John Skovdal
John Skovdal is a Danish author, born in 1992. He grew up in a smalltown household, with a mother reading stories to him and his sister before bedtime. Wanting to understand everything, he began studying natural science, but Comparative Literature was the degree he ultimately finished. He watched Biker Mice from Mars, read The Name of the Wind, and played Red Dead Redemption II. Some time later, he wrote The God Anima, to distract himself during a difficult stretch of his life.
The God Anima is a story in a genre that could only rightfully be called fantasy-cyberpunk. It is what happens when you take a setting of slow, lyrical worldbuilding, remove the shepherding artist that is its god, and inflate all meaning, until the illusive forest dwellers are thrown onto stripper poles.
Where magic in the old world was scarce and mystical, it is now so ubiquitous as to be invisible; people have forgotten that the forces of soul driving everyday technology was once something awe-inspiring.
The story explores a “left behind” young man, Benji, who is caught in a meaningless job. His socially awkward inclinations are tested once he is faced with an outlaw idol of his: Stellien, his personal underground sex symbol. A title that has her seething in fury. As he joins her band of outlaws to fight against the tyrannical government, he finds meaning, with or without Stellien’s abrasive affections.
John can be found at:
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/johnskovdal
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578244062734
Bluesky: http://bsky.app/profile/johnskovdal.bsky.social
Blog: https://johnskovdal.blogspot.com/
Tell me what inspired you to write your debut novel?
I was caught in something of a mental lockdown. I worked a soul-draining customer service job, and my wife was neck deep in chemotherapy for a rare variety of cancer, contracted from the great hubris of trying to conceive a child. She did fortunately recover.
The book was a in a way a vent piece; a lithe, explosive narrative, that never stops to rest, kept alive by my frustrations of feeling locked in place. One story beat took the next, and I was done in a little over a year. A delightful change of pace from earlier manuscripts of mine.
What came first. The characters or the world?
Technically, the world existed long before the book, for the simple reason that while it’s my first publication, it is not my first manuscript.
For the book itself, it started with Amary Stellien, the female love interest, who I like to think is a physical incarnation of all that defines the bright cityscape the story unfolds in. A bright and rebellious veneer of piercings and neon hair. a yapping and furious attitude that distracts from buried trauma, and cold, unfeeling prosthetic limbs, keeping any would-be romantic at arm’s length from what heart remains at the core.
How hard was it to get your first (debut) book published?
Once I decided to self-publish, the hardest part was getting the cover finished. I drew it myself, because I wanted to feel responsible, and because I liked the idea of a charming, hand-made look. But while I am well-versed in one-shot art, I am not well-versed in the patience it requires to manually place every line in an intricate cityscape. It took more months than I’d like to admit.
Do you have a writing playlist? If so, do you want to share it?
For this story, it had to be anything and everything by Enter Shikari, whose fleeting genre and themes go perfectly with anything cyberpunk. I have a naive dream that once The God Anima gets an anime adaption, Enter Shikari’s track The Void Stares Back will be the title song.
What kind of reactions have you had to your book?
To my immense joy, it has mostly been fascination for the daring aspects of the universe and requests for sequels. It is greatly motivating, and I do hope fate will allow me to follow up with more writing for my readers.
What’s the favourite reaction you’ve had to your book?
Unquestionably, it was being lucky enough to find the literal ideal reader for the story in every sense of the concept. Together we went through every facet of the book, talking about all the thoughts and feelings it set in motion. It helped solidify my confidence that my imagined audience – lost young males, who want alien romance and fantastical action – weren’t just a fever dream of mine. He effectively put his life on hold to help polish the product into what it is today.
What can you tell us about your next book?
The next book I publish will likely be the one I put on hold to create The God Anima. A story that has been brewing since my late teens. It will be the first instalment of a prequel trilogy with the over-arching title Dancer and Dreamer, in which we experience the world in the time up until the Descent, the event defining the world-order of Iridescent City. That book is “almost finished”, in the grand scheme of things. The sequel to The God Anima will follow soon after; the working title of that book is The Memoir of Earth, and it will explore the story of the world’s second god.
Would you ever consider writing outside your current genre?
I have several ideas for literary (as opposed to commercial) fiction. If I ever earn the leeway to do “whatever I want”, a few of those books will be written, and they will likely will only be read by a handful of people. Until then, I owe myself and my readers to see one project through to the end.
Which author(s) inspire you?
At the risk of coming off as basic, Patrick Rothfuss and Brandon Sanderson are probably the main standards I strive for. I find the tone and themes of Rothfuss to be immersive and beautiful, and I find the structure and prudence of Sanderson to be engaging and effective. One might hope that my own writing lands somewhere in between the two.
Were you a big reader as a child?
I am a bit embarrassed to admit that the amount of reading I got in when I was young dwarfs the reading I feel I am capable of today. Part of the reason is the stress of grown-up life that enhances one’s ADD inclinations (a common experience, I hear). Another reason is that the moments I feel the urge to read are also the moments I feel the urge to write. A part of me hopes that The God Anima will be a story that helps males that forgot how to read recreationally rediscover that pleasure.
How many books are in your own physical TBR pile?
Too many to count. One day, I’ll take back control from my ADD.
What is your current or latest read?
Ready Player One. I picked it up, because a reader pointed out the similarities between it and my own story. There is a striking number of parallels, I must admit.
Any plans or projects in the near future you can tell us about?
In the efforts to self-promote, I am putting all my creative thought towards projects that might drive up interest. This includes a studio recording of the song lyrics presented in the book’s epigraph and doing drawings of the story’s characters. To share these productions, I’ll be appearing at any relevant convention or literary event within my immediate radius (which is not a large radius, sadly). If you keep up with me on my socials, you will miss none of it.
