Growing up I was always afraid of the dark. Each bump in the night made me think that the boogey-man was coming.
As an adolescent my fascination with werewolves began after seeing
Michael J. Fox in “Teen Wolf.” It was the hot, animalistic features that
I believe I was drawn to.
Recently I was introduced to author J Nelson Aviance
and I had the pleasure of interviewing him. His interpretation of the
modern day gay werewolf not only has satisfied many childhood fantasies,
it has given me a better understanding of the lore of the werewolf.
That’s funny, as I look back and think about “Teen Wolf,” I should have
known I was gay. From the struggle of being accepted to falling in
love with one of the hottest guys around and having to keep it a secret,
you are immersed into the intriguing stories that are found in his book
“Three By Moonlight: A collection of werewolf tales."
After speaking with
J Nelson Aviance I have a new
found love for werewolves because of his interpretation and analysis of
the struggles a werewolf faces. Each werewolf fights to tame the
primal, animalistic side from taking over. It’s exactly what we
experience as human beings. We struggle with being good and bad.
Q. How would you describe “Three By Moonlight?”
A. Three By
Moonlight: A collection of werewolf tales is a collection of three short
stories focusing on the lives of three men, each in same-sex
relationships, all dealing with the harsh reality of the supernatural
world they live in. Brennen only recently discovered he was a witch, his
first love, and his first encounter with monsters. Duke, a mage and
mate to the local werewolf pack alpha, brings his best friend to work
for the pack’s company only to have some werewolf drama go down, and
tries to shield his friend from it as best he can. Justin is a teen
runaway who was rescued from the street by Aiden, a werewolf. When he
returns home to reconnect with his family with Aiden in tow, he runs
into his first love, a local tough guy named Mickey, and emotions run
high.
Q. Why did you decide to self-publish?
A. I finished
work on these stories last summer. Since then I’ve been trying to get
them published in short fiction magazines, but no one was taking them.
It was important that I get them out into the world, and I’ve recently
been reading more and more about self-publishing options, especially
with Kindle and Amazon. Earlier in the year I was involved with helping
Mother Juan Aviance produce the album I Am Art by EJ Aviance. At that
time we discussed the possibility of a future project involving me.
I wanted to reach out to readers who would perhaps never see them if
they were in an obscure fiction magazine. It was also important that I
get my name out on the market. Mother Juan has been a huge support
through all of this. He’s been especially instrumental in helping me
market the book and myself as a brand.
Q. What has been one of the biggest challenges or learning experiences with self-publishing?
A. It’s a real
entrepreneurial process. I’ve worn that hat a number of times now, as a
performer, and as a concert producer. The challenge was to adapt what I
already knew to the publishing industry. Without the background that I
have, I doubt I would have been able to do it. Or, I should say, I would
have been hiring a lot more people to help.
Something I’ve noticed, though, is how many different people go into
making a novel successful. It’s not just the author and cover artist.
It’s a team of different kinds of editors, all of whom perform very
different tasks, marketing people, and design people. And that’s just
for the book. If you aren’t computer savvy enough to run your own
website, then you have even more people for that, too.
Q. From where did you draw inspiration for these stories?
A. I’m an
old-time D&D nerd. I’ve been a fantasy reader all my life and
enjoyed the story design aspects of role-playing game. Once I was out of
college, I began writing as a cathartic process, and eventually writing
my own material. Gradually, this whole fictional world came together,
sometimes in ways I didn’t expect. When I discovered the writers in the
new Urban Fantasy genre, which combined my love for Buffy, Harry Potter,
and Lord of the Rings, things all came together.
Plus, some of it is just biographical. I’ll leave the readers to guess what.
Q. Why did you choose werewolves as the linking element for these stories?
A. I know the
craze in Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance has been with vampires,
but they don’t really inspire me. There is something wild and visceral
about werewolves that makes my blood boil. I find it easier to write
about them as three-dimensional characters, with relatable human
emotions.
With these three stories, I wanted to show different aspects of
werewolf characters. They’re not just crazed beasts, but also passionate
lovers. They are loyal, but dangerous. In Brennen’s case, they’re not
really bad guys, but not really good guys either. In Justin’s case, the
werewolf Aiden is his rescuer. Duke’s relationship with Eyulf is fated
and primal, each of them like forces of nature colliding.
Q. Where and how can someone purchase “Three By Moonlight: A collection of werewolf tales?”
A.
Three By
Moonlight is available on Amazon.com, in both paperback and Kindle
formats. The paperback version is $5.99, the Kindle version is $2.99.
Here is the link to my author page on Amazon.com, where they will find
both formats:
http://www.amazon.com/J-Nelson-Aviance/e/B00CR38XHK
Q. Can we expect to see these characters developed further? What’s in store for the future?
A. For sure you
can expect to see Duke and Eyulf. The novel centered on them, giving
you the beginning of their story. All three couples are part of their
own larger story-lines, and I’ve written a number of short stories
around them, and other characters. Depending on the outcome of my
adventure in self-publishing with Three By Moonlight, I may self-publish
more of these short stories.
“
Three By Moonlight” is a great read plus the author
is someone who I believe can transport you into the genre of urban
fantasy. Pick up his book today on
Amazon. That's all we have to say on the subject.
