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Successful Aggie Sci-Fi Author Comes Home to Talk about Writing & New Apple TV+ Series

New York Times bestselling author Martha Wells ’86 returned to her Aggie roots in March to read excerpts from her science fiction series “The Murderbot Diaries” and talk about her career as an author.

A packed house at Texas A&M University’s Cushing Memorial Library & Archives listened to stories about Wells’ book series, which is being developed into an Apple TV+ streaming series expected to premiere in 2025. Emmy award-winning actor Alexander Skarsgård will star in the 10-episode series, based on Wells’ award-winning books about a self-hacking security android who completes dangerous assignments while constantly exasperated by the humans it is employed to protect. 

Filming for the series, delayed by a 2023 actors’ strike, started the week Wells visited Cushing to talk with her fans in March and wrapped up in June. Wells is excited about the prospect of turning the books into a series. She received the first phone call about the prospect in 2021.

“It’s been a long journey,” Wells said. “It’s still kind of hard for me to believe it.”

The book series’ journey began as a “short story with a sad ending.” That short story blossomed into an epic tale that has so far spanned seven books in six years. The series has also been translated into 30 languages. 

Her books have a worldwide reach, but it was refreshing for Wells to be home.

The audience included Mary Lewis ’83 and Gordon Lewis ’83, who proudly attended the talk for their former classmate. They said they’re always excited to see Wells books in bookstores and have many of them in their collection. 

After Wells’ talk, Mary reminisced about her undergraduate days with Gordon and Wells as members of Cepheid Variable, an Aggie science fiction, fantasy, horror, science and technology student organization. “We congregated together like family,” she said. 

Wells chaired the 17th annual AggieCon, the oldest sci-fi, horror and fantasy student-run fan convention. The club also gathered for smaller events like weekly sci-fi movie-watching nights and writing sessions that the Lewises think might have helped inspire Wells’ writing career. 

“We’d have what we’d call paragraph parties,” Mary said. “Somebody would have a typewriter set up, and somebody would sit down and write the first paragraph. Then, somebody would come in with something completely off the wall, and then by the end of the night, you had to try to tie all these storylines together. That was part of the fun. We had this planet doing this thing, and another planet doing this thing, and we had to figure out a way to combine the stories.”

Gordon, who chaired the 15th AggieCon, said author panels offered Wells and others a chance to hear from published sci-fi writers and artists. He said it was an excellent opportunity for someone interested in becoming a writer. 

Wells used her time speaking at the March Cushing event to advise future writers. She told the crowd she grew as a writer as an anthropology major at Texas A&M by learning how cultures work together. She said her degree program also helped her see how small details fit into the larger picture. 

“I wanted to be an author from really early on when I was a kid, but I didn’t know how to do it,” Wells said. 

She entered the working world in the technology industry by designing databases, working with software and in computer support. She said that path helped immensely with developing background knowledge for the Murderbot Diaries. After holding other non-writing positions until 2006 to support her family, Wells concentrated on her writing career — what she called a long, arduous journey. She called writing “a calling.” Her perseverance led to honors as a New York Times bestselling author, including multiple Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards

“A lot of people think if you publish one novel, you’ll sell more, and your career is made,” Wells said. “But no. You have to work just as hard to sell the next novel every single time.”

Wells’ visit to Texas A&M was made possible by the Texas A&M Foundation and Dr. Lisa “Diane” Hurtado ’88 and Dr. John E. Hurtado ’91.

Diane, who described herself as a “fangirl” of Wells’ work, told the audience that Wells has made the university proud with her highly acclaimed novels and other successful writing projects. 

“When I came to Texas A&M as a serious science fiction fan, I was excited to find others who felt the same way,” Diane said. “It’s where I was comfortable.”

Following the reading, Julie Mosbo Ballestro, university librarian and assistant provost, delighted attendees by revealing that anonymous donors established the Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Collection Endowment. This endowment — the first of its kind at Cushing — will support a range of sci-fi and fantasy initiatives, including acquisitions, speaker events, exhibitions, and research. The collection includes, among other materials, Wells’ own literary archives, further enriching Texas A&M’s commitment to this vibrant genre.