BooksChatter: ℚ Dimorphic [1]

Today we have the pleasure of meeting up with author Cy Wyss to talk about Dimorphic (3 November 2015, Nighttime Dog Press, LLC, 340 pages), a Mystery Thriller.

"Judith is the BOMB! ... The novel reminded me a lot of Kickass, but it was 100 times better." --Rabia Tanveer, Readers' Favorite

Author Q&A | Synopsis | Teaser | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops

A very warm welcome to Cy Wyss; thank you for joining us on BooksChatter.

What was the inspiration for Dimorphic?

"The insight concept for Dimorphic was: what if someone could be both male and female?

I didn’t want to create social commentary, per se, rather I wanted to explore it as kind of a “superpower.” In other words, it would be an ability beyond what everyone else has but yet if each of the male and female are normal people, or at least not beyond what can be done by a practiced expert.

My inspiration, then, I guess you could say is the realm of classic superheroes like Batman and Spiderman, only with the power of dimorphism. The idea of a superhero—a powerful loner with a secret identity and a burning indignation about crime—has always fascinated me."

How much of yourself is reflected in this book, and how?

"I appreciate humor and find myself constantly laughing at life and all its foibles. Judith, the main character, is like this. She’s a bit of a klutz but has the ability to laugh at herself. I hope I’m neither as clumsy nor as idealistic as Judith, but perhaps those qualities are there in some measure.

I liked to put myself in Judith’s place as I was writing and think about what I would do in her situation. I don’t have a twin brother who is a Parkour expert and who left me his body to possess, but if I did, I would imagine that being a crime fighter would naturally occur to me. So perhaps I do have a bit of that idealism and naiveté."

Why should we read Dimorphic and what sets it apart from the rest? What makes your book unique?

"The defining aspect of Dimorphic is the superpower. I don’t know of many explorations of being both genders. Virginia Woolf in Orlando has a character that switches gender; but I don’t know of many stories where someone switches back and forth at will. There’s Odin, the Norse all-father, who can switch genders at will; and an anime called Ranma ½ where the main character switches, but it is a very rare trope.

Other than Judith’s dimorphism, Dimorphic is a classic hero story, along the lines of Kickass. It’s not a graphic novel, but the writing is crisp and the images sharp, as if the scenes were drawn in charcoal and inked over."

Can you tell us something quirky about Dimorphic, its story and characters?

"One of my favorite characters in Dimorphic is a sidekick named Goom. His real name is many more syllables but Judith can’t pronounce it so she nicknames him Goom, a moniker he at first resists strenuously.

Goom is a foul-mouthed African American little person. The story behind Goom is in fact a little embarrassing. I play online role playing games and during one of the chat sessions where we were all bs-ing around someone said they’d like to see a character who was the ultimate in minorities. Others joined in and before you knew it we were discussing an African American, Jewish, obese, transgendered midget.

Well, that was a little too much, but the idea of Goom grew out of that obnoxious conversation. And he turned into one of my favorite characters. He is smart and knows his way around computers. He loves to use rude name calling to get attention, but other than that is probably the most normal character around."

Who would you recommend Dimorphic to and what should readers be aware of (any warnings or disclaimers)?

"I would hope fans of thrillers and mysteries find something they like in Dimorphic, as well as fans of graphic novels like Kickass.

There is a generous amount of profanity, as well as violence of both the cartoon type and the more disturbing type. I think your assessment of the book is right on: if it were a movie it would be R rated but leave some people wondering why it earned that designation."

What do you like to write and read about? Do you stick to a particular genre or do you like to explore different ones?

"I like action movies. For books, I like the same type of thing, namely, a fast-paced story without a lot of introspection or complexity. This is not to say the plot should be superficial, because if something is too shallow then it is as boring as if something is overly labored or complex.

I’ve focused in the past on the mystery and thriller genres but have recently found myself inspired by a science fiction story. As long as the story has the characteristics of a good action movie, I’m in, whatever genre it is."

What is your writing process?

"Dimorphic went through many revisions in fits and starts. I started the first draft in 2011 and finally sent a recent version to my editor in September 2015. I went through a draft after that, however, as I changed the story from third person to first person before I published it in November 2015.

This seems to embody my writing process. I’ll write for a month constantly, thousands of words a day; then I’ll sit on it and revise slowly over the next few months. I wish I was more consistent and had a daily word target."

What is in store next?

"I have manuscripts for a sequel to Dimorphic, as well as a “reimagined prequel,” which is a prequel but to a different version of Dimorphic. I will probably repackage the prequel as an entirely separate work, although the main characters are twins, male and female. I guess since Dimorphic is mine I don’t have to worry so much about reproducing some of the story.

Additionally, I have a manuscript for a full-length novel continuing my Inspector Richter short stories.

At the moment I’m having issues with deciding which manuscript to pin down and revise for publication, or whether, in fact, I should write an entire new story, such as my science fiction idea."

A lot of possibilities out there - I am sure inspiration will strike and guide you the right way ;-)

Thank you for taking the time to be here with us. Have a great tour and best wishes with all of your projects and releases!

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