March 2010

Sirens of the Supernatural: An Interview with Kelley Armstrong
By J. G. Stinson

Urban fantasy can be defined as fiction in which supernatural laws and entities are real in the human realm (whether known to humans or not), the setting is contemporary, and the main characters are either supernaturals or humans, and are often strong female characters as well. The attitude is alternately clueless, snarky, disbelieving, and empowered, depending on the journey the protagonist takes. Some already know of and use whatever supernatural powers they have or are granted, and others come to know and accept them during their journeys. The attitude could also be called streetwise, in some instances, or at least informed with that kind of sensibility. Romance between lead characters runs the gamut from the beginnings of relationships to pairings of long standing.

Such a definition can, and does, cast a wide net when one gets down to specifics. War for the Oaks by Emma Bull is one of the foundation novels in urban fantasy (if not the foundation novel), in which a female musician meets an elven lord and learns there is more power to music than she ever suspected. Lori Devoti's Amazon Ink features a woman who was born to Amazons, but rejected their culture and allied herself with the human world; it's a story about denying one's roots and being forced through circumstance to change that stance, albeit not changing entirely. Damali Richards, of L.A. Banks' Vampire Huntress Legend series, is born to her destiny, growing into it as she matures physically in Minion and The Awakening, but left free to choose the light she knows or the darkness of her closest friend and love interest, Carlos Rivera. Justina Robson's Keeping It Real posits a universe where humans and supernaturals live together and acknowledge each other, while maneuvering for more power and control (especially the nonhuman folk), and music also plays an integral part in that struggle. Rachel Vincent has expanded the were-animal character with her series centering on a family of werecats (and not house cats, either). There are others, of course, but the preceding titles are all fascinating examples of where female writers have wandered in the fields of urban fantasy.

Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series sidesteps the potential for death by repetition (for those who crave the new, at least) by moving from one character to another amid a group of friends and acquaintances, from book to book. Armstrong's group of supernaturals includes necromancers, witches, shamans, vampires, and demons — so far. It's a rich, complex, and exciting world, one that Armstrong should be able to draw on for several years to come.

One unusual character whom Armstrong employs is the half-demon: a hybrid of human and demon, and in the Otherworld, demons come in more than one flavor. In Personal Demon, tabloid reporter Hope Adams struggles to balance her chaos-demon power and desires with her human obligations and needs, and it's not an easy battle for her.

In Bitten, Stolen, and Broken, readers learned about Elena Michaels, the only female werewolf alive. These three novels explore how Elena copes with becoming a werewolf, why she's the only female werewolf, her feelings for the one who bit her, and how to live with and interact among other supernatural beings without humans being any the wiser. The werewolf, in Armstrong's hands, can be the stand-in for several physical conditions ("invisible" diseases, ones that don't show outwardly) or secret pasts in human life, and is likely a large part of what draws readers to Elena as a character. In fact, each of the supernaturally-gifted characters through whose eyes Armstrong tells her stories are just as vulnerable, prone to make mistakes, and afraid as humans are — making them not so different from us, after all.

Armstrong lives in rural Ontario, Canada with her family and has had 14 books published. Her latest novel, Frostbitten, was released in October 2009, and once again features Elena Michaels.

J. G. Stinson: You've stated in a previous interview that you don't do research on your supernatural characters. Over the course of the Women of the Otherworld series, the werewolf characters have become more developed as wolves and as humans. Did you ever research wolves and pack behavior for your werewolf characters?

Kelley Armstrong: I'd better clarify that part about not doing research on the supernatural types! With some supernatural types like werewolves, I've grown up so immersed in the myths that, when it came time to create my own, I could draw on that background. With other types, though, such as necromancers, I read book after book until I felt ready to tackle them. For the werewolves, you're right about the wolf research. That was what I did study — reading books, scientific journals, visiting wolf reserves etc.

JGS: The fact that you don't have one series character, but nearly a handful, is a departure from many fantasy series' construction or design (those that aren't high fantasy). Do you consider yourself successful in having avoided getting "stuck" with one viewpoint character in the Women of the Otherworld series?

KA: I do. It was a decision I made as soon as my publishers expressed an interest in turning Bitten into a series. I liked the idea, but knew I'd quickly tire of a single narrator — there are only so many threats one character could face before it would get monotonous for me. While it wasn't an easy decision to make — and certainly not the most profitable! — it's worked very well for me. I returned to my original narrator for my latest book [Frostbitten], and I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time, which is wonderful.

JGS: First-person viewpoint seems more comfortable for a lot of writers, and for many others, third person is preferred. Do you have a preference?

KA: With novels, I've done primarily first person, so that comes easiest. With my ninth book, though, I temporarily switched to third because of the needs of that plot. It was actually a faster book to write, because the various points of view meant I needed less overall plot. The reader was seeing a lot of events being dramatized that, in a first person narrated novel, would have been summarized because the main character wasn't present to experience them.

JGS: How challenging was the change to multiple points of view the first time you tried it?

KA: I'd done it in short fiction, so it wasn't overly challenging. The toughest part was that I needed to do third person narration for one character I'd previously done in first. Her voice wouldn't come to me in third, so I had to write her parts in first and change them in edits.

JGS: The way in which the Women of the Otherworld series expands on and updates the werewolf character is innovative and contemporary. Did you consciously seek to make the werewolf more palatable to modern readers, or did those characters just show up that way? Other writers have noted that sometimes a character will arrive in their mind as a fully formed person.

KA: I consciously set out to create the kind of werewolves I wanted to read about. The idea was sparked by seeing an X-Files episode on werewolves and not liking their interpretation (your typical man-killing, wolf-like monster). For a writer, that's a story-sparker. When I don't like a depiction, I write my own and that's what I did for werewolves.

JGS: Is there any way to make a vampire likable?

KA: These days it seems tougher to make a vampire not likable! Writers have found ways around all the obstacles — don't have them actually killing anyone, don't even have them drink blood from the source... That leaves tortured souls forced, by their immortality, to live on the outskirts of society. It makes them relatable. I don't do my vampires that way — because I'm interested in the moral concept of feeding and killing to stay alive — but it works well for many authors.

JGS: Do you allow yourself any reading for pleasure? If so, what do you read?

KA: I do, though, to be honest, between research and editing, I find a lot of my "reading" time often taken up by work. When I read for pleasure, it's usually thrillers, often without paranormal elements.

JGS: Is it easier or harder to have more than one series ongoing concurrently?

KA: For me, it's easier because I like variety. Changing narrators helps mix things up and keep it fresh, but changing series takes that one step farther. When I switch, I love the change of pace. Then, by the time I'm nearing the end, I'm looking forward to another change with the next book on my writing schedule.

JGS: On Lynda Williams' blog Reality Skimming, there was a discussion titled "Reclaiming roles in fantasy for women who don't kick butt." The central questions Williams posed to start the discussion were "...what about heroines who act like women of their place and time, more or less, but are still awesome in ways that don't involve beating the bad guys into submission? Can we identify without feeling belittled? And is there anything worth learning from them?" You have heroines of the kicking (Elena Michaels) and non-kicking type (Jaime Vegas). Did you make a conscious decision to make some of your female lead characters less physically assertive, let's say, than others?

KA : Yes, I did make a conscious decision not to make all my characters as physically assertive as Elena, one I made as soon as I decided to branch out with new narrators. I wanted to show various types of strength. I love heroines who can kick butt, but it can get monotonous after a while! I try instead to create capable heroines, ones who are able to get themselves out of trouble even if they couldn't throw a punch to — literally — save their lives. Even with the physically strong ones like Elena and Eve, I often deliberately put them into situations where they can't use that strength and need to draw on another source of power.

JGS : Who's your favorite writer of thrillers?

KA : I have a lot of favorites, but my current "must buy" list would include Jeffrey Deaver, Karin Slaughter and Linwood Barclay.