Listed follows two children who were entered into a market before they were born and whose lives are shaped by share prices, compliance reports, and the strange intimacy of being loved through a system that exploits them. Where did the idea behind this novel come from?

The seed was planted about twelve years ago during a conversation with a friend. We were discussing how money shapes childhood — how affluent parents can provide travel, elite education, better healthcare, nutrition, enriching extracurriculars. The advantages compound quietly over time. I began wondering: what if that unspoken transaction were made explicit? What if a child’s potential were literally priced and traded to provide those benefits up front with a payoff on the back end? The question sat with me for over a decade before I finally had to put it on paper.

Why did you choose Louisiana as the setting for this future society?

The concept isn’t inherently tied to Louisiana — the listing system could take root anywhere. But I’ve spent virtually my entire life here, apart from four years serving in the Navy, and I write most honestly about what I know intimately. Louisiana has its own particular rhythms, relationships, and contradictions that felt like the right soil for a story about systems that quietly shape the people born into them.

What aspects of the listing system were the most difficult to design?

Maintaining internal consistency with the share prices. The market needed to feel real — to have its own logic that readers could follow and trust. If the numbers behaved arbitrarily, the premise would collapse. Getting that financial architecture to hold together across the full arc of the novel required the most careful attention.

Do you see the novel as a warning, a thought experiment, or both?

More thought experiment than warning. I’m not writing to sound an alarm — I’m writing because this idea lived in my head for twelve years and demanded to exist on the page. I’ll leave it to readers to decide what it means for the world we’re already building.

Author Links: Facebook | Goodreads