Interview: ST Bende (Elsker)
Writer of NA paranormal romance, ST Bende is stopping by at Nyx Book Reviews to talk about her book Elsker, Norse mythology and what New Adult means for her. To find out more about her you can visit her blog or connect with her on Twitter, and you can read more about her book on Goodreads and Amazon.
Nyx Book Reviews: Hi Daniel, welcome to Nyx Book Reviews. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Daniel Clausen: I read too much. Sometimes, I write too much. Luckily, I do most other things in moderation. Up until this very moment of my life, I’ve been most proud of my short story collection, The Lexical Funk. The book was almost everything I wanted it to be. In a year or so, I hope I can look back with some kind of objectivity and say that Ghosts of Nagasaki was a great book.
Nyx Book Reviews: Hi ST, welcome to Nyx Book Reviews! Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?
ST Bende: Thanks for hosting me Celine. As a debut author, I truly appreciate the awesome blogging community for showing my imaginary friends so much love. Y’all have been so kind!
I’m a baking aficionado, an IndyCar fan, and a lover of all things Scandinavian… except for fish. I make up stories about Norse gods, and I love writing to the band Imagine Dragons.
Could you describe your book, Elsker, in one sentence?
You don’t win the heart of an immortal assassin without making a few enemies along the way.
Elsker incorporates a lot of Norse mythology. What kind of research did you do before writing the book?
I have to confess that I wrote Elsker quite by accident. It was a story I wrote in my journal, just for me, that got a little out of control. And since I adore Norse mythology, the story was just another excuse to research the old myths. I must have checked out every book our little library had, from textbooks to children’s books. Then I read them
cover to cover. It was one of my favorite parts of this experience.
Your book is marketed as New Adult. Both bloggers and publicists have a hard time defining New Adult. What does it mean for you?
I think of New Adult as stories that cover the college period – where the protagonist is too old to be fully Young Adult, but too young to be fully Adult. It’s about that time of life where everything is changing, where characters have heaps of freedom but minimal responsibility, and they have to figure out how to balance that. NA has been stereotyped as steamy YA, but that’s not necessarily true — Elsker is pretty darned clean. And while much of the current crop of NA is contemporary, I think we’ll see a lot of development into other areas as the genre takes off.
Do you still have time to read yourself? If so, have you read any books lately that you’d recommend?
I love to read! I’m currently on a Chick Lit kick, and I’ve been working my way through a group of authors I lucked into on Twitter. If you search the hashtag #goddesslit you’ll find them. (Such a fun name, right?) I just finished Tracie Banister’s In Need of Therapy, and I’m about to start Libby Mercer’s newest, Karmic Connection. Every single book I’ve read by the authors in that group has been fantastic.
What do you like best about being a writer?
I’ve loved discovering the incredibly supportive writing community. I’ve met some of the nicest people on this journey, and they’ve all been willing to share their experiences and advice. I’m so grateful to them.
And getting to daydream about a 6’5” Nordic Adonis all day hasn’t been too terrible either. Ull can’t wait to meet y’all.
Thank you for answering my questions! (:
Thank you for letting me visit!
Before finding domestic bliss in suburbia, ST Bende lived in Manhattan Beach (became overly fond of Peet’s Coffee) and Europe… where she became overly fond of the musical Cats. Her love of Scandinavian culture and a very patient Norwegian teacher inspired the ELSKER series. She hopes her characters make you smile and that one day pastries will be considered a health food.
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