Magno Girl
Author: Joe Canzano
Publisher: Happy Joe Control
Pages: 320
Genre: Comic Urban Fantasy
Format: Paperback/Kindle/Nook
Price: Paperback $9.89/Kindle $2.99/Nook $2.99
Author: Joe Canzano
Publisher: Happy Joe Control
Pages: 320
Genre: Comic Urban Fantasy
Format: Paperback/Kindle/Nook
Price: Paperback $9.89/Kindle $2.99/Nook $2.99
Book Description:
When a Manhattan pizza maker is found dead in his own dough, Magno Girl enlists the aid of her biker ninja boyfriend to help solve the crime – and quickly discovers there’s more to the pie than meets the eye, including a sinister plot that spans the globe.
Magno Girl leaps into action. After all, she can fly, she can fight, and she can use her fearsome superpower, the “Gaze of the Guilt,” to bring a hardened criminal to his knees. But the road ahead is hard. The city’s other superheroes despise her, and the cops don’t want her around, and her own mom won’t stop spitting out advice about marrying a “respectable guy” and trading in her crime-fighting career for a baby carriage—but is she attracted to “respectable guys”? And is she interested in emotional commitment? And will finding real love be her biggest challenge of all?
If someone gives me a Death Metal CD and tells me to review it, what will I say? I’ll say, “This is really noisy, there’s no melody, and the singer sounds like the Cookie Monster.” Is this a useful review? No, because I obviously don’t listen to (or like) Death Metal – and so my review isn’t relevant to fans of the music looking to compare this CD to all the other Death Metal CDs they might buy, because I’m commenting on the entire genre, not this particular CD.
This is why a music publication does not hand the new Katy Perry CD to a reviewer who has spent a lifetime listening to Cannibal Corpse. What would it mean to have that person listen to KP and burst out laughing? Nothing. The person who needs to hear that CD is someone who is familiar with Perry and who likes her and can compare the music to what she’s done in the past and/or to similar music that’s out there.
Of course, this is not how things work on the internet. One of the great things about the internet is that anyone can give their opinion to everyone else. This is also one of the worst things about the internet.
I’m talking about book reviews now. Many people do this exact thing with books. They read a perfectly well written book, but they discover they don’t like the genre. Okay, that’s fine. Then they give it a poor review – even though there is no book in that genre they would like. This is not a useful book review.
All people have types of books they like and types they don’t, and that’s why genres exist, so people can easily identify what they’re about to read. A good reviewer should be able to say, “Hey, I tried this, and it seems good for what it is, but it’s not for me” – and then not review it. It’s okay to bow out.
If it does not seem good for what it is—that’s another story. But if you’re not familiar with what it is, I think it’s best to leave the bad review to someone else.
Excerpt
Magno Girl stared across the windswept roof. Her lips shimmered in the moonlight like a couple of beer-soaked cherries. From the depths of Manhattan below came the clanging sound of a city that was never satisfied.
Was she thinking about me? I was desperate to know.
I took a deep breath. “Mags, when can I see you again?”
She stared at me with those vivid green eyes. Her black hair, streaked with savage shades of crimson, billowed in the hot summer breeze.
“I’ll be around,” she said. Then she looked away. “I have to warn you, Ron. I’m not very good at relationships.”
I grinned. “That’s just one more thing we have in common.”
“Also, I don’t want to do any commercials for soft drinks. That’s definitely out.”
“No problem—the soft drinks can slide. What else?”
“Well, since you asked, I’d like to fight some crime. I’ve discovered an evil plot, and my superpowers might not be enough to handle it. Things could get crazy and absurd.”
“Hey, I want to help you with that. I’m totally on board!”
She smiled. “Okay, call me tomorrow. I’ve got a job for you.”
“Count me in.”
I puffed out my chest and stepped toward her, wanting to wrap my arms around her sleek body and kiss her long and hard—but she saw it coming, and she put out her hand and stopped me. She leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.
It was something, and it was good. My whole body felt electric.
“Just tell me what you need, Mags. Anything.”
There was a spark in her eye. “Sometimes I need to be left alone. We’ll talk soon.”
She leapt from the roof, her powerful body snapping like a switchblade as she dove into the death-black valley of bricks, glass, and steel. I briefly envied her ability to fly and then took the stairs to the street. I hopped on my chopper and rode to the liquor store.
I woke up alone the next day, with the morning sky vomiting its sunshine through the grimy window of my East Village apartment. I groped around for my phone and found it under a pile of empty beer cans. I fumbled a bit and finally made the call.
“Hi, Mags. It’s me.”
“Hi, Ron. Can you meet me somewhere?”
She sounded friendly, and for a second I felt like I was floating. But as usual, there wasn’t much talk.
“Any place you want. Did you eat breakfast?”
“Yeah, but it’s noon, so I guess we can eat lunch. I’m over on St. Mark’s.”
“I’ll be right there.”
About the Author
Joe Canzano is a writer and musician. He lives in New Jersey, U.S.A., in a house with a basement where he usually stays. Occasionally he leaves the basement and visits the kitchen.
He is a graduate of Rutgers University, where he majored in English. His short stories have appeared in a half-dozen printed literary journals, as well as in the Akashic Books online series, "Mondays are Murder."
He recently formed his own publishing company, Happy Joe Control, and published his debut novel, Magno Girl.
For More Information
• Visit Joe Canzano’s website.
• Connect with Joe on Facebook and Twitter.
• Find out more about Joe at Goodreads.
• Visit Joe’s blog.
• More books by Joe Canzano.
• Contact Joe.
Magno Girl leaps into action. After all, she can fly, she can fight, and she can use her fearsome superpower, the “Gaze of the Guilt,” to bring a hardened criminal to his knees. But the road ahead is hard. The city’s other superheroes despise her, and the cops don’t want her around, and her own mom won’t stop spitting out advice about marrying a “respectable guy” and trading in her crime-fighting career for a baby carriage—but is she attracted to “respectable guys”? And is she interested in emotional commitment? And will finding real love be her biggest challenge of all?
Buy Links:
GUEST POST
Bowing Out Of A Book Review
If someone gives me a Death Metal CD and tells me to review it, what will I say? I’ll say, “This is really noisy, there’s no melody, and the singer sounds like the Cookie Monster.” Is this a useful review? No, because I obviously don’t listen to (or like) Death Metal – and so my review isn’t relevant to fans of the music looking to compare this CD to all the other Death Metal CDs they might buy, because I’m commenting on the entire genre, not this particular CD.
This is why a music publication does not hand the new Katy Perry CD to a reviewer who has spent a lifetime listening to Cannibal Corpse. What would it mean to have that person listen to KP and burst out laughing? Nothing. The person who needs to hear that CD is someone who is familiar with Perry and who likes her and can compare the music to what she’s done in the past and/or to similar music that’s out there.
Of course, this is not how things work on the internet. One of the great things about the internet is that anyone can give their opinion to everyone else. This is also one of the worst things about the internet.
I’m talking about book reviews now. Many people do this exact thing with books. They read a perfectly well written book, but they discover they don’t like the genre. Okay, that’s fine. Then they give it a poor review – even though there is no book in that genre they would like. This is not a useful book review.
All people have types of books they like and types they don’t, and that’s why genres exist, so people can easily identify what they’re about to read. A good reviewer should be able to say, “Hey, I tried this, and it seems good for what it is, but it’s not for me” – and then not review it. It’s okay to bow out.
If it does not seem good for what it is—that’s another story. But if you’re not familiar with what it is, I think it’s best to leave the bad review to someone else.
Magno Girl stared across the windswept roof. Her lips shimmered in the moonlight like a couple of beer-soaked cherries. From the depths of Manhattan below came the clanging sound of a city that was never satisfied.
Was she thinking about me? I was desperate to know.
I took a deep breath. “Mags, when can I see you again?”
She stared at me with those vivid green eyes. Her black hair, streaked with savage shades of crimson, billowed in the hot summer breeze.
“I’ll be around,” she said. Then she looked away. “I have to warn you, Ron. I’m not very good at relationships.”
I grinned. “That’s just one more thing we have in common.”
“Also, I don’t want to do any commercials for soft drinks. That’s definitely out.”
“No problem—the soft drinks can slide. What else?”
“Well, since you asked, I’d like to fight some crime. I’ve discovered an evil plot, and my superpowers might not be enough to handle it. Things could get crazy and absurd.”
“Hey, I want to help you with that. I’m totally on board!”
She smiled. “Okay, call me tomorrow. I’ve got a job for you.”
“Count me in.”
I puffed out my chest and stepped toward her, wanting to wrap my arms around her sleek body and kiss her long and hard—but she saw it coming, and she put out her hand and stopped me. She leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.
It was something, and it was good. My whole body felt electric.
“Just tell me what you need, Mags. Anything.”
There was a spark in her eye. “Sometimes I need to be left alone. We’ll talk soon.”
She leapt from the roof, her powerful body snapping like a switchblade as she dove into the death-black valley of bricks, glass, and steel. I briefly envied her ability to fly and then took the stairs to the street. I hopped on my chopper and rode to the liquor store.
I woke up alone the next day, with the morning sky vomiting its sunshine through the grimy window of my East Village apartment. I groped around for my phone and found it under a pile of empty beer cans. I fumbled a bit and finally made the call.
“Hi, Mags. It’s me.”
“Hi, Ron. Can you meet me somewhere?”
She sounded friendly, and for a second I felt like I was floating. But as usual, there wasn’t much talk.
“Any place you want. Did you eat breakfast?”
“Yeah, but it’s noon, so I guess we can eat lunch. I’m over on St. Mark’s.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Joe Canzano is a writer and musician. He lives in New Jersey, U.S.A., in a house with a basement where he usually stays. Occasionally he leaves the basement and visits the kitchen.
He is a graduate of Rutgers University, where he majored in English. His short stories have appeared in a half-dozen printed literary journals, as well as in the Akashic Books online series, "Mondays are Murder."
He recently formed his own publishing company, Happy Joe Control, and published his debut novel, Magno Girl.
For More Information
• Visit Joe Canzano’s website.
• Connect with Joe on Facebook and Twitter.
• Find out more about Joe at Goodreads.
• Visit Joe’s blog.
• More books by Joe Canzano.
• Contact Joe.
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Thanks for having me here on your blog! It's been fun.
ReplyDeleteMagno Girl is now available for just 99 cents! You can find all the direct links here: http://www.happyjoe.net/promo.html
Thanks for having me here on your blog! It's been fun.
ReplyDeleteMagno Girl is now available for just 99 cents! You can find all the direct links here: http://www.happyjoe.net/promo.html
Great guest post, Joe. It's engaging and thought provoking. Most importantly, it's original. You have an original voice. That's one of the big reasons I like your work. I see you and I hear you.
ReplyDelete