If you’ve been around the site, you’d know how much we love Gwenda Bond’s Lois Lane series. And by “we,” I definitely mean I. Fallout is our book club read this May, and I’ve reviewed (and adored!) every installment.
Gwenda Bond graciously made time again this year to chat with us about the release of the third Lois Lane book, Triple Threat, which arrived in your nearest bookstores May 1.
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Girls in Capes: In our interview last year, we discussed how Lois’s love life had less priority than her friendships. Triple Threat brings her relationship with Clark to the forefront. (Spoiler alert — SmallvilleGuy is Clark Kent, AKA Superman.) What was it like to start addressing DC Universe’s Big S in Lois’s story?
Gwenda Bond: Ooh, good question! So to me, these two are so linked it made sense and was simply time for them to meet. That relationship needed to go to the next level, and that could only happen in person.
Honestly, there’s a way that these books since the beginning are partly the story of how Lois Lane’s innate heroism coming out and developing alongside their relationship is part of Clark’s origin story–she helps inform his decisions and shape his ideas about what being a hero means. I couldn’t imagine the two of them any other way.
The tuning fork of their relationship in many ways is how similar they are; they are each other’s heroes because they are both willing to put themselves on the line to be other people’s heroes. There’s a real sense in which Clark is more cautious than Lois because he has to be–to protect his parents and other people until he understands his powers and what he wants his place in the world to be. So Lois is also a heroic model with unfettered freedom to follow her instincts… which, of course, frequently get her in trouble. But neither of them care! Trouble is where heroes end up. Trouble is what heroes do.
GiC: Lois and Clark both name-drop tons of female journalists in U.S. history throughout the book. Do you have a favorite female journalist mentioned in the book?
GB: All of them! But probably Molly Ivins (who may not have been in the ARC; I added some in last edits). She was a huge influence on me when I was Lois’s age and I miss her political commentary so much these days.
GiC: Triple Threat publishes on May 1, and another big name in the DC Universe will be coming just about a month later. Are there any other awesome DC ladies who deserve more attention than they might be getting?
Well, DC has so many. There’s talk of a Batgirl movie, and I would love to see her become even bigger and better known as a character. Zatanna has always had more potential than I feel has been used, and I’d love to see a fresh look at her teen years. I’m so glad to see Miss Martian on Supergirl this season, and Young Justice will always be an ideal version of a teen team-up of the kind I’d love to write. And I’m so so excited for Leigh’s Wonder Woman novel, which I know in my bones will be entirely awesome. Oh, and Black Canary!
GiC: Which Triple Threat character do you feel you most identify with?
GB: Ooh, good question! I think Lois. There’s probably more of myself in my Lois than any character I’ve written.
GiC: Girls in Capes is reading Lois Lane: Fallout for our May book club selection [here!], so just for fun, what was your favorite part about writing Fallout?
GB: That’s so amazing to hear. Thank you! My favorite part of writing Fallout was probably either the chats between SkepticGirl1 and SmallvilleGuy, because I learned so much about them through those and because they are so darn cute, or the scenes in the game between them. Those actually weren’t in the outline, but evolved during the writing. And discoveries during the writing are always the fun part. Oh, and Lois’s family. I love writing them too. Writing all three books has been a real gift.
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Lois Lane: Triple Threat is available now through your favorite independent bookstores.
