Suzy Spitfire Kills Everybody
By Joe Canzano
Genre: Science Fiction
When outlaw Suzy Spitfire discovers her father was murdered after creating a super-duper artificial intelligence, she races across the solar system in search of the brain he built—but it’s a rough ride, and she’s soon forced to tangle with pirates, predators, and her father’s killer—as well as a man she thinks she can love.
Suzy Spitfire Kills Everybody is a smash-bang sci-fi adventure filled with action, intrigue, and a dose of dark humor.
Interview with author!
Tell us about your genre. How did you come to choose it? Why does it appeal to you?
Suzy Spitfire Kills Everybody is a science fiction adventure story. I’ve always liked sci-fi and adventure, so it seemed like an obvious way to go. The element of escape appeals to me – to get away from reality and be submerged in a world more interesting than this one.
What do you find most challenging about the writing process, and how do you deal with it?
Mapping out a good story is the hardest part—balancing simplicity with a certain amount of complexity. It’s got to be interesting and entertaining but also make sense to the reader.
When and where do you do your writing?
I’m an early morning kind of guy. If I tried to write at night I’d fall asleep; I’d break my nose when it hit the desk—or maybe I should say the table. I have a crazy silver table my wife gave me and that’s where I do most of the writing.
What have you learned about promoting your books?
It’s difficult. Lots of stuff the so-called experts tell you to do is a bunch of garbage—it’s just click bait from marketing blogs that copied the same info from other marketing blogs.
Meanwhile, blog tours can be good, but the blogs seem to be saturated. There are many things that will each have a small effect but to do them collectively is very time consuming so you need to pick and choose. The thing that seems to work best is running discounts and advertising them through email marketing services. Get the book out there—and get reviews. Try to get people to recommend the book to their friends. If it doesn’t happen, keep trying and write another book.
What are you most proud of as a writer?
I’m proud that I have three novels out there and some people have read them and liked them. I’m talking about people I don’t know—and some of them are from faraway places like England and Australia. It’s a great thing.
If you could have dinner with any writer, living or dead, who would it be and what would you talk about?
This is a tough question because there are so many great writers. Maybe I’d go with Miguel de Cervantes—he was smart, funny, and knew how to tell a story. We’d talk about whatever he wanted to talk about but I suppose I’d need to brush up on my Spanish. If Miguel was too busy being dead that day, I’d try Elmore Leonard. I’ve read a lot of his books. We’d talk about crime.
About the Author
Joe Canzano is a writer and musician who lives in New Jersey, U.S.A. He is the author of two absurd comic fantasy novels, “Magno Girl,” and “Sex Hell.” His third novel, Suzy Spitfire Kills Everybody, is a departure from the world of wacky satire. Suzy Spitfire Kills Everybody is a sci-fi adventure filled with action and a dose of dark humor. For more information about Joe, please visit www.happyjoe.net.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/happyjoecanzano/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/happyjoecanzano
Twitter: https://twitter.com/happyjoecanzano
Excerpt (the first 700 words):
It was a peaceful evening in a peaceful part of town. Not really Suzy Spitfire’s style, but what the hell. She wasn’t going to let a beautiful sense of calm ruin her night.
She walked with cat-like steps across the beach as a salty breeze rifled through her coppery-crimson hair. With a sharp glance, she eyed the flashing lights of a hover-ship out at sea. Finally, she slipped through a plastic door and entered the shadowy interior of a local pub called El Pájaro Feliz.
Suzy narrowed her eyes and studied the glowing mix of wood and glass and hanging paper lanterns. Bouncy music and bubbly conversations flooded her ears as she did a quick scan of the room—okay, not bad. No need to be concerned right now, not in this seaside party shack with a moonlit view of the surf and the sea. But she kept her Series 7 pulse pistol close, strapped to her thigh under her black leather skirt, because people and places can go bad at any time. It was something she’d learned the hard way. It was something that still kept her up at night.
Too many people in here, she thought. Why couldn’t this meeting happen in a place with fewer tourists? Aiko had wanted it to be somewhere public. Well, he’d always liked the public more than she had. But he was also a stand-up guy who she hadn’t seen for over two years—not since he’d gone to Tokyo and she’d become a murderer.
As her boots glided across the floor, she vaguely wondered if this was a setup. She recalled her father’s words: “It’s all about the math, Suzy.” But Dad had said a lot of stuff. Empty talk.
It didn’t feel like a setup. Hey, maybe after a few drinks Aiko could help her come up with that pile of cash she needed.
She rolled her eyes as a holographically-enhanced robot bartender appeared in front of her. The thing was “graphed up” to be a tall guy with red hair, dressed in black. She knew a hidden scanner had analyzed her appearance and then displayed the face of someone calculated to be appealing to her—but just because she’d inherited her mom’s light skin and reddish hair didn’t mean her bartender had to resemble a giant leprechaun. She really preferred someone like the guy sitting eight or nine seats down.
He was fairly well built, with curly dark hair and eyes like gooey black puddles. Probably from the United Mexican Union, or the southern country of Rio da Vida. Forget about it, she thought. There were bigger things to worry about. At the very least, her fantasy had to be quick.
She noticed the sexy guy had his own phony bartender—a tall blonde squeezed into a short red skirt with breasts like a couple of fresh torpedoes. So that was his type, huh? Bold and trashy. What a coincidence. There’s a woman who looks like that right over here—except she’s shorter, with no torpedoes, and a body that’s completely organic. Suzy watched without watching too much as the sexy guy smiled and said a few words to his slutty drink-serving projection. Then she realized someone was talking to her. It was the phony bartender in front of her.
“Can I do something for you?” he said.
“Sure. You can steal me a new spaceship. But if that’s not part of the plan, how about a Jack and Coke?”
The bartender smiled. Suzy knew they were programmed to do it constantly, and that was the problem with these modern bars in a trendy metropolis like Diego Tijuana. They were filled with holograms and empty smiles.
He put a drink in front of her. “From the man over there,” he said, motioning with his hand.
So the sexy guy had bought her a drink. That was good, maybe. And now he was smiling at her in a way no piece of programming ever could. Fine, there was no harm in smiling back. Lots of great times start on the heels of one stupid second.
He strutted over to her and grinned. “Hi there. My name’s Ricardo. It’s good to meet you.”
No comments:
Post a Comment