytelling as a kid. I told Star Wars stories as I was playing with my younger brother. I watched “The Making of Star Wars” and that led me to writing the 2009 film “FanBoys.” My favorite Spielburg movie is “Raiders of the Lost Arc,” but hopefully soon, it will be “Ready Player One!” Cline’s book Ready Player One is in film pre-production and Spielburg will be directing it, starting sometime in 2016.

Cline said that the inspiration for the High Five characters in Ready Player One were “geek stereotypes created from going to comic book conventions, Dungeons and Dragons conventions, also the flavors of geeks, by which I mean ‘enthusiast’,” he said. “Halliday is based on Howard Hughes and Steve Jobs, Morros is bases on Steve Wozniak and Richard Garriott from Austin, Texas.”

Cline is a little nonplussed with his new found author celebrity but said it has its cool moments. “Seth Green loves Ready Player One and invited me to his 40th birthday party, which was an 80’s prom theme. I brought my DeLorean and Seth’s friends posed for pictures with the DeLorean. One of them was Nathan Fillian from “Firefly.” It was pretty cool.”

Pictured is Oak Forest High School teacher Jen Schanz with Ready Player One author Ernie Cline. Schanz asked Cline if he would allow her students to interview him by Skype. To her surprise, Mr. Cline agreed!