About Maureen
Maureen McGowan always loved writing fiction, but side-tracked by a persistent practical side, it took her a few years to channel her energy into novels. After leaving a career in finance and accounting, she hasn’t looked back.
Aside from her love of books, she’s passionate about films, fine handcrafted objects and shoes.
Maureen grew up in various Canadian cities and her previous career moved her to Palo Alto and Philadelphia, before she settled in Toronto, Canada where she attends the Toronto International Film Festival each year.
The Dust Chronicles
Bestselling, award-winning, dystopian thriller series for readers 12 and over. The books have lots of adult fans too!
The Dust Chronicles is a trilogy about a sixteen-year-old girl named Glory, who can kill with her eyes. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic future where the earth has been covered by asteroid dust that’s lethal to most humans and has changed the DNA of others, giving them powers deemed Deviant. The books are dystopian thrillers with elements of sci-fi, paranormal, horror and romance.
Deviants (October, 2012)
Compliance (June, 2013)
Glory (June, 2014)
Deviants
Series: The Dusk Chronicles Book 1
Genres: Dystopian, Sci-fi thriller, Young Adult
Publisher: Skyscape
Publication Year: 2012
Glory, a sixteen-year-old orphan whose emotions can kill, lives in a domed city where her ability means Deviant—and dead. For generations, Earth has been buried in asteroid dust that’s mutated the DNA of some humans. To survive, Glory must hide her Deviant ability—and her paraplegic brother—from the authorities. When her boyfriend joins the secret police, she must flee the dome and outrun the sadistic, scab-covered Shredders living outside in the dust. Can Glory trust a mysterious boy with a dangerous Deviance of his own? Deviants is the first book in the bestselling Dust Chronicles trilogy.
Overview
Compliance
Series: The Dusk Chronicles Book 2
Genres: Dystopian, Sci-fi thriller, Young Adult
Publisher: Skyscape
Publication Year: 2013
In the winner of the 2013 Golden Leaf for Best YA, Glory returns to Haven as a secret agent to rescue fellow Deviants. When she’s selected to join the dreaded Compliance Department, training to track and hunt her own kind, she becomes a double agent, and no one knows all her secrets. Twists, deceits and danger abound as Glory starts to question everything she believes.
Overview
2013 Winner – NJRW Golden Leaf Award for Young Adult Fiction
The slogan reads: Haven Equals Safety.
But for Glory, life inside the domed city of Haven is anything but safe. After rescuing her brother, Glory returns to Haven as a double agent to locate and save fellow Deviants. Far from her family, Glory faces danger at every turn as she trains to be a Compliance Officer–to track down and expunge her own kind–while she works undercover to rescue as many Deviants as she can. When people she trusts turn against her, Glory questions everything in which she believes and can no longer tell her allies from her enemies.
Glory
Series: The Dusk Chronicles Book 3
Genres: Dystopian, Sci-fi thriller, Young Adult
Publisher: Skyscape
Publication Year: 2014
In this thrilling conclusion to The Dust Chronicles trilogy that began with Deviants, Glory must decide how far she is willing to go to keep her family safe, and what it really means to be a monster.
Overview
Glory is a Deviant. That is what she was always taught, growing up in the domed city of Haven. She has the power to kill with her gaze, but she’s learned to control this power and use it only against the monstrous Shredders who survive on the asteroid dust that mutated their DNA.
Now, living in a settlement Outside, Glory has the chance to embrace her “Gift” and reunite her remaining family. But she can’t hide from the threat of Shredder attacks or the knowledge of what Management is doing to the employees of Haven.
Can she face losing everything she has left to bring freedom to Haven? Will she choose the familiar safety of Cal’s love or risk Burn’s dangerous passion? Ultimately, Glory must decide how far she is willing to go to keep her family safe, and what it really means to be a monster.
This is the thrilling finale to The Dust Chronicles trilogy.
The Dust Chronicles Origins
Series: Short Stories, Book 4
Genres: Dystopian, Sci-fi thriller, Young Adult
Publisher: Half Dome Press
Publication Year: 2014
Discover the Origins of The Dust Chronicles world. Two short stories set during the apocalyptic times that created the dystopian world of the Amazon bestselling series, The Dust Chronicles. In “Out of the Ashes”, seventeen year-old Jenna races to enter the domed city of Haven, when a sacrifice changes her fate. In “Valley of Dust”, Serena is stranded in the mountains, months after her class ski trip was cut short by asteroid strike fallout. How will this dwindling group of teens outrun Shredders and survive in a world where everything’s changing, even themselves.
Twisted Tales
High-action fairytale retellings where the heroines save themselves and still kiss the handsome prince.
Cinderella: Ninja Warrior
Series: Twisted Tales, Book 1
Genres: 10 and over, Fairy tale retelling, Young Adult
In this fast-paced story full of adventure and romance, Cinderella is more than just a servant girl waiting for her prince—she’s a tough, fearless girl who is capable of taking charge of a dangerous situation. Seeking to escape the clutches of her evil stepmother, Cinderella perfects her ninja skills and magic talents in secret, waiting for the day when she can break free and live happily ever after. In a special twist, readers have the opportunity to make key decisions for Cinderella and decide where she goes next—but no matter the choice; the result is a story unlike any fairy tale you’ve ever read!
Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer
Series: Twisted Tales, Book 2
Genres: 10 and over, Fairy tale retelling, Young Adult
In this thrilling story full of adventure and romance, Sleeping Beauty is more than just a lonely princess waiting for her prince—she’s a brave, tenacious girl who never backs down from a challenge. With vampire-slaying talents that she practices in secret, Sleeping Beauty puts her courage to the test in the dark of night, fighting evil as she searches for a way to break the spell that has cut her off from her family. In a special twist, readers have the opportunity to make key decisions for Sleeping Beauty and decide where she goes next—but no matter the choice; the result is a story unlike any fairy tale you’ve ever read! Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer is an entirely new type of fairy tale–one that will keep today’s kids guessing and offer them hours of magical fun.
Short Stories
Lost and Found
Series: Short Stories, Book 0
Genres: Romance, Time Travel
Publication Year: 2014
Jake is a man lost in time. No matter where he falls asleep, he wakes in the same place every day, in the same clothes, looking exactly as he did when he fell asleep on a Central Park bench in 1967. The date is always the same, only the year changes. Does Kara, the beautiful cop who wakes him in 2009 hold the key to halting these random leaps through time? Or perhaps the key is the butterfly necklace given to him by a teenaged runaway when he landed in 1994? Fans of quirky time travel like Life on Mars or Groundhog Day will enjoy this story about the power of true love. “Lost and Found” was originally published in The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance