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Audio Length: 20 minutes Free to Fall
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Free to Fall
Lauren Miller |
The year is 2030. Apple and Google have long since been replaced by Lux, the decision-making app which “guarantees happiness,” monopolizes the technology market, and pervades the minds of its users. FREE TO FALL (HarperTeen/Harper Collins). Lauren Miller’s second novel, probes society’s increasing reliance on technology and explores what we might expect in the not so distant future. In this audio interview, Lauren talks about her decision to write the book, the interplay between destiny and decision, the nature of happiness, and the importance of hearing what she calls the “whisper within.” In FREE TO FALL, everyone in sixteen-year-old Rory Vaughn’s world relies on Lux to dictate what coffee to order, who to hang out with, where to go to school, and what career path to take. As an avid Lux user herself, Rory trusts the interface to make her every decision, including accepting her invitation to attend the country’s most prestigious boarding school, Theden Academy. But life on campus is not as idyllic as Lux suggests. Soon after her arrival, Rory finds herself at odds with an antagonistic professor and entangled in secret society challenges, all while dealing with a very difficult – and secretive – roommate. Then, there’s North: a rebellious anti-Lux admirer who offers a maverick way of life. Soon, Rory is overriding Lux’s directions, listening instead to “the Doubt,” the dangerous inner voice everyone has been taught to ignore. But as the Doubt draws her farther away from Lux, she gets closer to the truth of her own family ties with Theden—and deep into the throes of the world’s most dangerous influencers. Engrossing, suspenseful, and surprising, FREE TO FALL imagines where our reliance on technology may be taking us and the cost of being content with the status quo. And at the same time, it’s a universal story of a young girl in the midst of all the changes that come with growing up, who is learning to make her own decisions and face the outcomes of those choices. “The society’s dependence upon technology is enthralling, and terrifyingly realistic. Though Rory is slow to awaken to the realities of her carefully designed world, readers will be quick to fall in love with her. A fast-paced plot, an addictive, technology-driven world and fantastic characters make this one of the best reads of 2014 so far.” ~RT Reviews “Engaging and thought-provoking, Free to Fall should appeal to a variety of readers with its blend of action, secrecy, and romance.” ~School Library Journal, starred review “Recognizable characters and intriguing technology shine in this cautionary tale.” ~Kirkus Reviews ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lauren Miller grew up in Atlanta, went to college at Yale and law school at Berkeley. She is a television writer and entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband and two children. Miller’s debut was the acclaimed “sci-chic” novel, Parallel, which Seventeen called “crazy addictive” and New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz praised as “deeply romantic and entertaining!” Learn more at laurenmillerwrites.com and follow her on Twitter @LMillerWrites. |
Fate and Free Will Clash in Lauren Miller’s New Novel-2014
