On Jenna Mervis' Next Big Thing

Who or what inspired you to write this book? A young woman visited me early one morning to tell me her story. She pulled up her sleeve to reveal a tattoo covering her arm in purple tendrils. It looked like it was moving under her skin. She told me she didn’t have much time. She told me that South Africa in the future was dark and dirty. She told me about this virtual world that people had invented in the future – a way to escape their lives, the overcrowding and the filth. You could upload as anyone, you could...