Please Welcome J.F. Lewis to Cutis Anserina
Eric in the Void City series is an incredibly unique character, was he a conscience creation or did he emerge to you through his actions?
I'm not sure. I've described Eric as "all the things I'd never say and all the venom I'll never spew". But that's kind of a misleading statement, because Eric's opinions are often not mine, even if we do have the same taste in music and the same favorite movie.
Eric was created partially out of a desire to write about a vampire who would not be the typical (or typical at the time) angst ridden vampire hero who really didn't have all that much to be depressed about. There had been a fairly long line of tormented vampires who were super cool, utterly gorgeous, perfectly graceful and polite, yet constantly acted as if not being able to go outside during the day and having to drink a little blood every night was the end of the world. It annoyed me. A lot. With Eric, I wanted to show vampirism as truly unpleasant, but have him still not be all that tortured by it.
Eric was created partially out of a desire to write about a vampire who would not be the typical (or typical at the time) angst ridden vampire hero who really didn't have all that much to be depressed about. There had been a fairly long line of tormented vampires who were super cool, utterly gorgeous, perfectly graceful and polite, yet constantly acted as if not being able to go outside during the day and having to drink a little blood every night was the end of the world. It annoyed me. A lot. With Eric, I wanted to show vampirism as truly unpleasant, but have him still not be all that tortured by it.
Does the Void City series have a final endpoint you are working toward, or are you taking it book by book, section by section?
There is an endcap storyline for Eric that I have in mind, but it kind of revolves around several other characters I'd like to write books about first. There are other storylines I might want to explore in the Void City universe; Eric may be in them, but he wouldn't be the focus like he has been in the books thus far.
You are often listed as an author of Urban Fantasy but you give off a bit of a horror vibe to me. How do you view these two genres?
Urban Fantasy crosses a lot of genre lines. I straddle the fence between horror and dark comedy, but romance and mystery aspects pop up from time to time. Some of my favorite urban fantasy books might have been horror novels if the central protagonist hadn't possessed supernatural abilities. Does that make sense? (It Does)
What literary character left a strong mark on you? How so?
My ideal protagonist is Corwin from Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. He cuts a fine line between a hero and an anti-hero, and his first-person commentary on those around him can be cuttingly funny. His sarcastic wit is something I love. Growing up, I was also a huge fan of Moorcock's Elric and Robert E. Howard's Conan. That probably comes through in my action scenes; at least I hope it does. (Love Howard, and it does)
You have a bit of anti-Twilight material on your website with your “Just say no to sparkly vampires,” promos. Care to elaborate on this at all?
Heh. I have nothing against Twilight, but I was lurking in a forum and saw where someone described STAKED as "Exactly like Twilight, except with real vampires" and it amused me. Then a few years later, while I was doodling on my iPad I drew Wolfy and thought he looked cute, so I made a silly little ad out of that image and people seemed to find it amusing. Strange things happen when I doodle on my iPad.
What author most influenced you as a writer how?
That would be Zelazny again. Until I read the Amber series, I hated first person narratives. After Amber, I understood that it was the narrators I hated, not the style. To make first person POV work, it has to be fun to be in that character's head. You have have to love hanging out with them and hearing what they have to say. It helps if your POV character is a bit of a prick. The exception to that is Michael Stackpole's Dark Glory War. That book rocks, and the main character is a really nice guy.
Any new information coming down the pipeline you would like to share?
BURNED comes out January 2012... Eric actually has a plan and is being proactive. Plus there is also tons more Greta POV which should please folks who have been following the series. New readers could just jump in with book four, though you certainly miss some things if you do that.
Also, the first story arc in GEARLESS: An Untold Web Comic is almost finished over at gearless.untoldthegame.com
Thank You,
J.F. Lewis for taking the time,
M.R.
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