Interview with S.J. Bell

Title: Bonds of Fenris

Author: S.J. Bell

Release Date: May 7th, 2012

Talia Thornwood's life ended one year ago, when she became a werewolf. She survived the attack, and the horrifying transformation a month later, but the life she has now is barely worth living. She lurks about in a filthy, run-down house, with too many werewolves crammed into too small a space. Every day is a struggle against the stress of human contact, the romantic prodding of her obnoxious packmate Pierce, and the gnawing hunger for flesh in her soul.

She's all but resigned herself to a dreary existence on the margins of society when she meets Corwin. Corwin is a werewolf like none other. He walks among humans as if it was nothing, and can keep his wolf under control even when

the moon is full. Talia's mind is suddenly opened to the possibilities before her, and the realization of how little she really knows about lycanthropy.

Corwin claims that he can teach her how to cope as he does, even how to transcend her affliction. But it will not be

easy. It is a hard education that requires her to question everything her pack taught her, and confront exactly what she has become. And, more amazingly, what she never stopped being.

Kayla: What inspired you to write Bonds of Fenris?

S.J.: Well, I was working on a completely different story called Howling Moon, which I was having a very difficult time getting to work. The plot, the characters, and so forth all rang completely false. At the same time, I had also been reading Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville books, which I love for being so down-to-earth. One thing that caught my eye early in the series is the way Vaughn portrays werewolves. They come across on page as something akin to schizophrenics, with two radically different minds inhabiting the same body. That got me thinking about the relationship of werewolves to the shadow archetype and the interplay between id and ego that it represents. Since I was having such trouble with Howling Moon, I decided to w

rite a short exploring these ideas, as a way of clearing my head and re-centering myself. To cut a long story short, the idea turned out to have a lot more potential than I expected, so in due course I abandoned Howling Moon and turned the short story into Bonds of Fenris.

Kayla: How excited are you for the release of Bonds of Fenris on May 7th?

S.J.: Well, define "excited." If you mean psyched, I'd say I am, but I'm also very nervous. After all, I've put a lot of work into this book, literally years' worth. If the public rejects it, I'll have to decide if I should keep doing this or find another job. Are you familiar with the Eminem song, "Lose Yourself"? Yeah, that's how I'm feeling right now.

Kayla: Is Bonds of Fenris a stand alone novel or will it have a sequel?

S.J.: I have ideas for a followup, but right now the book stands on its own, as it was meant to. I have to say I'm not terribly enamored of the decompressed storytelling we're seeing these days, where one story is stretched out over three volumes. Every time I get to the end of a book and nothing's resolved, my metaphorical hackles go up. It feels like I'm being teased. Like the author is holding the payoff for the buildup in front of me like a carrot on a stick in order to drive me on to buy the next book. If you want to know how to do it right, look at Straczynski's Babylon 5. It has this huge storyline, spanning five television seasons, but it's made up of many smaller four to six episode arcs, each of which is a complete story by itself. And each individual episode also tells a story, beginning to end. There's none of these delayed payoffs you find with lesser series that drag out storylines for years upon years, finally answering the big questions after everyone's stopped caring.

Kayla: Who is your favorite author?

S.J.: You ask me to choose one? Well, I can't. But I can copy and paste the following answer from the last time I was asked that question: Within the realm of werewolf fiction, I've remarked that there are only three authors I am fanboyish about: Jennifer Lynn Barnes and Carrie Vaughn. You will note that this is only two people. I know this. These things always come in threes, I just haven't found the third yet. More broadly, I was a huge fan of the late Douglas Adams, the work of Chris Avellone, and J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5. When I was a kid, I adored Calvin and Hobbes. Going old-school, I like James Joyce, although people who take English degrees are pretty much required to, and I enjoy the absurdity of Samuel Beckett, though as a writer of plays his work really has to be seen rather than read. It's a motley crew of influences I have, yes.

Kayla: When did you know you wanted to become a writer?

S.J.: I always wanted to be a storyteller, but I didn't know until recently that I was going to be an author. I grew up in the 1990's, when everybody said print was dying. For most of my adult life I figured I would get a disposable 9-to-5 and make video games in my spare time. It turns out that this is not a terribly viable career strategy, because there's no such thing as a "disposable 9-to-5" anymore. Anything you work at, you're expected to be devoted to. As for the other part, making video games -- especially story-based ones -- is a lot more difficult than you think. You need graphics, music, interface and gameplay, level design, etc.. Writing gives you a much closer connection between author, story, and reader, and is also a lot less labor-intensive for the same amount of story. Once I realized that the market for the written word was not in permanent decline after all, my path was clear.

Kayla: What do you think about Book Bloggers?

S.J.: I'm very glad for the book blogging community, because they've been very supportive of me as an independent author. Bloggers are always eager to help me publicize by posting reviews, and many will be glad to go the extra mile offering me guest posts and interviews and such. A lot of authors take exception to bloggers for bad-mouthing them. While it's true that you're going to have readers who don't like what you have to say, and some will be very obnoxious in that dislike, I think these authors are missing the point. From both from a commercial standpoint and from the perspective of improving his writing, it is much better for an author to be discussed than praised.

Kayla: Do you spend a lot of time Social Networking?

S.J.: No, not really. I'm told this will hamper my career, and it may. But the thing is, social networking requires you have things to say all the time. I often don't, and I'm of the opinion that a man who has nothing to say should keep his mouth shut.

Kayla: If you could explain in a sentence why someone should read Bonds of Fenris what would you say?

S.J.: Because this book is about you. It's about looking at yourself in the mirror and realizing you are flawed and imperfect, but also beautiful and glorious. It's about learning how little you know about the world, but also of your capacity for figuring out more of it each day. It's about who you are, and who you can be, and who you've always been, perhaps without knowing it.

That's four sentences, I know, but I believe the point has been made.

Kayla: Thanks so much for doing an Interview with me, I wish you the best!

S.J. Bell has a lifelong love of stories, in all their myriad forms. In junior high, he used to stay up until 10 P.M. reading cheesey science-fiction novels. In high school, he was a Squaresoft fan and Babylon 5 junkie. In college, he studied English Literature and argued on the internet about the relative quality of anime dubs. Today, he lives on Long Island, in the state of New York, and writes for a living. He spends his spare time reading and blogging about werewolves, watching movies with his girlfriend, and playing board games. He plays a poor game of Agricola, but a very good game of Innovation. His girlfriend swears she will beat him some day.

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