Fiction by Deborah Willis
I can't decide whether to categorize this novel as "futuristic" or "contemporary." Basically it's something that really could happen now, but I think it's set in the future. I labeled it both ways, because it's kind of futuristically contemporary.
Okay, maybe that's not important.
Here's the idea: There's a bazillionaire who wants to colonize Mars, so he's funding a mission to send two humans there to live FOREVER. Seriously, they can't come back; the mission is to dump them there with (ostensibly) all the supplies they need to survive. They are supposed make a colony and set things up all nice, and then they send back reports of how fabulous it all is on the Red Planet so the next group of colonists can come join them. You know, in the future. Whenever that's feasible.
So how to get someone to want to volunteer for this quasi-suicide mission? Well, you make it a competition of course! And hey, let's offset some of the cost and monetize the whole thing by making it a reality show! It's going to be called... wait for it... Mars Now!
Enter our protagonist Amber Kivinen, a 32-year-old Canadian who (allegedly) sells home-grown cannabis with her boyfriend Kevin. She might look like a loser on paper, but she's got enough charm and ambition to go all the way! Maybe. At least she's one of the 24 international finalists.
This story follows Amber and Kevin, as she tries to win a ridiculous TV popularity contest in front of billions of people on the Mars Now! show, and he sits at home on the couch growing (and smoking) weed.
This story was both hysterically funny and super sad. I really loved it!
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