The Dragonfly Gambit | The A.D. Sui Interview

This interview was conducted in March 2025

Sarah Marie: When did you start writing Dragonfly Gambit?

A.D. Sui: I started writing it, hmm, it might have been late 2022 or early 2023. Even on a small press scale, traditional publishing tends to move very, very slowly. I didn’t know a call for novellas was coming, because Dave [from Neon Hemlock Press] will do a Kickstarter and a call for novellas every year. The call came out, and the deadline was a month from when I saw it, and I had no novella. So I basically had a month to just kind of write the thing, and then edit and then send it in.

SM: Oh, interesting!

ADS: Ever since I got back into Science Fiction/Fantasy, I’ve always really liked what Dave was doing with Neon Hemlock Press. He is the editor and actually the entirety of the press. It’s just him working very hard, and he is always there to uplift marginalized voices, to uplift queer and trans voices, and it’s always really like, pushing the genre, the science fiction and fantasy genre forward.

SM: So when you say that Neon Hemlock Press put out a call for a novella, were they expecting you to pitch them an idea for a novella? Or, did you need to show up with a finished manuscript?

ADS: Yeah. So definitely the press needed the whole thing. I had to send nearly 40,000 words. A novella has to be like 40,000 or fewer words, I think, but the final version was like 39,000. I just maxed out that word count.

SM: What was that like when you did finally see the finished book?

ADS: It has been a while, which is always kind of a surreal experience when you write something, and then it doesn’t get published for a few years. Then you read it, and it’s kind of like looking back at yourself as an author from a few years ago.

SM: Right, that makes sense.

ADS: It’s humbling.

SM: I wonder what it’s like for people who write work intended for the public, because I have definitely gone back and read papers I wrote in school, and then I’m like, Oh, God! I’m so grateful that no one’s ever going to see this! I don’t know, I imagine that the experience of writing a book is nothing like that.

ADS: Oh, my gosh! I did grad school. I did all of that, and there’s a much bigger difference between my graduate and undergraduate academic writing, and then my academic writing in my doctorate. Thank heavens, nobody will ever read anything I wrote in my undergrad. But, with this writing there was a little bit less of a gap, for sure. And, it’s still very much a story that I’m glad I got to write, because it had been percolating in my head for a number of years, and kind of different iterations of itself. I’m glad it finally got kind of put down on paper.

SM: So, I know you write short stories and stuff other than this book. I read one of your stories with Augur Society, for example. But, is this the only book you’ve written so far?

ADS: Yeah, so it’s really funny. Because again, tradworks so slowly. I wrote a book before this, before Dragonfly Gambit, and I queried the book, and I got signed with my agent, and I went on sub. And, while that first book was moving along, Dragonfly Gambit got picked up, edited, and published. Then, just as Dragonfly Gambit got published, I signed a contract for my first book The Iron Garden Sutra, and it’s going to be out in early 2026. So Dragonfly Gambit is my first book, but not really.

SM: Okay, so it’s the first one that’s out there, but not your first successfully written book?

ADS: Yes.

SM: Would you like to set the book up for us?

ADS: Sure! So the Dragonfly Gambit is a science fiction novella about a pilot who, after a career ending injury comes back to the fleet they used to fight with, or fight for, I guess. But now they are back to bring the whole thing down from the inside. It is very sapphic, and it is very angry, and it is also very horny, if I’m allowed to say that. But, you can edit it out.

SM: If you don’t want it in there, I will take it out.

ADS: Oh, no, I’m perfectly fine.

SM: You have a STEM background, right?

ADS: I very much do not have a STEM background.

SM: Oh, you don’t!

ADS: I am allergic to numbers. We joke about this in my household all the time, even when there’s simple math involved. I’ll say “I’m a qualitative researcher.” I don’t know stats. I did stats in grad school, but after that my brain just decided to focus exclusively on words. So my doctorate was technically in health sciences but it was all like narrative theory, and it looks at how people construct stories and make sense of the world through the act of storytelling. So yeah, no, I can’t. I can’t STEM.

SM: HA!

ADS: But, I’m a STEM fanatic! I love reading popular science books and I love space. But I can’t, like, solve for X, yeah. I will say that what I find interesting about a particular thing is never something that’s very exciting for a fiction reader. Like, I recently finished drafting a book, and it’s about fencing, because I used to fence professionally for 10 years, and for two pages I explain how to wire an épéé because they’re electric. My Beta reader said they loved the book, but those two pages are a bit much.

SM: Oh that’s very funny. You know, I try not to do super deep dives on anyone, because I do think that gets a little bit creepy when you finally talk to them, and you know too much about them. That’s a little extra. But, I appreciate the enthusiasm you’re describing when you’re very interested in something. I guess that’s also why I assumed you were in STEM. I looked up your website and I did see health sciences, and I just assumed you were in medicine. So, when you do in-person interviews or panels, and people are here to talk about your book, which characters do you find yourself talking about most often? Like, do you get asked about one more than others?

ADS: I actually get asked about the tech a lot.

SM: Oh?

ADS: Yes! And also the setting a lot. For whatever reason it really resonated with people, even though to me it felt very like standard science fiction with this formal military setting. But, people really liked the environment. In terms of characters though, people really like the main character, Nez. People want to know how self-inserting it is, and I always tell them that I’m a chicken-shit, and I am averse to conflict, and I’m the complete opposite of this person.

SM: Can you talk to me a little bit about the character Kaya?

ADS: Oh, yeah, that’s the character I think I would want to answer more questions about. People ask me more about it. I feel so bad for her. Without spoiling anything, I feel like she gets the most awful hand. She’s kind of between a rock and a hard place, and everybody hates her for no reason. And this girl’s just trying to do her job. Her very questionable job, right? But, she’s just trying to survive in this terrible universe. And everyone is basically being super bitchy to her for no obvious reason.

SM: Yeah. I guess maybe I’m asking about her because she’s more complicated to me, I think. It was easy to dislike her at first, and then she definitely got more complicated because I don’t think I’ve ever been… okay, obviously I have never been in a situation with spaceships

ADS: Yes.

SM: But, what I am trying to say is that I don’t think I have ever been in an interpersonal circumstance like the one she is in throughout the book. I don’t think I’ve been in a moment where making a split second decision was a matter of self-preservation. There’s never been a moment where I did something so severe and instant that I couldn’t even try to make amends for it or I couldn’t even try to undo the damage I did. I’ve never had to dig my heels in and defend my existence to someone I hurt. There’s a lot of that happening with Kaya.

ADS: Yeah. And, I think one of the threads within the novella is propaganda, and specifically military propaganda. And Kaya is a very, very good character to serve as a vehicle for that theme, because she’s at this odd intersection of weaponized femininity, and also just being a literal weapon. So she’s this soft, very sexual thing. But at the same time she’s like the most successful pilot that they have, or supposedly she is. At least that’s the way they’re kind of positioning her. And so, like, the more someone reads her interactions with people, the more I think that they begin to understand, or at least I hope so, that she’s being used, on the micro scale and on the macro scale. And she understands that. She has an acute awareness of it, but she has so few options that she agrees to be on a pervy, pro-war poster.

SM: Yes.

ADS: But, like, what else can she do? If this ends and she doesn’t have a career within this anymore, like, where is she gonna go, what is she gonna do? She has no other skills.

SM: Yeah, cause she’s such a rule follower. I do see myself a lot as somebody who feels like participating and following the rules is sort of doing the right thing. Depending on the angle you’re looking at the problem. But, I also know I didn’t come to that on my own. I wasn’t cornered, and I didn’t have to act without thinking. Sometimes that impulse to follow rules can make you a bit of a nefarious person. But, Kaya really is trying to please everyone who has control over her life. She is trying to do everything right. Even at the part where she gets separated from Nez, she is technically following rules. She is doing what she’s supposed to be doing, and Nez is the person breaking rules.

ADS: Yeah, yeah, that’s why, whenever people ask about the vibe of the novella, I tell them that everyone in this universe sucks, but for drastically different reasons. Nobody is a good person.

SM: I’ve definitely read books where every character kind of sucks. I wanted all of them to die at some point. In this case, I don’t think I wanted anyone to die. I really wanted all of them to keep going. I mean, I hated them, but maybe I wasn’t ready for their story to be over.

ADS: [laughing] And then everybody died, and the universe was better for it.

SM: Did Dragonfly Gambit evolve over time?

ADS: I don’t think it had an opportunity to evolve over time. I had this window. Though I will say that the story lived as something else in my head for years before this. It was going to be about giant robots. Eventually I knew it was going to be an engineering story, and that I would have to nerd out and know way more about mechanical engineering than I thought I could learn at that point in time. So instead I told myself “Okay, they’re like planes, but in space. Go.”

SM: Oh, I see.

ADS: But yeah, overall, surprisingly, not so many questions about the characters, but mostly about things like the mechanics of space flight. At my book launch, or maybe it was a different event, but somebody asked me “How did you make it all work together and make it so believable?” And, well, I made all of this up. I don’t have anything to cite, so I guess I’m lucky that it kind of sounds plausible. I will say, in science fiction, there is a very, very rich tradition of folks from STEM fields writing science fiction. They really get the tech aspect right, and readers kind of become very sensitized to small details. I always have that concern that science fiction fans will notice something like that. But, I think this has to make sense like 80% — and the other 20% just, trust me. There’s some handwaving that fans will be okay with.

SM: Say that part about hand waving again!

ADS: [laughing] So, a lot of the time in science fiction, when you’re working with the knowledge that we have now, any predictions you’re making, any projections you make on how particular technology will evolve or how it would look, it’s just extrapolating based on the data that we have now, based on what we’re observing now. And, so, your reader has to be able to make that logical leap from here, where we are now, to somewhere in the future. But, because it’s not an exact science, you can’t prove that you’re right. There’s always some percentage where there’s this gap that gets distilled down to: just trust me, bro. That’s the hand waving. It kind of makes sense, right? That a hand would move that much? As long as the gap between what you say and the current technology is small, the reader follows you. If the gap gets bigger, then the reader is like “well, this is bullshit.”

SM: You are a part of Canlit, but your work is situated in sci-fi/fantasy. I know there are writers that see their stuff as sort of bleeding into different genres. Do you ever work on projects that are like literary fiction, or romance or anything like that?

ADS: Some of my stuff is different! Some of my short stories, especially the work that has been published by Augur Society, really sits in that space between speculative fiction and literary fiction. It’s spec but it’s very, very light spec. I’ve also written some short literary pieces. They always have a sprinkling of a speculative element.

SM: Oh, cool!

ADS: I find myself using that speculative element as a device to bring out a lot of the interpersonal, sort of character work to the forefront. It’s almost like upping the contrast a little bit. And I find with the readership when folks go into it almost not expecting the speculative element, it sensitizes them to it. Because it’s a little spicy, it’s a little crunchy. They get a little bit more texture through that speculative element, and a story that otherwise a reader would like, they really love it. They say “Oh, yeah, this is good.” I think that Premee Mohamed does this really well. Her writing is incredibly literary, like on a prose level, it is some of the most beautiful writing I have ever read, and the speculative element is always there to kind of do work for the themes and the characterization. When she does it, it’s not a flashy, techie thing. I think a lot of people, when they think speculative, when they think science fiction, they think, oh, it’s about a spaceship.

SM: [laughing] Correct!

ADS: [laughing] Yeah! They think it has no interiority, and it’s all just people shooting at each other. But there’s this huge well of literature!

SM: So, what has the marketing of the book been like for you so far? I ask this because I know I came to find your book through social media posts, but not through any specific recommendations. Sometimes I like to think about how I ended up here interviewing cool writers, and part of that is to understand how not random it is that I came to have that writer’s book. I mean, this is what I would like to be reading, so I am grateful to whatever algorithm put Dragonfly Gambit in my feed. But, also I think some of my questions about book marketing are just me wondering how I can put your book into other spaces going forward?

ADS: Yeah! So, marketing definitely got, almost organically, split into like, what Dave was doing, and what I was doing. And, Neon Hemlock Press is already kind of an indie darling, especially within queer spaces. When Neon Hemlock Press ran their Kickstarter for their novellas, that Kickstarter itself got quite a bit of reach. So everyone within the SFF community, especially folks who keep their hand on the pulse of indie fiction, they know that it’s coming around pretty much every year. So you are getting visibility just by being a part of it. On top of that, Dave is very well embedded within that community, and I was able to leverage a lot of those connections to get the book in front of people who also had a good social media reach, which is not my situation, personally. I don’t want to be on social media that much, it’s too sad.

SM: Oh, good point.

ADS: Yeah, I think most people still buy books based on word of mouth. I get asked sometimes “Do you look at blurbs? Do you look at the cover?” And I say, no, somebody screamed about something on the Internet, and they were like this made me cry until I vomited and I know I am looking for a book that will do just that. That’s my jam. Let’s go.

SM: Oh!

ADS: There are sometimes these viral moments for books. Publishers always want to know how to make that happen, but you can’t manufacture it. It is lightning in a bottle, chance, word of mouth.

SM: I mean, Instagram is a visual platform, right? So, I think being popular there doesn’t really work if you want to say a lot about a book. I think that a very successful influencer there, with like a massive following, they are stacking books by colour and asking if you think it looks beautiful. Which is definitely generating engagement, but yeah I don’t know if that sells books, though.

ADS: The long and short answer, from me being in different writing circles, is that it sells books when it does. And that’s why it’s so hard. That’s why a lot of publicists and a lot of marketing teams are so active on every platform. If social media is something you enjoy doing as an author, do it. Keep doing it, because if you hit big you hit really big. But if you don’t enjoy doing, banking everything on that lightning in a bottle moment will drive you mad.

SM: I think it definitely sells writers, which seems very unfair. I’ve had my own personal little spirals about it, you know? These great writers will put everything they have into their work and give us this great book, and then they have to keep getting in front of us and telling us that we should like it. I appreciate that this is how the game is being played, though. I don’t know what people can do.

ADS: I will say, like, you are completely right in saying that social media sells the writer. We are all so big on parasocial relationships. I think it potentially moves the needle by folks feeling like they know you. They’re invested in you, they’re invested in your experiences. Of course, some of us are not as easily marketable online. I’m not a literary it-girl. You’re not gonna see me in a New York cafe, wearing floral dresses. I’m in full sweats. You can’t market the moment when I accidentally created chlorine gas in my bathroom. I don’t know, I was cleaning and then all I know is suddenly fumes were coming from my bathtub.

SM: Oh my God! Are you okay?

ADS: I’m okay! My nose is singed a little bit. But, this is my whole personal brand, as people would call it, and you can’t sell books through that. It doesn’t yield itself well.

SM: I understand what you’re saying.

ADS: I think my biggest success in terms of marketing, like in terms of reach, has been working with Bakka-Phoenix Books, which is an independent bookstore in Toronto, and forming that relationship with the bookstore has been invaluable. They are one of the oldest Independent Science Fiction Fantasy bookstores in Canada. They are great! They’re incredibly kind. They are very supportive of authors, especially newer authors who might not have this giant platform and a whole lot of leadership. They come out to literary festivals like Word on the Street. They were at Can*Con. They were pretty much everywhere! And, you know, they’re not that “bad place” (Amazon). When you’re buying from them, you’re supporting humans.

SM: Yeah, totally.

ADS: So that and like, doing in-person stuff has been so important for reach. Doing in-person events has been a lot of fun. I tend to enjoy those a lot more than social media. I get to talk to people and interact without using emojis.

SM: Oh, that’s great!

ADS: In-person stuff is also really important for your book when you’re working with a small press. If you are with a good publisher, the amount of creative control that you’re going to have is going to be unparalleled. In my case, there was nothing that happened without my input. The cover artist, even the little scene breaks in the novella are a little dragonfly that I chose. But, the downside is that small presses don’t have as much of a reach. So if you’re not the sort of person who like wants to do the legwork, who wants to be reaching out to influencers, reviewers, or even reaching out to indie bookstores to ask if they will stock your book, it’s gonna be harder to get your book in front of people, because the marketing budget is just not there. So it’s a trade-off. Dragonfly Gambit was a book that I wrote with Neon Hemlock Press in mind because I knew it would be the right fit for me. I remember my partner asking me what would happen if the press didn’t buy it? I didn’t know.

SM: I mean, obviously I loved your book. I was like “this could be a movie!” I was not expecting that from a little novella I got on my e-reader.

ADS: Thank you! I will say that, I think for small presses, it’s a lot harder. They tend to take a chance on a lot of these titles. It is tricky because there are thousands of books published every year. And so sometimes it’s about who has the biggest megaphone, right? Like, who can yell the loudest about a book, and it’s not the author. It is the publisher, and the size of the publisher, and that’s kind of the deal.

SM: Okay, I’ve kept you for so long. Are you reading any Canadian books right now?

ADS: I was actually reading through “The Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction-Volume 2.” It’s from Ansible Press. It’s a short story collection, and it’s all Canadian authors. All of those stories are quite short, so you get to sample. I think there’s even some horror adjacent stuff in here as well. It’s super fun. I love the cover because it’s neon. The 3rd anthology is in the works now, so that is very exciting. I think Canspec is an interesting space. Canlit has a very solid voice, and it’s very well recognized. Canspec feels a little more scattered because people are writing fantasy, science fiction, horror, sometimes across genres, and very often predominantly for international markets. So Canspec is not as kind of widely recognized. Which is a shame, because the writing is phenomenal. But there is a little bit of an allergy for serious Canlit audiences, who don’t always feel like science fiction can be very serious literature. Anyway, I am recommending this anthology 100%.

SM: Thank you so much for this! I really appreciate you taking time to talk with me.

ADS: Thanks for having me, and thanks for reading the book!

A.D. Sui’s debut novella The Dragonfly Gambit is available online and in select bookstores across Canada now. For more information, sneak peeks, or to subscribe to Sui’s free, monthly newsletter visit thesuiway.ca.

Publisher: Neon Hemlock Press (April 16, 2024)
Paperback 8″ x 5″ | 142 pages
ISBN: 9781952086793

Sarah Marie

Sarah Marie is a perfectly unqualified, no-talent, lit/poetry enthusiast.A~literal nobody~ on social media, you may recognize her from commenting on your posts as if you sent them to her personally. She isvery impressedby your dedication to your work and to each other, and she believes in you.