1. Tell us a bit about yourself.
NGK: I’m a writer, educator, and editor of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. I am the owner of Mocha Memoirs Press.
2. What’s your favorite cyberpunk book/movie/anime?
NGK: You are asking me to pick my favorite children! Okay, my favorite cyberpunk movie is Blade Runner, and my favorite cyberpunk book is Altered Carbon and my favorite cyberpunk anime is Ghost in the Shell
3. What do you like most about Cyberpunk?
NGK: What I love about cyberpunk is the absolute endurance of the human spirt and creativity amongst the abject horror of a society more concerned with technology than people. In cyberpunk’s high tech/low life mantra, the individuals don’t matter only the corporation or the government, an entity, a conglomerate. Those people who continue to sprout, to grow, to augment beneath those conditions are the stories that I adore about cyberpunk.
4. For you, what’s the difference between Cyberpunk and Cyberfunk?
NGK: The difference for me between the two subgenres is that Cyberfunk deliberately centers blackness, and embraces the cultural touchstones of the African diaspora, projected into the futuristic setting. Cyberfunk produces a future where technology is still key, but the hands wielding it aren’t exclusively white.
5. What’s the title of your Cyberfunk story?
The title of my story is Hatched: A Cybil Lewis story.
6. Give a brief synopsis.
Teaser: Inspector Cybil Lewis takes the case of a genetically engineered human—a hatchling—who wants to identify her DNA donors to quiet her questions around her identity.
7. What do you like/hate about your main character?
Like-I love that Cybil is independent, has her own moral compass, and is a shoot first, ask questions later heroine.
Hate-That she is a shoot first, ask questions later. Sometimes we need those witnesses alive!
8. Are we heading for a Cyberfunk/Cyberpunk future?
Absolutely. With deep fakes, constant surveillance, drones, personalized advertisements (thanks Facebook), we are practically living it now. The only exception are flying cars.
9. Would you become a cyborg?
I would become a cyborg to extend my life span and to repair/replace the organs inside me as they expire. I would love to be able to travel to other planets and not have to worry about my carbon-based body breaking down.
10. Could you love an A.I.?
No, I could not love an A.I. I saw the movie Her, and nope. I couldn’t do it.
11. How do we keep with all things Nicole Givens Kurtz?
a. I keep all things NGK at http://www.nicolegivenskurtz.net
b. You can follow me on Twitter at @nicolegkurtz, on Facebook http://www.facebooks.com/NicoleGkurtz and support my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/NicoleGKurtz
Read Hatchling and 17 other amazing stories in Cyberfunk! Preorder your book today. Release date: February 28, 2021.
