Welcome to Perfectville Named a 2026 NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite!
I’m delighted to share some lovely news: Welcome to Perfectville has been named a 2026 NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite in the Science Fiction category.
The award is particularly special because Perfectville began with a question that has fascinated me for years:
What if we could create paradise on earth?
When I moved to New Zealand, I felt as though I had found it. But I was struck by things that people who had been born here sometimes took completely for granted: safety, green spaces, beautiful beaches, children playing outside, and a general sense that life could be good. I started wondering what would happen if someone deliberately tried to build a community around all those things we dream about.
What if you could remove crime, uncertainty, financial pressure and many of the everyday problems that make life difficult? Wouldn't that be perfect? And then I started thinking about the catch. Because perfect for whom?
A community designed by adults might look wonderful to the parents who created it. But what about their children? Someone born in a perfectly safe environment might not understand why safety matters. They might wonder what lies beyond the perimeter. They might want adventure, risk and the freedom to make their own mistakes.
That tension became one of the central ideas behind Welcome to Perfectville: the things that make somewhere feel like paradise to one person can make it feel like a prison to someone else.
Comments