Jason Segel is scary. Again.
The actor and co-author Kirsten Miller have signed to write the YA trilogy Otherworld, publisher Delacorte Press, an imprint at Random House, has announced.
In the story, geeky teen gamer Simon gets a chance to test a new set of virtual-reality goggles, but when his friend disappears into that cyber world, it no longer is a game. Delacorte describes it as “a heart-stopping quest through a Tolkienesque virtual-reality world” with appeal to fans of Lev Grossman and James Dashner.
Segel says the success of the middle-grade series Nightmares!, which landed on the New York Times best-seller list, inspired the new series. “Connecting with the readers of the Nightmares! series at events has been a truly special experience for me, and I am incredibly excited to have the opportunity to keep writing stories for these readers, and to grow with them into young adult with Otherworld,” he says.
Nightmares!, which focuses on a group of kids trying to save their town from fear which appears in the form of creatures from people’s nightmares, saw the second book in the series, The Sleepwalker Tonic, published in September. The final book in the trilogy, The Lost Lullaby, arrives in September 2016.
Segel, known for his nine-season turn as Marshall on How I Met Your Mother and before that as Nick Annapolis on the cult classic Freaks and Geeks, has been making waves recently with his portrayal of David Foster Wallace in James Ponsoldt’s The End of the Tour. He nabbed an Independent Spirit Awards best male lead nomination (as well as noms from the Chicago, Indiana and San Diego film critics’ associations).
Miler is a best-selling author in her own right, having written the Kiki Strike and Eternal Ones YA series.
Beverly Horowitz, vp and publisher, acquired the series for Delacorte. Segel was repped by WME, Abrams Entertainment and Sloane Offer Weber & Dern LLP
