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Friday April 5: In Conversation With – Suzanne Berget Sci-fi Author

In celebration of #Indieapril, I continue my series of interviews with various science fiction authors. Don’t forget to check out the promo at the end of our conversation!

In Conversation With Suzanne Berget

Today I have the pleasure of sitting down with author Suzanne Berget Can I offer you anything to drink?

Writer’s Tears, please! Neat.

[time elapses]
Sorry. I had to look that up, but since we are fiction writers, I just happen to had an unopened bottle.
So…Norway. What’s the most northern part you have been to?

I grew up partly on Senja, which is an island (second largest in Norway) in Troms fylke and it’s pretty far north. It’s got Northern lights and midnight sun and everything.

According to your bio, you have written a lot, but Let Slip the Beasts is your first novel. What made that happen?

Spite mostly, haha. I saw former classmates get published and was like ‘Why not me’? The story has been with me for a long time, though, like an embarrassingly long time, and is an amalgamation of movies and comics I liked as a teenager filtered through my particular lens.

I can’t disagree with a good spite story.
This book involves genetic engineering. Did you study or do research about it?

A lot of googling and reading was involved, yes. The interesting part was getting it to sound plausible, even though it’s pretty farfetched (still).

What was the first book you remember reading on your own?

Probably Elfquest by Wendy and Richard Pini. Once upon a time when I was young – before the war – they used to sell Elfquest comics at the grocery store, and one time I managed to convince my mom to buy me one because the cover just looked so damn cool. It wasn’t even the first volume and I didn’t understand a whole lot, but I was hooked.

What books and/or authors influenced you?

Definitely Archivist Wasp, Latchkey and Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace, Our Wives under the Sea by Julia Armfield and Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, but also Hemingway, Gerard Manley Hopkins and W.B. Yeats to some extent.

Do you have a favorite book?

Oh yes! If I have to pick just one, which is a standalone, and that I recommend all the time at work, it would be The Bees by Laline Paull. I loved it so much that pretty much immediately after I finished it I went and got a tattoo of the main character Flora 717. I posted a picture of the tattoo to Twitter and then Laline Paull sent me a signed copy of her book. It was amazing!

What drew you to science fiction?

Good question!—

Thank you. Sorry, please continue…

I like ridiculously choreographed fight scenes, guns more than swords, tech more than magic and visions of the future more than the past so science fiction felt like a natural choice. Also, my influences are mostly science fiction. But! I do have an idea for a fantasy novel that I’m pretty excited about.

The science fiction genre usually gets lumped in with fantasy. Do you think this is a good or bad thing?

Science fiction and fantasy are two sides of the same coin. You go into the future you get science fiction, you go too far into the future you get fantasy, if you know what I mean? So to me the two genres belong together, and once in a while you get truly spectacular genre-bending science fantasy books like the Broken Earth trilogy or Locked Tomb series.

Do Norwegians blame the Swedes for lutefisk or is it the other way around?

I think we can blame ourselves for that one…not our greatest moment.

I always ask my guests about music. From my heavy metal days in the [coughs] 80s, I know Norway is famous for black/death metal. You into that?

Of course! If you live in Norway and you don’t like black/death metal you will be exiled. Why do you think there are so many Norwegians in the US?

I always thought they followed the Finns to beat the Swedes to the good logging and mining jobs in Wisconsin…
Do you have any favorite bands?

I’m a mood listener, so I don’t feel like I have a favorite band at any given time, but! The bands I’ve seen live the most are Iron Maiden, Trivium, In Flames, Gojira, Ghost and Tenacious D.

Are you ready for the lightning round?

Let’s go!

Favorite fiord?
They’re all good fjords, Brent! Did you know Slartibartfast won an award for designing them?
What name comes up first when you Google Norwegian bands?
Mayhem, A-ha and Alan Walker
Favorite non-english vowel: æ ø or å?
Probably Æ as it’s just a and e smoshed together
Yeah, it does look funky.
Favorite city?
I love Oslo, because that’s where I live, but also Dublin, Edinburgh and London
One item on your bucket list?
Uuuuuh have my book turned into a movie and see who they cast
Farthest from home you have been?
Tokyo or San Francisco
Scariest animal you have encountered?
In real life? Moose and badger. In a zoo? Shoebill stork!

This has been a pleasure. Thanks for chatting. Any links you want to share?

My website:

Front Page

Book link:

https://books2read.com/u/breEZM

See more sci-fi authors:

The story behind Free Book Friday:

I’ve met many authors and readers during my time marketing, cross-promoting, and blogging. I think writers have a responsibility to inform readers about all the indie authors out there in the very crowded world of book publishing. You can’t do it alone, and why would you when you have a supportive group available?

Readers don’t just read one author – they stick with their favorite genres. Therein lies the power in cross-promotion. If one of my readers buys a book from an author I promote, then chances are there will be a reciprocal effect, or so is the hope. Do I want to boost sales? Of course I do. Do I want to boost other’s sales? Why not. It’s called karma.

Some free book offers require a newsletter sign-up, which is a small non-monetary price to pay to try out a new indie author.

Reads From StoryOrigin and BookFunnel

StoryOrigin and BookFunnel allows authors to advertise their books to each other’s audience. I hope you have been able to discover a new favorite!

Since my newsletter goes out bi-weekly, I offer book promos on those dates, so here are what’s running right now: Discover New Authors

Review Copies (These are free!)

Review copies: Like reviewing books? Try my two poetry collections: Lines by Leon and A Wonder of Words

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/