This 48fourteen Scavenger Hunt is here! Thanks to Roxanne Kade for putting this all together, and to all the other authors for participating! Readers can win a copy of seven books featured, and two runners up will get a book of their choice!
This is a special occasion for me, as this is my very first time interviewing anyone, and I am glad to have Elizabeth Guizzetti author of Other Systems! Here she is answering some of my questions I had and at least one I know we all want to know.
First, I would like to thank Elizabeth for joining me for an in-depth and rather unusual seven questions. I know that between married life, writing, and comics, that you are very busy.
Q. Let me begin by saying, as a huge fan, I follow your social media links, and I seem to get a mental picture of my favorite show The Big Bang Theory. Am I close?
Somewhat. There is a lot of watching science fiction, fantasy and horror films as well as gaming of all sorts in our home. There is also a lot of sharing of interesting science-y things gathered from the Internet.
Q. I must say that I love your book cover and the insert photos. I was wondering is it anything like what you had pictured in your mind when you were writing it? And did you stare at it for hours like I did mine?
I stared at it for hours in order to make it better. It took me a while how to figure out how to create it the way I wanted. My first attempts at planetary artwork was not very good.
I imagined the landscapes more than the planet when I was writing Other Systems, but that would not give the feeling of the novel that I wished. The artwork was created after I wrote the novel, first for the website, then the trailer, and a poster. Once Juanita saw it, I began creating artwork for the book including my cover art.
Q. When I first started reading Other Systems, I thought I might be able to pilot a space ship. Halfway through, I knew I could. Here’s my question. Did you grow up sailing or did you research all the nautical terms used in your story?
I did not grow up sailing, but I grew up in a navy town and was around water a lot. Before 9/11, the ferry allowed kids to sometimes tour the bridge the Washington State ferries and ask questions. When I was a kid, I did that a few times a year. It honestly makes me sad that kids will no longer experience it. Now there is a ten-minute warning about not leaving your luggage. Mostly my research revolved around basic flight instruction and hours. I went to the Museum of Flight to look closely at examples. Some of the gear such as the cut out pants to stop from blacking out is gear our pilots use today.
Q. You do such a great job describing the future world, transporting us readers to the years 2919, my personal favorite 3062, 3163 and more. I was wondering if these years and dates are significant in some way, such as birthdays, secret codes, or maybe even lucky lottery numbers?
No, I was just trying not to screw up the math. And I still messed it up three times!
Though I did not catch them prior to release of the e-book, thankfully, I caught the mistakes prior to the book going to print.
Q. I heard it on the streets that you are a robot from the future on a mission to save the world from evil butterflies. (And for that we can never thank you enough!) My question is about those “in-between” butterflies that are not completely evil, they started out good but just got mixed up with the evil butterflies from the wrong side of the tracks, and only act evil when they think it makes them look cool; do they have to go too?
Of course not. I believe in redemption. I believe the most evil butterfly can be redeemed if they want to make amends and are willing to take the steps towards recovery.
Q. When I first heard the idea of demonic poodles, it all made sense. When I was little, our neighbor had a mean poodle that was twice as big as me. His name was Bosco, and his job was to bark, snarl, and terrorize all the little kids just out of diapers into having nightmares and he was good at his job. Do you think he was a demon poodle or just a poodle on his way down to the charred walls of the damned?
Hey I am just writing about them. I fielded this question to Tycho and Rosie. They never met Bosco at the demon poodle meetings, but they have always lived in Seattle and the meetings tend to be regional. After all, most demon poodles are extremely lazy. They prefer to do nothing more than find piles of warm laundry to lie upon.
Q. On a serious note, I would like to thank you for answering my strange questions, but I have one you probably hear all the time. When can we get our greedy little hands on some more? I have just finished reading Other Systems for the second time, and I need more. As a fan amongst many, we are hooked; we need more, much more.
If you are a reader of Maria Masterson and my comics I have some good news.
Faminelands #3: Marteon’s Curse is coming out March 1st. Both print and digital copies are available on Faminelands.com, comic shops in the greater Seattle area. If you want to read it for free on a weekly basis: a page goes up on Faminelands.com once a week updated Fridays. In the once fertile Talamh, moans of hunger permeate the air. In Book 3, the famine spreads and many enact age-old sacrificial rites to bring forth rain. Lady Meadowlark and her Hunters share a dream of a prince’s death and venture forth to save him.
On November 1st Out for Souls&Cookies #4 is coming out, because Maria and I think every book about demon poodles deserve a Christmas special. Rosamundian and Tychobraticus head down to the parade with their servants and try to find the perfect gift for Lord Fluffcakes. What do you get for a squirrel who has all the power of hell in his water dish?
Fans might be less impressed with my novel releases as I have none to tell, but I have two projects in the works. Other Systems 2 is in need of one more revision at least…and an actual title. It is NOT going to be called Other Systems 2, but it is about what happened on Earth once the Kiposi left.
I am finishing up a manuscript entitled The Martlet. However I am warning my fans: the only thing this novel has in common with Other Systems is a gritty feel and the fact I wrote it. The Martlet is about four assassins who want to live forever so they play with necromancy. Also since the protagonists are four villains so I am not sure who is going to publish it. That means it is likely at least in regards to the novels fans are now in the waiting phase.
Thank you Elizabeth for joining me on my very first interview, and again, we can’t wait to see both the title and the next installation of a truly gripping saga.
For all the links to the other websites involved in this scavenger hunt, and official rules, go to Roxanne Kade’s official website:
http://roxykade.blogspot.com/p/48fourteen.html
-R.L. King