This month we have a special guest here at A Writer's Dream. One of my fellow authors and Writers of Color Blog Tour members Nicole Givens Kurtz is celebrating the release of her futuristic PI novel Silenced, the first in the Cybil Lewis series. I started reading Silenced and I couldn't think of a better way to kick off the summer with such a fantastic, strong heroine who doesn't back down until she gets what she wants. More on that later on in the month. But for now, here's a chance to get to know more about the author herself.

Q: How would you describe the genre in which you do most of your writing?

Q: Who would you say has influenced you the most?

A: The author who influenced me the most has to be Octavia Butler and Philip Dick. I am a cyberpunk girl at heart, however Butler and Dick’s ability to craft rich, flawed characters pulls me into the story.

Q: How many books have you written so far? (Please include titles, publisher, date of publication and a brief description of the book/books.)

A: Thus far I have written five novels at Nicole Givens Kurtz, and numerous novellas and novels as RaeLynn Blue. I write science fiction novels as Nicole Kurtz. Here is a list for those who are interested:

SILENCED: A CYBIL LEWIS novel—Parker Publishing June 2008

Cybil Lewis is a private inspector in the future. Her jobs take her to the heart of the divided states and into the far reaches of political turmoil.

ZEPHYR UNFOLDING—Double Dragon Ebooks—August 2004—Second in the Candidate series, Zephyr Unfolding follows the Resistance and specially Ren and Angel as they try to outmaneuver the United World Council. There’s a traitor in the mix and Ren’s loyalty to the Resistance is tested.

BROWNE CANDIDATE—Crystal Dreams Publishing—February 2002-- Aurora Browne begins her latest assignment with the Williamses as she has with every other assignment since she was sold into slavery at the age of eight by her mother. She performs her duties as a candidate, women who produce children for wealthy women who can not. When Browne meets Bain, the Williamses' butler, she learns of a world beneath New England Tre. It is a place of freedom. As her love grows for Bain, will she risk her life for freedom?

THE SOUL CAGES—Crystal Dreams Publishing—November 2002-- As children, Sarah and her sister, Amana, along with hundreds of others were abducted and taken to Solis, and placed in the soul cages. After many years, Sarah is rescued from the cages, reincarnated into flesh, and taken to Veloris, the ice planet. Marion, her rescuer tells of the Antiqk Oracle's prophesy of a savior for not only Solis, but the entire Pixlis galaxy. Will Sarah fulfill the Oracle's call for a savior?

Or will she be forever lost in the Soul Cages?

Q: Do you write everyday? How much time do you spend on your writing?

A: I try to write everyday. I don’t write all the time, but it tends to be more in the summer when I’m not teaching. Though admittedly during the academic school year I write whenever I have time and in little pockets of free time I discover in places. Now, I carry around notebook to write instead of using napkins, backs of receipts, and flyers.

Q: What will your next book be about?

A: My next book is a sequel to SILENCED. It’s called COZENED. Cybil is called to a violent areocycle crash in the wee hours of the morning. When she arrives at the scene, she discovers the victim is a person she remembers, a person she thought she had buried and forgotten about--until seeing his body, his once lovely body--torn up like minced meat. Perhaps if the areocycle had killed him, she would've been able to grieve easier.

As it was, her former flame was killed before he decided to play chicken with a cargo craft.

As Cybil wrestles with her grief, the former First Lady of the D.C. Quadrant, Cassandra Irving stops by to ask for Cybil's services. However, she isn't alone. As if to sweeten the deal, Trey escorts her and recommends Cybil. She wants Cybil to locate a missing heirloom--one that if not recovered, could topple the political power players across all the divided territories, the results of which could be pure anarchy.

To learn more about Nicole and her works, check her out on the web at these links!

Nicole’s Niche—http://www.mochamemoirs.com/NGivens.htm

Nicole’s Blog- http://www.mochamemoirs.com/nic/blog

Silenced: A Cybil Lewis novel is available from Parker Publishing, Amazon and wherever books are sold.