Writer & Editor
Great news: WolfCop is now a reality. Writer/director Lowell Dean and his filmmaking team managed to advance through multiple fan-voted rounds of CineCoup’s development-spurring competition. When they made it into the Top 5 finalists in the inaugural CineCoup Film Accelerator, I had hope they might make it all the way — and on June 10, they did.
OK, this isn’t strictly speaking a werewolf souvenir, but you have to admit the image of a Canadian wolf on the face of a pure silver $20 coin is appropriate for lovers of all things lycanthropic. The new coin, issued by the Royal Canadian Mint, was released this year. According to the mint’s website as I write this, the mintage of 250,000 coins is already 97% sold out.
It’s my pleasure today to host urban fantasy author Rhiannon Held, writer of werewolf novels Silver (2011) and its sequel Tarnished, which is out now. I asked her about a possible writing soundtrack, but also about what she thought of the werewolf’s place in culture today. As befits a writer whose werewolves’ social dynamics are rich and complex, she had some fascinating thoughts to share. Take it away, Rhiannon!
When David invited me to do this post, he asked for my thoughts on an interesting topic: What does the werewolf mean as a monster in today’s fiction? I don’t know the answer myself — but while we’re overrun with vampires and zombies, the werewolf seems stuck — at least in the popular consciousness — in old tropes, and doesn’t seem to have the same impact on pop culture.
I think at least part of the answer lies in an idea that I’ve held for a while: we seem to use or discard our monsters based on what kind of metaphors they’re good for. What do I mean by that? Let’s take vampires as an example. Back in history, when they were hairy-palmed ugly monsters, they seemed like more of a metaphor for the unknowable evil that jumps out at you from the dark.
Indie author Allison Moon has been making a name for herself with her feminist take on werewolves, first in Lunatic Fringe (2011). That same year, she was named a Lambda Literary Emerging LGBT Authors Fellow and was a runner up for the Victoria Hudson Emerging Author Award. This year, she continues with her second book in the Tales of the Pack series, Hungry Ghost, available now.
We’ll have an interview with Allison later this week about Hungry Ghost, but in the meantime she was kind enough to write a guest post for As You Were on the music that inspires her as she writes her werewolf tales. Read on, and give it a howl…
Do you like werewolves? Are you tired of vampires stealing all the sartorial elegance? Never fear. What you need are a few snazzy, sharp, fangs-and-fur t-shirts to liven up your wardrobe. There are many lycanthropic tees out there, but here, for a start, are my choices for werewolf shirts you need to own…
No, it’s not a new officer of the Saskatoon Police Service’s canine unit, but you could be forgiven for thinking that at first glance of Lou Garou, the main character in Canadian werewolf movie WolfCop.
A werewolf in cop’s clothing, Garou (played by Leo Fafard) is the brainchild of filmmaker Lowell Dean. Garou hits the bottle a bit too hard occasionally, so he’s used to not remembering where he’s spent his nights. But now, instead of just waking up with a hangover, he finds himself investigating crime scenes that seem a little too familiar.
The tagline for WolfCop, which currently only exists as a trailer (see below), is “Dirty Hairy… only hairier.”
