FABRICATED
Nicole Givens Kurtz
GENRE: SciFi Mystery
Blurb:
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.
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.
Interview with Nicole Givens Kurtz
What is your favorite part of the book?
NGK: My favorite part of Fabricated is the scene where Cybil realizes she can’t do everything on her own. I don’t want to give too much away, but Cybil lets her guard down, and finds herself in a dangerous, life-threatening situation.
Does your book have a lesson? Moral?
NGK: There isn’t an explicit more or lesson the novel; however, the narrative does explore the abuse of power and the perils and promise of social classes, wrongful incarceration and the effects of being denied freedom. Fabricate is a cyberpunk novel, and by its definition, the subgenre focuses on high tech/low life. That overarching theme is prevalent throughout all of the Cybil Lewis stories.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
NGK: Cybil Lewis is entirely from my imagination, but as with all of my characters, bits and pieces of myself are in them. Cybil probably has the most of my traits of all the female protagonists I have written. It is rare for me to base any of my characters on real people, either living or dead.
Of all the characters you have created, which is your favorite and why?
NGK: This is like asking me to pick my favorite child. LOL! If I have to choose, then I pick Cybil. As I mentioned earlier, she is the one protagonist who contains most of my personality traits. She’s also been with me the longest. The first book, SILENCED, was published by Parker Publishing in 2008. I’d written an entire novel before SILENCED, in 2003 so, Cybil has been apart of me for roughly 22 years, more than half of my professional writing career [25 years].
What character in your book are you least likely to get along with?
NGK: I am least likely to get along with Amber Lynn, a Territory Alliance Agent who is often the bane of Cybil’s existence. She’s not even from The District, hailing from the Midwest Territories, she brings nothing but trouble to the PI’s desk. She’s arrogant, snobby, and rigid.
What would the main character in your book have to say about you?
NGK: Cybil would say to me. “Hey, remember, you draw more bees with honey, than vinegar.”
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
NGK: Each novel is a standalone case, so they do not have to be read in order. As a reader, I hate when I discover a great title, realize it’s part of a series, and the ending or storyline that conjured so many questions is because I hadn’t read the previous books. So, as a writer, I write books that have a beginning, middle and end. You can join Cybil’s world, no matter which book you enter with.
You can imagine my joy at seeing her again.
Author Bio and Links
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.
Connect with Nicole Givens Kurtz
Instagram - @mochamemoirspress
TikTok - @mochamemoirspress
BlueSky - @ nicolegkurtz.bsky.social
Facebook - facebook.com/nicolegkurtz
Buy Nicole a coffee at Ko-fi/nicolegkurtz
Giveaway:
1 comments:
Thank you so much for featuring FABRICATED.
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