And the winner is...

The Grand Prize winner of The Hunt For Tomorrow is

Gayle Noble!

Thanks to everyone who participated. We hope you enjoyed The Hunt as much as we did.

The fun, however, is not over.

The progressive story begins this Wednesday. Each day, a chapter will be posted on the blog (http://huntfortomorrow.blogspot.com). All we're starting with is Gayle's title, trope and characters.

The Catastrophe Theory

Technology Catastrophe

Jared, Eve and Cassie

We have no idea where this is going.

20 authors.

1 story.

Begins July 23.

http://huntfortomorrow.blogspot.com

And the winners of my own giveaway are:

First Prize

Katrina Zabarte

Ten Second Prize winners

Kristen Boeglin

Tana Forsythe

Lindsay Galloway

Nikki Harris

Courtney Whisenant

Sara Doyle

Maria D'Angelo

Laura S

Tiffany M Oharriz

Aret Ambert

I'll send you all an email, but anyone who sends me their mailing address will get a temporary tattoo.

Thanks for joining The Hunt, it was a good weekend.

Well Hello, 
It's a fine looking day for a hunt, don't you think?

THE HUNT FOR TOMORROW starts TODAY!
23 authors participating in an on-line Dystopian Scavenger Hunt and progressive story. It's FREE, great prizes. The Hunt opens today, closes on Sunday. Release the hounds!

THE HUNT FOR TOMORROW HAS BEGUN!

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Deborah Rix

Hey! It's my turn to share My Thoughts on Tomorrow. The Hunt is this weekend!

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Deborah Rix: Welcome to Dystopian High I didn’t set out to write a dystopian story, but once I imagined teenagers in a not-too-distant fu...

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Elle Casey

THE HUNT FOR TOMORROW IS NEXT WEEKEND!

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Elle Casey: HAVE YOU WRITTEN IN ANY OTHER GENRES BESIDES YA DYSTOPIAN?  Yes, I have written in Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Romantic Thriller, and Ro...

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Shelbi Wescott

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Shelbi Wescott: After years of writing literary fiction and querying and meeting rejection after rejection, I hadn’t thought of delving into ge...

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Joseph Turkot

THE HUNT FOR TOMORROW - JULY 18-20 - with 23 AUTHORS and 3 BOXED SETS full of DYSTOPIA
#HuntForTomorrow #TomorrowBoxedSet
The Hunt for Tomorrow: Joseph Turkot: Think of a utopia, and in your next breath you imagine a perfect society. Harmony unending. The living ideal. And something inside of us...

The Hunt for Tomorrow: TW Piperbrook

The Hunt for Tomorrow: TW Piperbrook: DID YOU CHOOSE TO SELF-PUBLISH OR GO THE TRADITIONAL ROUTE?  WHY?  Self-publish.  I think the e-book revolution is an amazing thing—it’...

Author ZOE CANNON from the Shattered Worlds boxed set faces some tough Voight-Kampff interview questions. And it's only 16 days until The Hunt!

HOW DO YOU OVERCOME WRITER'S BLOCK?

Writer’s block is just a fancy term for getting stuck. I don’t believe in either glamourizing it or attaching shame to it. They say plumbers don’t get plumber’s block, but I’m sure every plumber has had at least one moment when he can’t figure out how to solve a particularly tricky… block. So I do what anyone does when they’re stuck. I re-evaluate, I brainstorm, I try to look at the issue in a different way. If I’m feeling burned out, I walk away for a day (although that sounds a lot easier than it is). If I’m on a strict deadline, I brute-force my way through it and settle for good-enough.

DO YOU PREFER EBOOKS, PAPERBACKS OR HARDCOVER?

I made the switch to ebooks back in 2009 and haven’t looked back. I love being able to change the formatting to suit my tastes (no more mass-market paperbacks with itty-bitty type!), never needing to worry about running out of reading material, and being able to back up my library in multiple places. And I love being able to buy books instantly, without waiting a week for an Amazon shipment or driving half an hour to the bookstore only to find out the book I want isn’t in stock – although my bank account doesn’t love it so much!

WHEN YOU GO TO SEE A MOVIE, DO YOU TRY TO READ THE BOOK FIRST?

If I’m interested in the story, then I’ll want to read the book because it’s likely to have more to it – movies usually only have room to put in the most essential scenes. And if I’m not interested in the story, why would I want to see the movie? The exception is if it’s a movie recommended by a friend, or if the book is in a genre I know I don’t like. (Or if I don’t know it was based on a book!) But really, the question is all but moot, given how rare it is for me to go see a movie in the first place. I tend to prefer the serial storytelling format of good TV shows.

DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER JOB BESIDES AUTHOR?

Full-time belly-rubber to a very large dog. I get paid in kisses. It’s a pretty good deal.

WHAT ARE YOUR PET PEEVES?

Anti-intellectualism in any form, but especially in stories intended for kids or teens. Is this really what we want to be teaching the next generation – that thinking makes you a nerd and a snob, and that the quest for knowledge is pointless at best and dangerous at worst? I see these attitudes all the time in the books I read, and each time I have to force myself not to throw my Kindle against the wall. If we want a better world, we need to encourage thought, curiosity, and intellectual exploration, not belittle or demonize them.

SLEEP IN OR GET UP EARLY?

I sleep late, but I don’t go to bed until 3am or so. That way I get to take advantage of my brain’s best hours – namely, the hours when the rest of the world is fast asleep.

 IF YOU GAVE ONE OF YOUR CHARACTERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES, WHAT WOULD THEY SAY?

“Let me out, I’m trapped in a book with a sadistic author!”

WHERE DID YOUR TOMORROW SPRING FROM? IN OTHER WORDS, HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE CRAZY WORLD?

I wanted to combine the feeling of contemporary American culture with the feeling of life under real-world totalitarian regimes. In a lot of ways, it looks like contemporary YA – until you realize that the characters are casually discussing the torture and execution of dissidents.

DID YOU DO ANY SPECIFIC OR UNUSUAL RESEARCH FOR THIS BOOK?

I read a lot of memoirs about life under totalitarian regimes past and present. I didn’t realize just how many until I had a conversation with my husband that began something like: “I thought I had read Resistance before, until I realized I was confusing it with Outwitting the Gestapo, which I had been confusing with Inside the Gestapo…”

GIVE YOUR BOOK THE BECHDEL TEST

1.      IT HAS TO HAVE AT LEAST TWO (NAMED) WOMEN IN IT

2.      WHO TALK TO EACH OTHER

3.      ABOUT SOMETHING BESIDES A MAN

My book easily passes the Bechdel test. However, it does not have two named male characters who talk to each other about something besides a woman.

WHAT SORT OF BODY COUNT ARE WE TALKING HERE?

We’re still talking about the first book, right? Only three. Now, by the time we get to the third book, the bodies are piling up by the dozens.

DO YOU WANT YOUR TOMORROW TO MAKE IT BIG, AS IN JK ROWLINGS-BIG? WHY OR WHY NOT?

I certainly wouldn’t complain! But I don’t think it’s likely, and I’m fine with that. I’m writing for a niche audience; I knew that when I started the book. I don’t think there are that many readers out there looking for philosophical dystopias that feel like contemporary YA and deal more with ordinary life than extraordinary heroics – I know because I’m one of them, and if people were clamoring for these books then surely I would be able to find more of them to read! But who knows, the world may surprise me.

QUOTE A CHARACTER, ANY CHARACTER.

“Living by your principles will always be the harder path. But you have to do it anyway. You have to do what’s right no matter how hard it gets, or one day you’ll find out you’ve become somebody you can’t live with.” – Raleigh Dalcourt (the torturer referenced in the title of The Torturer’s Daughter)

Alright Folks, it's 19 days and counting until The Hunt For Tomorrow. From the WHAT TOMORROW BY BRING boxed set is author Joseph Turkot's essay on Dystopian Fiction. Enjoy.

Dystopia, by Joseph Turkot
Think of a utopia, and in your next breath you imagine a perfect society. Harmony unending. The living ideal. And something inside of us says we can never reach such a place by our own efforts. Any attempt at perfection falls short, by whatever degree.
Think of a dystopia, and in your next breath you imagine the worst mankind has to offer—or more terrifying yet—the worst that will still come.
It is within the compromise of both these extremes that we find the dystopian novel. Some kind of hope for progress, contrasted against a great decadence, whether it be man’s own doing, or the nature he is formed from.
It is in such a struggle that our two friends find themselves. They are to each other more than they know, but a catastrophe that has ravaged the old progresses of civilization forces them to find out how much more, and what left of humanity remains alive in them.What does it mean to persevere? To possess resilience? To combat the loss of one’s own values? These are the kinds of questions I am interested in. These are the kinds of questions that Tanner and Russell face.
If everything we suppose to be good about our humanity slowly starts to decay, merely because it has to, what do we throw away first? What do we decide to take with us to our graves?
Some dystopian stories work upon the fantastical, and for that effort, produce a sense of wonder and awe. Some work upon the mundane realities of normal events, but push them so consistently that endurance itself is the last and only virtue. The Rain is a story about endurance in a dystopian world, where nature isn’t the reliable nurturer we egotistically assume it to be. Something awful has happened, and endless rain has drowned most of what was once called civilization and humanity. Russell says it’s the veneer. And he believes there is a place where it’s still thick. A place where it’s stopped raining. But as in all dystopian stories, weakness works ruthlessly upon the characters thrown into such dire hopes, and utopian fantasies are often never what they seem.
I wrote this story as an exploration of the human spirit, and its willingness to find some kind of negative capability within the compromise of two ideals—the utopian and the dystopian—the very reflection of which has more to say about our own society than we might have ever imagined possible.

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Shalini Boland

The Hunt for Tomorrow, a dystopian scavenger hunt hosted by 23 authors from 3 boxed sets.  Author Shalini Boland from the Shattered Worlds boxed set submits to the Voight-Kampff interview. #huntfortomorrow
Wait. You do remember Bladerunner...
Leon: Do you make up these questions, Mr. Holden, or do they write them down for you?
Mr. Holden: They’re just questions, Leon.
Subject: Kowalski, Leon

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Shalini Boland: HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START AS AN AUTHOR? I used to be a singer/songwriter, but after having kids I found writing novels fit in bette...

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Saul Tanpepper

23 Authors, 3 Boxed Sets, 1 Massive Event. On-Line Dystopian Scavenger Hunt July 18-20. From A TASTE OF TOMORROW boxed set here is author Saul Tanpepper on the Voight-Kampff hotseat.
#huntfortomorrow
The Hunt for Tomorrow: Saul Tanpepper: HAVE YOU WRITTEN IN ANY OTHER GENRES BESIDES YA DYSTOPIAN?  WHAT DREW YOU TO THIS GENRE? I actually got serious about writing in 2005,...

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Sarah Dalton

Today's VOIGHT-KAMPFF comes from Sarah Dalton, author of The Blemished series and one of the 23 authors participating in THE HUNT FOR TOMORROW

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Sarah Dalton: HAVE YOU WRITTEN IN ANY OTHER GENRES BESIDES YA DYSTOPIAN?  WHAT DREW YOU TO THIS GENRE? Yeah, I’m a genre hopper. I usually write YA, ...

The ongoing series of Voight-Kampff interviews with authors from the YA Dystopian Boxed Set WHAT TOMORROW MAY BRING.

DAVID ESTES, author of MOONDWELLERS
HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START AS AN AUTHOR?
Honestly, I’m still trying to figure that out myself! I’m a normal guy, who was working in a normal, boring job as an accountant, and then four years later I’m a fulltime author. My parents think I’m crazy and keep asking “whether I’ll go back to my accounting job.” They don’t say “real job” although I suspect that’s what they mean.
It all started when my lovely Aussie wife, Adele, got tired of hearing me talk about how I wanted to write a book someday. She said, “Then just write one and quit talking about it!” So I did, and I’m so glad I took her wise advice. I’m since written another 17 books, 14 of which I’ve published. The Moon Dwellers, which was my 4th book, is the one that eventually started reaching significant sales so that I could become a fulltime author, a dream come true!

IS THERE AN AUTHOR THAT YOU WOULD REALLY LIKE TO MEET?
Dean Koontz! Although there are many authors who I love, Koontz is my all-time idol. He’s a magician with words and I love how he can be so funny (who doesn’t love Odd Thomas?) during some of the scariest parts of his books.

WHERE WERE YOU BORN AND WHERE DO YOU CALL HOME? WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE?
I was born in El Paso, Texas, but grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Work brought me to Australia where I met my wife. However, after I started writing full time, we decided to travel the world for two years!! It was the trip of a lifetime, but it eventually had to come to an end. We decided to settle in our dream location, Hawaii. My advice to anyone who dreams about living somewhere: live there! This life is too short to not chase after our dreams J

DO YOU EVER WRITE IN YOUR PJ’S?
I think the better question is: Do you ever NOT write in your PJs? The answer to that would be “No.”

WHERE AND WHEN DO YOU PREFER TO DO YOUR WRITING?
In the morning…in bed. I basically wake up, blink a few times, eat a bowl of cereal, drink a cup of coffee, and then write for three to four hours. I do that pretty much every day, which allows me to hit my 3,000 words-a-day goal and write and publish a book every 2-3 months.

DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER JOB BESIDES AUTHOR?
For my first two years as an author, I worked as an operational risk manager *yawn* for an investment manager. Before that, I was an accountant *bigger yawn*. But now, thanks to my incredible readers that are supporting me (18,000 books sold in the last year!) I’m just an author *cheers*.

COFFEE OR TEA?
Coffee—coffee—did someone say coffee? (said with eyes wide open and unable to blink)

SLEEP IN OR GET UP EARLY?
In between. I like the best of both worlds. I don’t have to get up before 7am like I used to when I worked in an office, but I still like to wake up slowly from 8-8:30am and then start writing by 9am.

ARE OUR ELECTRONIC DEVICES STEALING OUR SOUL? AND IF SO, DO YOU MAKE OFFERINGS TO YOUR TOASTER?
Stealing implies they’re in the process of taking our souls. I think “have stolen” would be a better way of putting it, as mine is long gone to my iPhone. But I also do daily ritualistic sacrifices in the form of frozen strawberries, frozen kale, and bananas to my NutriBullet. They’re the tastiest ritualistic sacrifices I’ve ever heard of.

IF YOU COULD BE ANY FAMOUS PERSON FOR A DAY, HOW MANY PAPPARAZZI WOULD YOU KILL?
None! I would, however, nicely ask them to only take shots of my left side—it’s my good side.

WHY DIDN'T HURLEY LOSE ANY WEIGHT WHILE ON THE ISLAND?
Finally, an important question! I’m a huge Lost fan, so this question is near and dear to me heart. The most logical explanation is that the giant magnet caused a whirling vortex of metabolism-neutrality which led to zero changes in his exceptional body weight. It’s either that or he was sneaking all the bananas at night when everyone was sleeping.

HOW IMPORTANT ARE NAMES TO YOU IN THE MOON DWELLERS. DID YOU CHOOSE THEM BASED ON SOUND OR MEANING?
Very important! Well sort, of. They’re just names and don’t carry any more weight than that; however, I’m a firm believer that names aren’t random labels and they need to be right for each and every character. My main character is named Adele, after my wife, not because she’s anything like my wife, but because it’s just the right name for her. Another supporting character is named Roc, which seemed perfect when we were in a store and I saw the Roc beauty products.

WHERE DID THE MOON DWELLERS SPRING FROM? IN OTHER WORDS, HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE CRAZY WORLD?
I really wanted to write a dystopian series, but I wanted it to be very different than all the other ones. Setting is always a key ingredient in a dystopian book, so I asked the question “What would happen if everyone had to liver underground?” And then I asked the question “But what if not everyone was able to fit underground?” So essentially The Dwellers Saga follows what happens underground while the Country Saga tracks the adventures of the people still living aboveground. In the 7th book in the combined series, The Earth Dwellers, the two worlds collide.

JUST HOW FAR IN THE FUTURE IS THE MOON DWELLERS?
Almost 500 years.

IS THERE ANY SUPER-COOL FUTURISTIC TECHNOLOGY/WEAPONRY IN YOUR TOMORROW?
Not really weapons so much, but definitely some cool technology. A lot of it is required for survival as the people living underground have no sunlight. So they’ve created an artificial sun that can be used to grow food.

GIVE US THE WEATHER FORECAST FOR THE MOON DWELLERS.
No sunlight, no rain, a chance of bats flying overhead, and watch out for falling stalactites.

WHAT SORT OF BODY COUNT ARE WE TALKING HERE?
In the first book it’s somewhere in the fifty to one hundred range, with only one hero and one villain dying spectacular deaths. However, as the 7-book series goes on, there are thousands of deaths, and many main characters. No one is safe!

THE MOON DWELLERS GETS MADE INTO A MOVIE. WHO DO YOU TAKE TO THE PREMIERE AND WHO DO YOU SIT BY?
My wife and my wife. Although I’d likely invite my agent to come, too, as she’d be the one making the movie deal!

DO YOU WANT THE MOON DWELLERS TO MAKE IT BIG, AS IN JK ROWLINGS-BIG? WHY OR WHY NOT?
Umm….yes! It’s my dream to have my books read all over the world, and for them to be in bookstores and libraries worldwide. Why? Because I love sharing my stories with as many people as possible!

YOUR MAIN CHARACTER VS BATMAN, WHO WOULD WIN?
Adele is pretty kickass, but Batman’s got mad skills and he’s used to the dark. So I’d say Batman.

IF THERE IS TEOTWAWKI IN YOUR TOMORROW, WHAT CAUSED IT?
DISEASE
ALIENS
MONSTERS&ZOMBIES
WAR/GNH (GLOBAL NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST)
THE SUN
IMPACT EVENT It was a giant meteor. Sometimes it sucks to be human.
ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE
SUPERNATURAL/RELIGIOUS
HUMAN DECLINE/MODERN DARK AGE
TECHNOLOGY/CYBERNETIC REVOLT
OTHER
ALL OF THE ABOVE

ON A SCALE OF 1-5 WHAT WOULD YOUR BOOK GET FOR THESE ACTUAL MPAA RATING DESCRIPTIONS?
VIOLENCE 5
LANGUAGE 2
DRUG USE 1
SEXUAL CONTENT 1
NON-STOP NINJA ACTION 5
MILD PERIL 5
SALTY LANGUAGE AND INNUENDOS 1
JUNGLE ADVENTURE TERROR 1
BRUTAL AND BLOODY VIKING COMBAT 2
COMIC HORROR, VIOLENCE AND GROSSNESS 2
SWASHBUCKLING ACTION 3
ABUNDANCE OF OUTRAGEOUS GORE 1
SEXY DANCING 1
INTENSE SEQUENCES OF BAT ATTACKS 3
DEMENTED MAYHEM 3
SCENES OF DENTAL TORTURE 1

Susan Kaye Quinn, Speculative Fiction Author: What Tomorrow May Bring - Interview of SKQ About.....

Susan Kaye Quinn, Speculative Fiction Author: What Tomorrow May Bring - Interview of SKQ About.....: So, this fun interview comes courtesy of the  What Tomorrow May Bring Box Set, which includes Open Minds . Only $2.99 for 11 ...

Bladerunner
Leon: Do you make up these questions, Mr. Holden, or do they write them down for you?
Mr. Holden: They’re just questions, Leon.
Subject: Kowalski, Leon


The VOIGHT-KAMPFF Interview with DEBORAH RIX

One in a series from the authors in the YA Dystopian Boxed Set WHAT TOMORROW MAY BRING.

WHAT IS THE FIRST SCIENCE FICTION BOOK YOU REMEMBER READING?
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. I’m sure I read others first, but that’s the one that stuck with me. As it turns out, I wrote along similar themes to Miller, although my faith lies with science while his was in the Church.
WHAT BOOK WOULD YOU LIKE TO READ AGAIN?
Neuromancer, by William Gibson. It changed science fiction for me, completely. There seemed to be an abundance of epic space fantasy at the time I first read it. Other worlds, other species, other times. Neuromancer was ten minutes into the future and it was exciting. I once stood in a very long line at my favourite SF bookstore to get Gibson to sign my copy. I was the only girl.
WHAT BOOKS HAVE INFLUENCED YOUR WRITING?
From a technical perspective there are two: How Not To Write A Novel, by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman, and Elements of Fiction Writing by Orson Scott Card. There are others, but those are the two with all the dog ears and sticky notes.
LAPTOP OR DESKTOP FOR WRITING?
Laptop. I like to move around the house, depending upon my mood. But, in the near future, I’m hoping to get an actual writing space that is ALL mine. With a door.
DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER JOB BESIDES AUTHOR?
I have a general store/café called The Lucky Penny, it’s a neighbourhood joint on Trinity-Bellwoods Park in Toronto. It was a long and tortuous process to redevelop the property and open the shop, and ultimately was the catalyst for my writing. I was so frustrated by the process over which I had no control, that I was compelled to create fictional characters so someone would do what I wanted them to do, when I wanted it done.
JUST HOW FAR IN THE FUTURE IS YOUR TOMORROW?
It is one hundred years in the future. I chose that because I knew what one hundred years ago was like and could measure societal changes and how fast they happened. Some changes were revolutionary while other things remain almost unchanged. The rise and fall of dictatorships, for instance, can happen overnight, last sixty years, and fall apart in a matter of days. It was less than six months between the time Hitler became Chancellor and the Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring was passed, so I knew my theocracy with its Genetic Integrity Act was plausible. But our weaponry, while more sophisticated and lethal, is not so completely different from WWI, so I didn’t feel compelled to create any technological wonders. Everything I imagined is an extrapolation of today while using a century ago as a reference point.
DID YOU DO ANY SPECIFIC OR UNUSUAL RESEARCH FOR THIS BOOK?
I spent a day with a Marine Sergeant at the 29 Palms marine base in California and I communicated with an amateur radio enthusiast and satellite specialist who was on a submarine with the Canadian Navy. I talked with a Hydro-electric Engineer until my phone went dead and then continued on a land line for another few hours. My ear hurt, but it was worth it. I spoke with an expert on Roma culture, a room service waiter at Caesars Palace who’d been there about thirty years and knew all the secret passages, and a country-singing cattle rancher from Alberta.
IS THERE A PARTICULAR AREA OF SCIENCE OR SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLE THAT IS A PLOT FOCUS?
The trilogy is called The Laws of Motion, and each book and title reflects one of Newton’s three laws: External Forces, Acceleration, and Opposition. I based much of what happens on current scientific theory, using my imagination to extrapolate. Genetics plays a big part, both in humans and the environment. Also, Astronomy, theories about time, and Einstein’s Law of Special Relativity come in to play. Plus, I made some stuff up.
ARE ANY OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS FROM THE LGBT (LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER) COMMUNITY.
Yes, yes there are. Two of the main group of characters are gay and in a relationship, one of whom is the main character’s best friend. But not the gay best friend. The best friend who is a pilot, has blond hair, is funny and sarcastic, and gay.
GIVE YOUR BOOK THE BECHDEL TEST
1. IT HAS TO HAVE AT LEAST TWO (NAMED) WOMEN IN IT
2. WHO TALK TO EACH OTHER
3. ABOUT SOMETHING BESIDES A MAN

My book aces this test, didn’t even need to study for it.
PICK ONE OF YOUR CHARACTERS AND APPLY THE SIX DEGREES OF KEVIN BACON. GO!
1. Jess Grant’s boyfriend is Matt Anderson a Special Forces Sergeant.
2. Matt’s squad also includes Sheree LaSalle, a trained military sniper.
3. Sheree and the squad are located on a base that is a fictional version of Fort Huachuca which was also the setting for the film Clear and Present Danger starring Harrison Ford.
4. Harrison Ford starred in Clear and Present Danger with Tim Robbins.
5. Tim Robbins was in the movie Top Gun with Tom Cruise
6. Tom Cruise was in the film A Few Good Men, about the trial of U.S. Marines, with Kevin Bacon.
YOUR MAIN CHARACTER VS BATMAN, WHO WOULD WIN?
Usually, Batman. I mean, c’mon, he’s Batman. But a certain genetic mutation could give my girl the edge.
WHAT FIVE SONGS/ARTISTS WOULD FEATURE ON THE SOUNDTRACK OF YOUR TOMORROW?
Green Day – Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Foster The People – Pumped Up Kicks
Iggy Pop – Lust For Life
Wild Feathers – Got It Wrong
Johnny Cash & Joe Strummer – Redemption Song (orig. Bob Marley)
THE HUNT. IT COMES. JULY 18-20  THE HUNT FOR TOMORROW

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Shelbi Wescott

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Shelbi Wescott: WHAT IS THE FIRST SCIENCE FICTION BOOK YOU REMEMBER READING? I remember reading  The Boy Who Reversed Himself  by William Sleator in 1...

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Megan Thomason

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Megan Thomason: I'm a huge fan of the dystopian genre and love to spend a lot of time thinking about societal extremes. The themes in daynight ,...

Leon: Do you make up these questions, Mr. Holden, or do they write them down for you?

Mr. Holden: They're just questions, Leon.

-Bladerunner

WHAT TOMORROW MAY BRING, the YA Dystopian boxed set, features 11 authors. 

We gave them all the Voight-Kampff Interview.

It's Joseph Turkot's turn this week. Here's his first question. For the full interview go here:

Joseph Turkot gets asked some questions.

HAVE YOU WRITTEN IN ANY OTHER GENRES BESIDES YA DYSTOPIAN? WHAT DREW YOU TO THIS GENRE?
I started in fantasy, rather epic, Shakespearean fantasy: Darkin. The sequel, Darkin 2, was toned down (as far as its Shakespearean-sounding language), but still retained some of it. It definitely became more readable. After the second book, I moved into horror for a brief spell, writing a couple short stories. From there, I jumped again, publishing a serial novel called Black Hull. This was a fun ride through time and space for me, and a chance to work on terse language. Something I wanted to get good at. Some say I did this too well, and they wanted more description. In either case, I jumped again, going into writing a YA mystery novel called Neighborhood Watch about a serial murderer. This was a blast to write. I felt like I was reliving parts of my own childhood because the setting was so similar. And then, yes, finally, I arrived at the post-apocalyptic, or dystopian world of The Rain. I’ve always been attracted to dystopian literature, maybe because I see so much of the real world in there. It’s not all far-fetched and impossible to me. Okay, maybe The Rain is. But some of the stuff, like 1984, or Oryx and Crake, seem pretty possible. And so I see the cautionary tale thing writ in all its glory within the framework of those stories. And although the setting in The Rain is maybe not as believable in my story, it still provides a place for the characters to think about some aspects of humanity that might otherwise be overlooked or seen as ordinary. I’m all about examining beliefs with an open, malleable mind.

THE HUNT FOR TOMORROW is coming...   Are you ready?

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Susan Kaye Quinn

The Hunt for Tomorrow: Susan Kaye Quinn: Dystopias - Forging Hope for Humanity I’ve always read dystopian novels, although I simply thought of them as “science fiction.” ...

Jenni Merritt author of PRISON NATION from WHAT TOMORROW MAY BRING The YA Dystopian Boxed Set.

We, as such beautifully imperfect creatures, crave perfection.  We long for that perfect existence where everything is ideal and fair and safe.  So we try.  We create laws.  We enforce rules.  We embrace change, fight change, dream of change.  Then, when the bad things still happen, we question everything.  Can we make utopia?  Who knows if the answer will ever be found.  That is why we create dystopian stories.  To read, work out, understand and even enjoy the idea of society gone wrong.  Perfection would be too boring.  We need imperfection to fight, to live, to learn and grow.  

Dystopians are not only about society gone wrong.  They are about the people living in that society who choose to stand up and do something about their existence.  They are beautiful.  And imperfect.  Some fight and fail.  Others rise to the top and succeed.  And in the end, we all learn that even at its worse, life is worth living.  That is a dystopian.  And I love it.

PRISON NATION was inspired from one little moment that grew into an entire world.  Many say this story is frightening in the sense that so much of it is already happening.  Laws are intense and getting more strict every day.  Prisons are overfilled and growing.  We fear we have all lost control.  In PRISON NATION, that is the world.  Prisons and control and laws, all the way to the point that children are raised behind bars and freedom is just a dream.  So what would you do?  How would you survive in a world where near everything is illegal?  From an inspiration to a project to a debut novel, PRISON NATION is a journey I fell in love with every word of the way.  I hope you do too.

Get more info on all the books in the boxed set The Hunt For Tomorrow