You’re bound to love this one
Sable Sorensen—the duo behind the wildly addictive Dire Bound series—doesn’t do quiet endings. Their debut left readers emotionally wrecked, and with Fury Bound hitting shelves, they’re not letting up. We sat down with Eliza and Annie to talk about revenge arcs, spicy scenes and what fuels them.
Everything Sable Sorensen told us about “Fury Bound”:
For the uninitiated, how would you describe Dire Bound—the first book in the series—to someone coming in completely fresh?
Dire Bound is an action-packed romantasy with plenty of romance and spice. The book follows Meryn, a young woman who has always done whatever she must do to keep her family safe. So when her sister is kidnapped and brought across enemy lines, Meryn signs up for the army to get to her sister and bring her home safely. Little does she know that this year is a Bonding year… meaning she’ll be forced to try to mentally bond with a massive, vicious direwolf and become one of the King’s elite fighters. All while dealing with the attentions of a gorgeous prince who seems too good to be true and a hot, brooding Alpha who wants to see her dead. The story has all the elements we love in a romantasy: an academy-like setting, training, animal companions and more! We hope new readers love it.
Dire Bound was many things—stunning, ruthless, unforgettable. The ending left readers wrecked with emotions. What does Fury Bound have in store—and should we be afraid?
Fury Bound is even more emotional in our minds! It’s an action-packed sequel that picks up directly after the ending of Dire Bound—in the same scene. The world and characters expand greatly in this instalment, and we’re excited to hear how readers enjoy where the story goes.
How does Meryn’s feminine rage and emotion drive “Fury Bound”?
She’s certainly angry. One might even say she’s fueled by her fury in this book. Her desire for revenge is a big impetus for the storyline, but she also has to balance that with her new role and responsibilities.
How has it been writing Stark and Meryn’s relationship in “Fury Bound” after all that groundwork was laid in “Dire Bound”?
Writing their relationship in Fury Bound was so much fun! We see Stark’s POV in this second book, so readers will get to experience the relationship from both sides. Their dynamic certainly shifts as they both have to come to terms with what their relationship looks like in this new form, and they learn a lot about each other in the process. No spoilers, but Meryn gets better about avoiding self-sabotage in this book!
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Saela’s safety is a constant source of tension for Meryn in “Dire Bound”. How important is that sisterly bond in the second book?
Saela has always been Meryn’s whole world, but that world grew a lot in the previous book and continues to grow in this one. Given how Dire Bound ended, we can’t say too much here!
Is there a scene or a line you wrote in “Fury Bound” that you’re most proud of—one that felt like it came out exactly the way you’d always imagined it?
There’s a battle sequence in Fury Bound that took us a while to get right. We went through several drafts of it before landing on the perfect iteration, and we’re really proud of how it came together. We can’t wait for readers to get there and to hear their theories about it!
There were tons of spicy scenes in Dire Bound. Can we expect to see more of this in Fury Bound?
There’s a spicy scene in Fury Bound that we exchanged a lot of messages about before writing, and we think it turned out well! But, we don’t want to give away too many spoilers about it!
What’s the most chaotic thing that happened during the writing of Fury Bound—a miscommunication, a deleted scene, a 2 am spiral?
Not sure if this is chaotic or just how the process needed to go, but we did several massive revisions on this book. It resulted in a “cut scenes” document that is about the length of an entire book itself! Funny enough, none of the major plot points changed from our first draft—just everything along the way to get to them.
What song or playlist was on repeat while writing book 2?
We have a playlist we put together that readers can find in the back of Fury Bound! “Castle” by Halsey was on repeat the most.
Can you share with me any must-haves you just have to have on your desk for a full writing day?
Eliza needs black coffee—tons of it, with frequent refills and a thesaurus that she consults multiple times an hour. Annie prefers a latte, preferably with a yummy croissant on the side. She likes to switch between writing by hand (on her tablet) and on the laptop to keep things fresh.
With only one book left, how are you balancing wrapping up everything?
We definitely want to make sure the read is satisfying, but still thrilling and action-filled. We’ve known where this was headed since we first started writing Dire Bound, so it’s exciting to finally be able to bring these final pieces into play. Drafting for book 3 is happening at the same time as we prep for Fury Bound’s launch and tour, so it’s serving as a good distraction from new release jitters.
Are there any side characters from Books 1 and 2 who surprised you with how much readers love them—and will we see more of them in Book 3?
It’s not necessarily a surprise, because we wanted them to read this way, but it’s been nice to see how much Meryn’s friend group resonates with readers. Their journeys in book 2 are quite emotional, with more in store for the next book.
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Has a fan ever spotted something in the books that even you didn’t consciously put there?
We don’t name Meryn’s mom in Book 1—she’s called “Mother” throughout because we’re in Meryn’s head. It wasn’t a super conscious decision to avoid using her name, but readers wondered if it was meaningful and if there was a big reveal coming with her name. (It’s not; and we ended up using it in the special Stark POV chapter that was included with our rerelease of Dire Bound.)
Which character is most like Eliza, and which is most like Annie?
Eliza: I’m probably most like Meryn in that she’s also stubborn and impulsive.
Annie: I also have a massive, stubborn and impulsive side, but I also identify with Saela’s bookishness and Anassa’s know-it-all smugness at times!
Meryn, Stark, Cratos or Anassa—whose POV would you rather live in for a day?
Eliza: I’d love to live in Cratos’s POV. He’s much more prominent in Book 2, and his voice is very fun.
Annie: I would choose Anassa. She’s one of my favourite characters! I’d love to be in her head.
Which character do you think would absolutely thrive on social media —and which one would be banned within a week?
Izabel would thrive on social media; she’d have a million followers in a day! Stark would instantly get banned; he’d probably threaten someone’s life.
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What are you reading and listening to right now?
Eliza: I’m currently reading Cate C. Wells’s Five Packs series off a recommendation from some author friends, and gobbling it up! And, I’m still listening to BTS’s Arirang on repeat.
Annie: I’m re-reading James Islington’s The Will of the Many—and loving it so much all over again!—so that I can dive into the sequel with everything fresh. I’ve also been listening to a lot of podcasts about politics.
