Of course, in my story, one unauthorized child slips through the system’s cracks and becomes #1 on the Most Wanted List. SLIP is about a futuristic society where population is tightly controlled, so that someone must die before another can be born, keeping the population neutral at all times. The two books featured above are two of my more recent ones. Tell us a bit about SLIP and STRINGS, what inspired you to write this “Pinocchio” story? As I always say, I make up crap for a living, and then people pay me for it! Now here I am five years later making a fulltime living writing Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. I am a lucky man, indeed, having left a ten-year career as an accountant and then operational risk officer to pursue my dreams of being an author. They are my world, everything else comes after.

My family comes first: my beautiful Aussie wife, Adele, my 4-month-old baby boy, Beau, and my naughty cat, Bailey. Young Siena is spunky and believable, and readers will pull for her to escape the clutches of her father and the dystopian society in which she lives.Thanks very much for having me! I am a husband, father, writer, and reader, in that order.

“Strong world building and vivid characters make Fire Country stand out from other post-apocalyptic YA novels.

You should too!' -Emmy Laybourne, bestselling author of Monument 14 You will root for the protagonist, Siena, and her story will rake you across the coals. Readers who enjoyed Blood Red Road by Moira Young will absolutely love this book!' -Mike Mullin, bestselling author of Ashfall 'Exciting post-apocalyptic tale … world building is rich, detailed, and believable. They are known to kidnap Youngling girls before the Call, the ceremony in which Bearers are given a husband with whom to bear children with.Īs the desert sands run out on her life's hourglass, Siena must uncover the truth about the Wild Ones while untangling the web of lies and deceit her father has masterfully spun. It is their duty as Bearers.įifteen-year-old Siena is a Youngling, soon to be a Bearer, when she starts hearing rumors of another tribe of all women, called the Wild Ones. In a changed world where the sky bleeds red, winter is hotter than hell and full of sandstorms, and summer's even hotter with raging fires that roam the desert-like country, the Heaters manage to survive, barely.ĭue to toxic air, life expectancies are so low that the only way the tribe can survive is by forcing women to procreate when they turn sixteen and every three years thereafter.

Fire Country by David Estes