The Aspirants is a dystopian thriller in which the right to die becomes a lucrative spectacle, blurring the lines between compassion, exploitation, and freedom in a society fractured by political ambition and healthcare inequality. What motivated you to write this story?

This book was born from a nightmare. In fact, the first chapter is what happened in the nightmare – except my nightmare was worse. I suspected that there was more to the story, so I captured what happened in writing. Over the course of the following years, the story kept unfolding. It wasn’t like I decided to write the story; it was more like it was revealing itself to me in pieces that I eventually began to put together in a structural form. While the topic of MAID was new to me, the ingredients of politics, social and economic disparity, exploitation, and the need for compassion and justice have always been subjects of interest to me. I hoped that it might make readers learn about the issues and to reflect about injustice, inequality, and solutions.

Ned Cox genuinely believes in his mission, yet his methods become increasingly controversial. How did you navigate the tension between his compassion and ambition?​

I genuinely wanted to explore the idea of ‘how far is too far for a good cause.’ Because of my background in international relations, I’ve had many discussions with my students about the role of civil society in impacting political and social decisions, and about the wide range of activism that might allow a person to evolve from a concerned citizen to a terrorist – all while believing in a good cause. I felt it was important to explore how someone with the right intentions can drift off track. As a result, almost every major character in the book crosses the line at some point, and the challenge for me was to help the reader understand how they got there while trying to do the right thing.

Emma Zelena’s dramatic rescue operations raise fascinating questions about heroism and exploitation. What were you hoping readers would question about her motivations?​

Emma was an important complement and contrast to Ned. Here is a woman with good intentions who is able to converge resources to stage spectacular rescues that raise awareness of issues that she believes are important, but, more significantly, that allow her to save people and animals. I wanted readers to see the juxtaposition between this couple’s methods and outcomes. They both want to help people, but Emma saves lives while Ned ends them. So, the underlying question is: why are they each so obsessed with their similar, but very different, missions?

You begin the novel midway through the story before revealing earlier events. How did this structure help you shape readers’ perceptions of your characters?​

Having the structure drop you into the action immediately was fundamental to the storyline, not only because the catastrophic events are the catalyst for the plot, but because I wanted people to be presented with a first impression of both Ned and Emma that wasn’t very flattering. It sets up the question of why they would do what they are doing. It also creates curiosity that eventually gets rewarded as you go back in time to see how their stories evolve as money and social media and personal ambition become involved. By starting with one perception, and then unraveling their paths, I hoped to encourage readers to reflect on their own lives and to wonder if they might also be capable of something similar.

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