The contest closes tomorrow at midnight.
After tomorrow, the character submissions are final. I'll be reviewing every entry, selecting the winner, and reaching out to them privately. The public announcement will come on March 16, but if you've been waiting to enter, this is it.
I've been writing Mackenzie's story. Six chapters in. The escape is taking shape. And I wanted to share something about the research behind Chapter One: the scene that made Mackenzie decide to leave.
The Woman on the News
Early in Chapter One, Mackenzie watches news footage of a woman arrested at the border. Five months pregnant, trying to board a flight to Canada. The footage is grainy but clear: uniformed officers, the woman's hands gripping her stomach.
That scene didn't come from imagination. It came from tracking what's already happening.
After Dobbs, states began proposing travel bans to prevent women from crossing state lines for abortion care. Missouri legislators introduced bills to stop residents from obtaining out-of-state abortions. Idaho passed laws allowing family members to sue anyone who helps a minor travel for abortion. Texas filed lawsuits trying to block organizations that help women travel to states where abortion remains legal.
The infrastructure for surveillance is being built. Some states are exploring how to enforce these travel restrictions. Others are debating whether pregnancy should be tracked at borders.
I needed specific details for that scene. The staging of it. Multiple officers surrounding one woman, more personnel than necessary. Cameras positioned deliberately to capture every angle. The woman's hands pressed against her stomach (whether protective instinct or calculated framing for the footage doesn't matter). The commentator delivering it with absolute certainty that this is justice.
Mackenzie recognizes it immediately: propaganda. The same tactics ICE has used for years. Deploy a dozen agents to apprehend one person. Make sure the cameras capture it all. Engineer the footage to send a message to anyone else considering the same choice. Perp walks designed to terrify. Arrests staged for maximum visibility.
This is what deterrence looks like. Not justice. Performance.
I wrote that scene to show Mackenzie what's waiting if she stays. But I also wrote it because the legal framework for this enforcement already exists. It's just not fully operational yet.
Dystopian fiction isn't about inventing horrors. It's about recognizing the ones already being built.
Six chapters in, and that's what I keep learning: the distance between fiction and reality is thinner than we want to believe.
More soon.
M.E. Wright
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Final Hours!
Contest closes March 3 at midnight. Don't wait.
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