Introducing DEMENTION! A dark and dystopian blogging adventure

by Teri Terry, Julienne Durber and Julie Bertagna

To celebrate the launch of Demention, there is an amazing giveaway, open until May 6! Each of us will nominate a favourite book to include, plus a few of our own. Read on to find out more…

Note: this competition is now closed. Winners are posted below! But please read on....

What is Demention?

A group blog by authors who share a love of the weird and wonderful, the dark, the dystopian. Alternative fiction and all things between. We'd love this blog to be a place for readers, writers and bloggers - all ages, aspiring or established - to share their love of these kinds of stories, post news and reviews, and make Demention an exciting space where ideas and debates can spark and inspire! 
Guest bloggers are welcome; apply here.

Who is Demention?

Teri Terry

Hi! This is me: and there is more on my page. I’m the author of Slated, the first of three futuristic thrillers out in the UK on the 3rd May with Orchard Books, and in early 2013 with Nancy Paulsen Books in the US and Canada.

I got the idea for setting up a group blog like this AGES ago, but it is really when I thought of involving Julienne that it took off. As well as an amazing writer, Julienne is also a designer: he came up with our gorgeous banner and the name Demention. And then we were thrilled that Julie Bertagna wanted to join us!

Why I love both writing and reading dystopian and other Demention fiction: it's all about the What Ifs:

• What if instead of punishing criminals they could have their memories wiped, and start all over again? What if for one law breaker, Slating didn’t quite work? (Slated)
• What if teens can be unwound, every part of them kept alive for transplantation, so they aren’t technically ‘dead’? (Unwind)
• What if the oceans were rising and you had to fight for your future on a changed Earth? (The Exodus Trilogy)
• What if the planet’s fuel resources have been depleted, and the only way to make energy is by winding it? (Springpunk)

 
The best advice given to aspiring writers is often this: read, read, read. But I don’t read these kinds of books as homework. To me it is what I love.

For the giveaway, I’ve picked Neil Shusterman’s Unwind as my favourite. And I’ve got a signed, shiny, new copy of my novel, Slated: it isn’t published until May 3, so you could be one of the first to have it.

Julienne Durber

Hi. I’m the most experienced designer in Demention, but the least experienced writer. My first novel, Springpunk is … on its way! (watch this space)

My obsession with all things dark and demented, otherworldly and odd began in the pages of 2000AD with the dismally brilliant Nemesis the Warlock and Judge Dredd stories before crawling through both cinema (Bladerunner, Brazil) and the classic dystopias of Brave New World, Farenheit 451 and of course 1984.

The idea of struggle against adversity is the basis of storytelling, and the darker and more sinister the adversity, the more heroic the struggle.

Throw in the paranoid feeling that everyone really is out to get everyone else and that there is nothing anyone can do about it, and each tiny victory is that much sweeter.

As I know my co-conspirators have chosen two modern classics of the genre, my giveaway choice is something different – Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. Forget the films and tv adaptations, this is the ultimate in poisoned razorblades hidden within a dark, otherworldly fairy story.

Julie Bertagna

I’m the author of 12 books, young adult and children's, published in 20-something countries around the world. Aurora, the final part of my futuristic Exodus trilogy, is now out and I’m writing my 13th novel (hopefully not unlucky!) set in a very different future, but just as dramatic. You can find more about me on my page.

I loved dystopian stories long before anyone called them that. As a teenager, I loved edgy fiction that left me rattled, set my imagination on fire. Stories with big ideas, futuristic settings where the world was altered - books so powerful they took me right out of myself, and when I finished them my heart ached and my reality felt different. I was full of new feelings, yearnings, perceptions, possibilities...

Powerful stuff, books.

So when I wrote the Exodus trilogy, I was trying to create the kind of story I loved. 

Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses is my choice for the prize giveaway. Though we didn’t know it then, she and I were groundbreakers of a sort - writing YA dystopian fiction, ahead of the trend. It’s a brilliant book that turns the world on its head. I'll also include a signed copy of Exodus, book 1 of my trilogy.

The Demention giveaway!

To enter, follow this blog and leave a comment below. What do you like about dystopian fiction, and if you had to pick one favourite to giveaway like we have done, what would it be? Tweet about the competition and mention that in your comment, and you get an extra entry. The competition closes on May 6 at noon UK time, and is open internationally.

Please note: this competition is now closed. Winners are posted below! Thanks for entering.


The Winners - chosen totally at random - are: (drum roll, please....)
Unwind: Amber
Slated: Hannah
Gulliver's Travels: KM Lockwood
Noughts and Crosses: Nina, Death Books and Tea
Exodus: Scheherazade
Please get in touch on the contact form with your details! We'll try to track you down if we don't hear back, but will pick new winners in a week if necessary. Thanks for entering.


The books: one copy each of Unwind, by Neil Shusterman; a signed copy of Slated, by Teri Terry; Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift; Noughts and Crosses, by Malorie Blackman; and a signed copy of Exodus, by Julie Bertagna.

 
The details: A winner will be selected for each book using a random number generator, and posted on Demention: they then have a week to contact us with their details so we can post the book before another winner will be chosen. Our favourites weren’t donated by publishers, they are our genuine picks. Good luck!