Marcus Sakey is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and host of the Travel Channel show ''Hidden City''.

Personal life

Sakey was born in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

, and after marriage he settled in Chicago. Before becoming a writer, Sakey used to run a graphic design company, Hingepoint Productions, in Atlanta. Mr. Sakey attended the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

1992–1996 with a double major in communication and political science. He also attended

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1890, it has 5,928https://about.colum.edu/effectiveness/pdf/spring-2021-student-profile.pdf students pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergra ...

for approximately one year in an MFA program with a focus in

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

Career

Sakey writes crime novels set in the blue collar world of the south side of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. To conduct research for his plots, he has shadowed homicide detectives, gang cops, and interviewed soldiers. His

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, ''The Blade Itself'', was featured as a ''New York Times'' Editor's Pick and named one of ''Esquire'' Magazine's 5 Best Reads of 2007.

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educationa ...

bought the film rights to ''The Blade Itself'' in 2008 for his production company. The film rights to his second and third novels, ''Good People'' and ''At the City’s Edge'', have also been bought. In March 2013, Sakey sold the screen rights to his then-forthcoming science fiction thriller ''Brilliance'' to

Legendary Pictures Legendary Pictures Productions, LLC (doing business as Legendary Entertainment or simply Legendary) is an American film production and mass media company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull in 2000. The company has collaborated ...

for $1.25 million. The novel was published in July 2013, and as of March 2017 had sold over 1 million copies. A potential film adaptation had

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...

attached to star,

David Koepp David Koepp (; born June 9, 1963) is an American filmmaker. Koepp is the ninth most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a total gross of over $2.3 billion. Koepp has achieved both critical and commercial ...

to write, and

Joe Roth Joseph Emanuel Roth is an American film executive, producer and director. He co-founded Morgan Creek Productions in 1988 and was chairman of 20th Century Fox (1989–1993), Caravan Pictures (1993–1994), and Walt Disney Studios (1994–200 ...

to produce, but never made it out of development. The rights reverted to Sakey, who wrote the sequels ''A Better World'' (2014) and ''Written in Fire'' (2016). Sakey has licensed the ''Brilliance'' franchise to

Kindle Worlds Kindle Worlds was a publisher service of the online retailer Amazon, devoted to providing a commercial venue for fan fiction creations of specific licensed media properties. It was established on May 22, 2013, as part of Amazon Publishing. In Augu ...

, a commercial venue for

fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF) is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, settin ...

, as ''The Abnorm Chronicles''. Works written by other authors but set in the ''Brilliance'' continuity include ''Twist'' by

Kevin J. Anderson Kevin James Anderson (born March 27, 1962) is an American science fiction author. He has written spin-off novels for ''Star Wars'', ''StarCraft'', ''Titan A.E.'' and ''The X-Files literature#Novels, The X-Files'', and with Brian Herbert is the ...

. In March 2017, Sakey sold the screen rights to another forthcoming sci-fi novel, ''Afterlife'', to

Imagine Entertainment Imagine Entertainment (formerly Imagine Films Entertainment), also known simply as Imagine, is an American film and television production company founded in November 1985 by producer Brian Grazer and director Ron Howard. Background Brian Graz ...

. The novel was published in July 2017. Sakey has been contracted to write the screenplay for the film adaptation, which will be produced by

Brian Grazer Brian Thomas Grazer (born July 12, 1951) is an American film and television producer and writer. He founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. The films they produced have grossed over $15 billion. Grazer was personally nominated f ...

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...

, Erica Huggins, and

Shane Salerno Shane Salerno (born November 27, 1972) is an American screenwriter, producer, and Chief Creative Officer of The Story Factory. His writing credits include the films '' Avatar: The Way of Water'', ''Armageddon'', '' Savages,'' '' Shaft'', and the ...

Bibliography

* '' The Blade Itself'' (2007) * ''Good People'' (2009) * ''At the City's Edge'' (2009) * ''The Amateurs'' (2009) * ''The Desert here and the Desert Far Away'' (2010) * ''No One'' (2010) * ''Gravity and Need'' (2010) * ''The Days Where You Were Anything Else'' (2010) * ''As Breathing'' (2010) * ''No Turning Back'' (2011) * ''Scar Tissue: Seven Stories of Love and Wounds'' (2012) * ''The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes'' (2012) * ''Brilliance'' trilogy: ** ''Brilliance'' (2013) ** ''A Better World'' (2014) ** ''Written in Fire'' (2016) * ''Afterlife'' (2017)

External links

Autism, Bourbon and Lies: Inspiring ''The Brilliance Saga''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakey, Marcus 21st-century American novelists American crime fiction writers American male novelists Living people Writers from Flint, Michigan Writers from Chicago Novelists from Michigan University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Illinois Year of birth missing (living people) Columbia College Chicago alumni