Livia E. De Souza lives in Connecticut, where she writes speculative fiction. Her short stories have appeared in publications including Penumbra, Tales to Terrify, and Amazing Stories. She has written two novels: The Blackdog King and The Sons of Saints. Her novella, The Case of Ruth Doyle, will be released in the Summer of 2025.
She can be found online at www.liviaedesouza.com, where you can subscribe to her newsletter to stay updated on all new releases.
If you had to choose between being a mermaid or a dragon, which would you pick and why?
-Mermaid, because I’m not the best swimmer. Don’t get me wrong: I can swim. It’s just that I only have one stroke that I do very well. I am considering taking adult swimming lessons, but it seems like becoming a mermaid would be a handy shortcut to avoiding hours in a chlorinated pool, floundering through the backstroke, while an instructor looks on with poorly concealed disappointment.
If you were stranded on a deserted planet with only one book to read, but it turned out to be one of your own, how would you feel?
-Pleasantly surprised! I hear they’re quite good, and that I can’t go wrong regardless of which one is chosen.
If you could choose any real-life celebrity to make a cameo appearance in one of your books, who would it be and why?
-That would have to be Joe Don Baker. I’m a huge fan and even used one of his character’s surnames for a penname, so it would be an honor to see him appear in one of my stories. The novel I’m currently working on could certainly use his skills!
If you were to write a parody of one of your own books, what would be the most ridiculous twist you could add to the plot?
-As someone who grew up reading and writing fanfiction, I think I have to plead the Fifth. Needless to say, things would get steamy quickly, but in a way that only a handful of readers would appreciate.
What’s the silliest misconcption you’ve had about something scientific, what was it and how did you learn you had misapprehended?
-I made it to my mid-twenties thinking that opposable thumbs were just thumbs which mirrored each other (one on the right, one on the left). It was not until five years ago that someone told me the thumb needs to oppose the other fingers of the same hand.
How have you used the phrase “I’m a writer” to avoid an unpleasant situation? What was it?
– I am currently working on a novel which takes place during the 1800s and involves the non-fatal use of poisons, so I use that phrase whenever someone borrows my computer or phone and sees the open tabs.
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Livia E. De Souza’s new novella, The Case of Ruth Doyle, follows a 1950s housewife who finds a downed alien spacecraft, and rescues a small lifeform from inside. Now, she finds she is relentlessly trailed by two mysterious entities who are not quite human, and whose motives she has only just begun to understand.
The Case of Ruth Doyle will be released in the summer of 2025.
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