My favorite part of the first Demon Spring book has to be the friendship between Cam and Jack. In my mind, I always see them as an adult Harry and Hermione. Two friends who’ve been through the ringer together, and basically share a brain. Writing male-female friendships is so much fun–and such a rarity–that I thought I’d talk about it.
The Friend-Zone
It’s clear from page 1 that Jack and Cam are besties. What I love about their relationship is it’s give and take. Before Sara’s death (Jack’s wife/Cam’s sister), Jack is the reckless one, pushing Cam to be a little more reckless out in the field. Yet it’s Cam who’s the one elbowing her way into director’s meetings and sitting at the front of the class. Together, they bailed each other out of whatever the other one got into.
But there’s a dark side to that closeness, too. For Jack, Sara had been an integral part of his world, and when she died, he crumbled. Cam was there, propping him up, even as she mourned her sister. But once three years had passed, she was like “Okay, let’s get back to brass tacks here.” She filled out all his paperwork, found him an apartment, packed his old house up, and moved him down to DC. For not entirely selfless reasons, either.
Keeping It Platonic
As a writer, it’s fairly easy to slide into flirtation when two characters are close. You get that pull to turn it from grins to fluttering eyelashes. For Jack and Cam, I went all in with it (more in the second book). I thought about all the platonic male friends I have, and why they’re platonic instead of something more. It usually comes down to that gut feeling of “I don’t want to get in your pants.” You love the person, but when it comes to sex, nah.
(And you usually get to that point by actually getting somewhere close to their pants.)
Don’t get me wrong. Cam and Jack love each other like nobody’s business. They’d go to the ends of the world for each other (and do). And it’s very refreshing to write two characters who unabashedly love one another, without making it about romantic love.
Rebuilding After Loss
As I said above, Jack crumbles after he loses Sara and Cam is there to pick up the pieces. But even as you see how close they are, they’re also out of sync in the first book. Cam has recovered from the loss of her sister (outwardly), but Jack is stuck. And as Cam forcefully pulls at him, the cracks in their relationship begin to show. Just like in a romantic relationship, they’ve got to work on themselves first before they can get back into sync.
What other books have a M/F friendship that you love?
Buy the first book in the Demon Spring trilogy
Demon hunter Jack Grenard’s life changed three years ago when his wife was brutally murdered by the very demons he’d been hunting. At the urging of his partner Cam Macarro, he’s starting a new life in Atlanta, hoping he’ll find the man he used to be. But on a routine hunt, they come across a new type of demon–one that saves instead of kills.
Meanwhile, demons across Atlanta are preparing for the quadrennial uprising of their Underworld brethren. Worse yet, there’s a rumor the so-called king of the demons, Bael, will appear for the first time in over a century. Jack and Cam must uncover the truth about the mystery woman before all hell–literally–breaks loose.
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