The Expanse meets Game of Thrones in J. S. Dewes’ fast-paced, sci-fi adventure The Last Watch, where a handful of soldiers stand between humanity and annihilation.
We had the pleasure of chatting with debut author J. S. Dewes about The Last Watch, writing, book recommendations, and more!
Hi, J.S.! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi! Thanks so much for having me! I’m a videographer & editor by day, but the most important thing to know is that I’m a huge nerd. I love video & board games, reading, space, drawing, maps, volleyball, thunderstorms, scrolling Art Station for (literally) hours on end. (It’s a problem.)
How is your 2021 going in comparison to that other year?
Definitely “better,” though in the most relative sense of the word.
Honestly it’s been pretty great (it’s my debut year after all!!!), but even my max-level introvert self is starting to go a bit stir crazy. Writing at Panera/Starbucks/not my house was a staple of my creative process, and I’m running out of places in my house to create new writing nests. I’m more than ready for things to return to get back to normal-ish! Please!
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
AHH. I can no longer remember having ever read a single book.
Remember: Probably The Giver, though I know I read a ton before that, my memory is terrible and it was the first to have a jarring enough impact to actually stick in my kid brain.
Become an author: Though I’d attribute this decision to a lot of different sources & mediums, if I had to pick one book it would probably be Rendevous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke!
Can’t stop thinking about: Cheating a bit, but The Lightless Trilogy by C.A. Higgins. It’s such an intense read with amazing characters and relationships, and I catch myself thinking about it all the time.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
I loved writing short stories as a kid, but when I was in middle school I started getting into making films, and screenwriting quickly became my primary “writing outlet.” It wasn’t until 2015 that I really re-discovered my love for fiction writing when I started to write fan fiction for some of my favorite video games (primarily Dragon Age 2 & Fallout 4). It was an incredible feeling to get positive feedback from readers who loved the story and were always so excited when I’d post a new chapter. That eventually gave me enough confidence to try writing my own novel!
Your debut novel, The Last Watch, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Criminal soldiers fight danger physics!
What can readers expect?
Criminal soldiers fighting danger physics! But yes—readers can expect a fast-paced, character-driven adventure, twists on familiar sci-fi tropes, chaotic universal physics, competence porn, gallows humor, knife battles with gross aliens, dangerous ship maneuvers, and misfit underdogs saving the day! (Hopefully!)
Where did the inspiration for The Last Watch come from?
The original concept for The Last Watch was inspired by a song lyric! There’s a song I’ve loved for years called “Highwayman” (written by Jimmy Webb), with a line: “I’ll fly a starship across the universe divide.” That got me thinking about what might lie outside the confines of the universe, or what might happen if the universe stopped expanding and you tried to find the edge.
Other aspects were inspired by a variety of things: other song lyrics, sketches that inspired some of the characters, and film/tv/games. I would say Battlestar Galactica and the Mass Effect video game series are two primary inspirations!
Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges I faced was figuring out how to divulge setting information and worldbuilding in a natural way. Which I think is a challenge for any new writer, though it seemed especially so here, where not only are the physics of the universe different from our own, but the setting is so physically separate (only ~100 million light-years lol) from most of human civilization.
I solved it in part by being really strategic about each characters’ experience and knowledge, and what they were ignorant or even misinformed about. There are two POV characters, and it helped a lot to be able to jump between those two points of view—one who is a newcomer to both the ship and the military, and the other who’s not particularly scientifically or technologically-minded. Then it became a balance of figuring out which pairings of characters, or which point of view character to use for a specific scene so the information could be conveyed in an organic way to the reader.
If it’s not too spoilery, were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Though yes, my favorite moments are unfortunately Big Time spoilers, easily my favorite character-related aspect was exploring the relationship between the two main characters, Adequin and Cavalon. Though I discovery-wrote the book, one of the very few things I knew going in was that I really wanted to use the story to showcase a strong, healthy platonic relationship. Before I really knew it, it’d become the emotional scaffolding for the story and even the impetus for the plot at times, and I absolutely love how it turned out!
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
My favorite writing advice I’ve discovered so far, is that if you get stuck or things don’t “feel” right, that you should make a list of everything you can think of that could happen to your characters in that moment—starting with them dying, and working down in severity from there. I now abbreviate that in my head to “when in doubt, add an explosion”—figuratively or literally. Adding a literal explosion on a whim actually led to one of my favorite sequences in The Last Watch, so I’m a big fan of that trick!
As for the worst, probably the whole, “write what you know” thing. Though there’s a tiny nugget of wisdom in there, I think this notion can be really scary and limiting to new writers. Just write what you love, and worry about researching stuff later. 🙂
What’s next for you?
Next up for me is the release of The Exiled Fleet on August 17! It’s the second book in The Divide series and sequel The Last Watch.
I’m also continuing my “virtual tour” for The Last Watch, including:
- Tue, 5/4 @ 7pm ET — Sci-Fi Author Panel with Arkady Martine & Martha Wells, hosted by Towne Book Center ( https://www.townebc.com/event/virtual-event-author-panel-martha-wells-arkady-martine-js-dewes )
- Wed, 5/12 @ 7pm ET — Debuts After Dark, in conversation with Martha Wells, @TorBooks Instagram ( http://www.instagram.com/torbooks )
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
SO MANY, but I’ll try to keep it reasonable!
For some great new fantasy, try The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec, Hall of Smoke by H.M. Long, and Beyond the Ruby Veil by Mara Fitzgerald.
For sci-fi, A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White, Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O’Keefe, and The Consortium Rebellion series by Jessie Mihalik, an incredibly fun sci-fi romance that makes for a great escape!
