Moira Young is the author of both Blood Red Road and it’s sequel Rebel Heart, both belonging to the acclaimed ‘Dustlands’ trilogy.
Early Life
Moira was born in New Westminster, BC, just outside of Vancouver. Her father worked in sales and marketing, latterly running his own businesses, and her mother enjoyed a long career in teaching.
The family moved with her father’s work and her early years were spent in New Westminster, Oakville, Ontario and Winnipeg, Manitoba. After graduating from high school in Winnipeg, she gained a BA in history from the University of British Columbia. Moira then moved to the UK for a post-graduate acting course at The Drama Studio, London. She gained her equity card performing on London’s alternative comedy circuit in the 1980s and ended up as a tap-dancing chorus girl in ‘High Society’ at the Victoria Palace in the West End.
Early Career
From 1988-1992, Moira lived in Vancouver, where she retrained as an opera singer. She was winner of the Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions, Western Canada in 1991. In 1992, she moved back to the UK to continue her vocal studies and work in opera. She appeared in concert and opera in many London venues, including St Martin-in-the-Fields, and toured extensively throughout the UK and France.
She has had tea with Stewart Grainger in LA, dessert with Rex Harrison in Manhattan and pizza with Philip Pullman in Coventry, although not on the same day! She has performed for royalty, in stadiums, Palladiums and cupboards. As a member of cabaret group ‘Fancy Goods’, she was pelted with vegetables and hissed off the stage, luckily not on the same day!
She now lives in the historic city of Bath with her architect husband.
Writing Career
Moira’s first ambition was to be a writer, and she wrote her first book, ‘The Heirloom Mystery’, at the age of 9. Shortly after that, she was bitten by the theatre bug and didn’t take up writing again until 2003. She hasn’t stopped writing since!
Her debut novel, Blood Red Road was published in 2011 to international critical acclaim. You can view the vast number of awards it won ‘The Books’ page. It is currently being developed for film by Ridley Scott. The second Dust Lands book, Rebel Heart, garnered widespread critical acclaim on publication in 2012. The final installment is due in 2014.
The Dust Lands trilogy has sold to 28 territories.
Learn more about her at http://pages.simonandschuster.com/bloodredroad
Follow Moira on Twitter here: @Moira_Young
