Why Werewolves Part 1

A great gal and pal on Twitter, Carla asked me to consider doing a post about werewolves and why they rock.

I'll be honest, when I thought (years ago) about the books I'd someday write and that would define me as an author the term "werewolf" was never part of my figuring. I had tales of dystopian societies, of teens being raised by governments that used them up and spit them out--stuff full of social commentary. Stuff totally devoid of werewolves and vampires and ghosts. I always figured one of those would define me as an author. And perhaps eventually one will.

But for now, I am an author of werewolf novels. And I've found the experience thus far to be much more enriching than writers who disparage werewolves and vamps could possibly imagine.

I love my werewolves.

Here's just the first bit of why...

Werewolves are richly symbolic. This is the nerd in me popping out. I like things that are more than they seem (at least tucked into a pretty bookcover ;-).

So we’ll start simply with the concept of transformation.

In life we grow and change. It’s normal. It’s natural. Sometimes it’s empowering and at others it’s painful. Mostly change is terrifying.

It’s ironic, really. Humanity is one of a few species (gotta give props to cockroaches, certain microbes and rats—we keep such great company ;-) that is best suited to adaptation and surviving difficult environments and circumstances. But we dread change to the point people in abusive situations sometimes stay with the abuser because they at least know what to expect—the world without the bruises and beatings seems even more frightening. It’s the idea of accepting the evil you know rather than facing the “fear of the unknown” brought by change.

So take that fear of the unknown, the fear of change. Couple it with the fear we have of wild animals—especially the primitive fear of wolves—and blend it together. Now take a sip of that symbolic smoothie and you are the werewolf. Someone battling against inevitable change from within. Someone scared of what has to happen because the natural course of life has betrayed him or her. Someone seemingly poisoned by nature and forced to embrace their fear.

Who can’t relate with that sort of stress?

So, first on my list of why werewolves rock? Forced transformation. We go through it in our teen years in an utterly human way. And man, is transformation richly symbolic if you think about it.

Tomorrow we’ll handle another reason related to why I think werewolves rock. Today I play Devil’s advocate here: http://tinyurl.com/VampsStayingPwr and explain why this particular nerd thinks vampires will stay strong considering our current culture.

What do you think about werewolves? What makes them rock your world? Don't be afraid to throw in your comments. Just because I write werewolves doesn't mean I'll bite. ;-)

~Shannon