Please join me in welcoming author Matt Doyle to Stories That Make You Smile! Matt is here today talking about The Cassie Tam Files, a fabulous sci-fi series, and sharing insight into why it’s such a must-read series!

The Cassie Tam Files

by Matt Doyle

Genre: SciFi, Crime Noir, Clean Lesfic

Addict

The Cassie Tam Files Book 1

When PI Cassie Tam is hired to investigate the death of a local virtual reality junkie, she thinks it will be easy money. In New Hopeland, VR junkies die every day, and the local PD already declared it an accidental overdose on synthetic stimulants. But the more she digs, the more that things don’t add up.

To make things even more complicated, her client, the deceased’s sister Lori, is a Tech Shifter – someone who uses a metal exoskeleton to roleplay as an animal – and Cassie has always been wary of that community. That wouldn’t be a problem if Lori wasn’t fast becoming the first person she’s been genuinely attracted to since splitting with her ex.

Easy money, huh? Yeah, right.

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The Fox, the Dog, and the King

The Cassie Tam Files Book 2

When PI Cassie Tam and her girlfriend Lori try to make up for their recent busy schedules with a night out at the theatre to watch the Tech Shift performer Kitsune, the last thing they expected was for Cassie to get a job offer. But some people are never off the clock, and by the end of the evening, Cassie has been drawn into a mundane but highly paid missing pet case. Unfortunately, in New Hopeland City, even something as simple as little lost dog can lead you down some dark paths. Until now, Cassie wasn’t aware that there even was a rabbit hole, let alone how far down it goes.

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LV48

The Cassie Tam Files Book 3

New Hopeland City may be the birthplace of Tech Shifter gear, but it isn’t the only place that likes to blend technology with folklore. Now, a new nightmare is stalking the streets… When PI Cassie Tam is attacked on the way home one night, she expects the police to get involved. What she doesn’t expect is to be forced into acting as bait to lure out a lunatic in a tech-suit that’s literally out for blood. But past actions have consequences, and doing so may be the only way she can get a clean slate from the city’s law makers.

If only that didn’t mean having to face down a wannabe vampire.

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☆ Guest Post ☆

Why is The Cassie Tam Files a must-read series?

Of course, being the author, I’m going to say that you should read The Cassie Tam Files. I mean, it would be a pretty terrible sign if I thought you shouldn’t right? Putting bias as far aside as I can manage though, I do think there are lot of things going for the series.

Let’s start with the genre-bending nature of the books. You see, the fictional New Hopeland City where the books take place ensures that the stories are science fiction at their core. It’s a near future world where technology reigns supreme, and all the things you’ll see there are derivative of things that we have now. But not everything has gone well for us, and for all the advancements made, the city is still more akin to Gotham City than a happy utopia. Meanwhile, not only are the stories mysteries, Cassie herself is in many ways a homage to the pulp detectives of old. She’s snarky, stubborn, and has a strong moral compass, but she’s plagued by paranoia and the ability to attract trouble. Which essentially makes the books what would happen if you placed the female equivalent of Sam Spade into a world that’s only a step or two away from Blade Runner. At the same time, no one element is overwhelming. I’ve often been told that I write sci-fi for people who don’t like sci-fi. I think that this really comes from leaning more towards soft sci-fi than hard sci-fi, with a focus on characters rather than tech specs. At the same time, there’s enough of each element to keep fans of the genres entertained.

The series also features diverse representation without it being the main focus. You see, growing up, I didn’t see much in the way of positive representation for the LGBTQ community. Honestly, it was the sheer volume of stereotypes out there that prevented me from being able to come out as both pansexual and gender fluid for a long, long time (not to mention the lack of a name for either in my youth). At the same time though, while media where the character’s sexual orientation is the focus are important, that simply wasn’t what I wanted to write. I was never looking for characters who were built primarily around that aspect, I always wanted to see characters that just were LGBTQ. I wanted to see characters that were out and already part of their community because, for me, that was representative of the happy future to come. So, that’s what I write. In a way, I think it makes it easier for people who aren’t part of the LGBTQ community themselves to relate to the characters too, as it’s just one of many small parts of Cassie.

Next, there’s the fact that the three books currently available – 1) Addict, 2) The Fox, The Dog, and The King, and 3) LV48 – can all be read as standalones. Sure, you’ll get more out of them if you start at the beginning, but all three can be used as jump-in points if you like. The series is planned to have five books in total, and the first draft of book four is done, so hopefully there won’t be too long to wait for the rest too!

So, what is The Cassie Tam Files? It’s an accessible blend of science fiction and noir detective fiction, where each book is a complete tale, and there’s some positive diverse representation. Oh, and Cassie has a robot gargoyle called Bert. Readers tend to really like him. Caw.

Meet the Author

Matt Doyle is a speculative fiction author from the UK and identifies as pansexual and genderfluid. Matt has spent a great deal of time chasing dreams, a habit which has led to success in a great number of fields. To date, this has included spending ten years as a professional wrestler, completing a range of cosplay projects, and publishing multiple works of fiction. These days, Matt can be found working on multiple novels and stories, blogging about pop culture, and plotting and planning far too many projects.

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