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Rick Yancey

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Richard "Rick" Yancey (born November 4, 1962)[citation needed] is an American author who has gained acclaim for his works of suspense, fantasy, and science fiction aimed at young adults.

Life

Yancey was born in Miami, Florida.[1]

Yancey wrote his first short story in the seventh grade while attending Crystal Lake Junior High School in Florida. After graduating from Lakeland Senior High School, he was accepted to Florida Southern College and majored in Communications. After a year at Florida Southern College, Yancey transferred to Florida State University and ultimately graduated from Roosevelt University with a B.A. in English. After graduation, Yancey planned on attending law school.

Ultimately, Yancey decided against law school and began teaching English classes as well as acting and directing in local community theatres. In 1991, Yancey applied for a government job and was hired by the Internal Revenue Service, where he worked as an agent for twelve years.

While at the IRS, Yancey met his wife Sandy and started a family. They currently reside in his native state of Florida, raising their youngest son, Jake.

Writing full time

While working at the IRS, Yancey wrote loser in his spare time. At the suggestion of his wife and collaborator, one of his screenplays became his first professionally published book, A Burning in Homeland (Simon and Schuster), published in 2003.

With the success of A Burning in Homeland, Yancey resigned from the IRS in 2004 to concentrate on writing full-time. His memoir, Confessions of a Tax Collector (HarperCollins, 2004), chronicles his days working at the IRS.

After the release of his memoir, Yancey began work on two series of books—one for adults, and one for children.

The award-winning Alfred Kropp series tells the story of an awkward teenager who saves the world when he comes into possession of King Arthur's famed sword, Excalibur—pursued by the secret cabal of knights who have hidden it for centuries. Published by Bloomsbury Children’s Publishing in the U.S. and the U.K., and in fifteen foreign language editions, the series comprised three books: The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp (2005), The Seal of Solomon (2007), and The Thirteenth Skull (2008).

His Highly Effective Detective books (St. Martin’s Press) are humorous whodunits for adult readers, featuring a charming but barely competent private investigator based in Tennessee. That series consists of four titles: The Highly Effective Detective (2006), The Highly Effective Detective Goes to the Dogs (2008), The Highly Effective Detective Plays the Fool (2010), and The Highly Effective Detective Crosses the Line (2011).

By 2010, Yancey had completed the first book in The Monstrumologist series. The tetralogy tells the tale of a 19th-century doctor and his young apprentice, who race around the world chasing—and being chased by—monsters. This highly acclaimed series, published by Simon and Schuster Children’s Books in the U.S. and the U.K, and in eight foreign language editions, comprised four books: The Monstrumologist (2009), The Curse of the Wendigo (2010), The Isle of Blood (2011), and The Final Descent (2013).

The 5th Wave

In 2013, Yancey’s next trilogy kicked off with The 5th Wave, published in the U.S. by Putnam, a division of Penguin Group USA—and published by Puffin in the UK, Laffont in France, Goldmann in Germany, and in more than thirty additional languages around the world. The book, an immediate New York Times Best Seller, follows 16-year-old Cassie Sullivan as she tries to survive in a post-apocalyptic world devastated by the waves of alien invasion. The invasion has already decimated the population and pushed civilization back to the Stone Age. As one of Earth's last survivors, Cassie is left to fend for herself and overcome multiple obstacles to save her brother, Sammy, with the help of a beguiling young man who may not be exactly who he seems.

Sequels

The second book in the series, The Infinite Sea, a New York Times bestseller, was published on September 16, 2014.[2] The last book in the trilogy, entitled The Last Star, was released May 24, 2016.

The 5th Wave (film)

A film based on Yancey’s 2013 novel of same name, The 5th Wave, was released in 2016. Chloë Grace Moretz portrayed Cassie Sullivan, and was joined by Maika Monroe, Alex Roe, Maggie Siff, Liev Schreiber and Nick Robinson. Development of The 5th Wave began in March 2012, when Columbia Pictures picked up the film rights to the trilogy. Filmed in Atlanta, Georgia (amongst other locations), the movie was released in theatres on January 22, 2016. Susannah Grant, Akiva Goldsman, and Jeff Pinkner wrote the screenplay. The film was directed by J Blakeson and produced by Tobey Maguire, Graham King, Lynn Harris, and Matthew Plouffe. The studio partnered with Kernel, an innovative Internet “all access” portal, where fans can buy tickets in advance, get access to behind-the-scenes footage, and obtain exclusive content, plus more.

References

  1. ^ "About". Rick Yancey (rickyancey.com). Retrieved 2015-11-11.
  2. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2014-10-05/young-adult/list.html
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