This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Nicole Givens Kurtz will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Welcome to It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?
NGK: The television series that jumpstarted my fascination with science fiction was the original Star Trek. I also began reading mysteries in tenth grade, starting with Lawrence Sanders and Sue Grafton. The two genres, science fiction and mystery meld together in my mind.
What research is required?
NGK: For Fabricated, I researched the advancement in technology and AI particularly. Cybil’s world is pretty well established as there are three other novels in the series, a spin-off trilogy and a collection of short stories. I researched how bodies decompose, tattooing and African scarification.
Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.
NGK: One thing I learned from Cybil is to follow your instincts. As women, we are often told to ignore our feelings or our instincts and depend on what we can see, what is factual, or proven. Cybil does this too, but she also listens to her instinct and hunches, because those are derived from experience. In her line of work, a p.i., experience is sometimes better.
Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?
NGK: I’m not sure it’s quirky, but I write longhand for all of my stories. Several of my writing friends find this to be ridiculous in the age of Scrivener and Word and other software writing apps. I spend a lot of my day job time on screen, so when I write, I don’t want to look at another screen. Plus, when I write by hand, it forces my brain to slow down and not race ahead. I’ve been writing for over 25 years, professionally, and at this point, it’s now habit.
Are you a plotter or pantser?
NGK: I’m a pantser! I write in pieces and parts and then, when I feel I might have the right collection to meld into a story, I put them together, pantsing through the gaps to fill in the story and link them together. It’s absolute madness, but it challenges my creative mind to find something that can fit those gaps and make it make sense! As I mentioned before, I’ve been doing this for so long now, it’s a habit.
Look to your right – what’s sitting there?
NGK: To my right is my bag of Salt and Vinegar potato chips, my mouse, my mousepad- that reads “Not Today Heifer”, and my work laptop. Somehow, these things encapsulate my personality. LOL!
Anything new coming up from you? What?
NGK: New this week is my latest cyberpunk noir novel titled, Fabricated: A Cybil Lewis SF Mystery. It’s set in the futuristic territory of The District, the former District of Columbia. It’s a whodunit staring a PI that subverts the lonely, cigarette-smoking male stereotype we see so often in noir types of films.
Do you have a question for our readers?
NGK: I would love to know how many readers think they may take a chance and read Fabricated?
Cybil Lewis, a private inspector in futuristic D.C., now The District, begrudgingly works with the Territory Alliance agents to track down an escaped violator, Nico Mars. Almost immediately, Cybil is tossed into the District's gritty underbelly of political ambition, drugs, and betrayal. This case will take her and Jane deep into the reaches of The District's notorious Sector 12, where life is cheap and currency is king. When her investigation leads back to those responsible for protecting citizens, Cybil discovers she's in danger. She's reminded once again that everything can be fabricated.
Read an Excerpt
If it’s one thing I’ve learned in my nearly forty years is this—trust your gut.
If I had, things would’ve gone much more smoothly.
Who am I?
I’m Cybil Lewis. Private Inspector licensed in The District Territory. July felt like an oven left on high. The sun’s rays rebounded off the pavement, fiberglass, and metal, back into people’s faces. An energy nightmare, certain neighborhoods suffered frequent electrical and computer grid breakdowns, leaving thousands stranded without air conditioning, automatic doors, and other necessities. Bots stopped working. Generators and recyclable batteries helped. Still the more tech-rich you were, the greater the potential for damage.
Venture outside at your own risk. Summer snatched victims into its greedy hands and swallowed them whole. Each year an ever-increasing number of people died because they became trapped in their residences without cool air when the grid responsible for controlling the electric crashed or when the generators melted.
Which was why I was leaning over the air conditioning unit when the doors to my office yawned open. In walked two women, one whom I recognized the moment her sleek, dark blonde hair crossed the threshold. I got up to meet them before they came too far into my lobby. Midwest Territory Alliance Agent Lynn stopped. Despite wearing make-up, pockmarks spoiled her attempt at flawless. Cold blue eyes stared out. She grinned, calculated, and cool.
We had a complicated history due to a shared case not too long ago. She tried to get me shot, killed, and sent to the cradle for violations I didn’t commit. The entire experience left a bad taste in my mouth.
You can imagine my joy at seeing her again.
About the Author:
Nicole Givens Kurtz has been called “a genre polymath who does crime, horror, and Science Fiction and Fantasy (Book Riot).” They’ve named her as one of the 6 Black SFF Indie Writers You Should be Reading, 30 Must-Read SFF Books by Black Authors, and The Best of the West: 8 Alternative History Westerns (Sisters of the Wild Sage). She’s a two-time Atomacon Palmetto Scribe Award winner. With over 20 years in publishing, She’s written for Pseudopod, Apex, Fiyah, White Wolf, The Realm, Baen, Subsume, and MV Media. Nicole has over 50 published short stories, including her story, “The Way Home,” in Marvel®’s Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson anthology from Titan Books. Nicole is the author of the Cybil Lewis and Death Violations cybernoir series as well as the Kingdom of Aves fantasy mystery series. She has conducted workshops for Writer’s Digest Online, Clarion West online, SAGA, and is the owner of Mocha Memoirs Press. She’s the editor for the groundbreaking SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire and co-editor of Blackened Roots: An Anthology of the Undead anthology. Nicole is professional level member of SFWA and HWA. You can find her at www.nicolegivenskurtz.net.
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I love her Cybil Lewis series!
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