The blood-soaked grandeur of viral romantasy novel Dire Certain sinks its claws in from web page one. Set in a world the place solely the worthy survive the brutal Bonding Trials, Sable Sorensen’s debut novel introduces readers to Meryn Cooper—a younger girl thrust right into a lethal competitors that binds warriors to large, clever direwolves. With echoes of Fourth Wing and The Starvation Video games, this romantasy doesn’t simply flirt with hazard—it marries it, pairing its heart-stopping motion with a gradual burn of rage, resilience, and forbidden attraction.
At its core, Dire Certain is a narrative about energy and survival, however it’s additionally about female fury, class divide, and what it means to combat for a world that’s by no means fought for you. Between the savage coaching grounds, the glittering court docket the place each smile hides a knife, and a romance that teeters on the sting of damage, the ebook builds a fantastical universe each haunting and hypnotic—the place wolves aren’t the one predators.
On behalf of CelebMix, I sat down with the duo behind the pen title Sable Sorensen: Eliza and Annie, to speak concerning the genesis of Dire Certain, how they constructed its world of blood and bond, and what comes subsequent for Meryn, her wolves, and the fandom that’s already tearing at its throat for extra.
Earlier than it turned a phenomenon, Dire Certain started as an thought between the 2 of you. What first sparked the story, and what themes or feelings did you hope to discover once you began writing it?
Hello! The story was impressed by our mutual love of fantasy that includes bonded animals. There have been so many unimaginable romantasies with that trope in recent times, however our first introduction to the concept got here from Philip Pullman’s His Darkish Supplies sequence, the place every character has an animal companion that represents an exterior piece of their soul. As youngsters, we each spent hours imagining what that might be like—and how much animal we’d be bonded with. After we realized that we each cherished wolves and had been enthusiastic about constructing a narrative round fierce, fearsome wolf companions, Dire Certain was born.
The story grapples with a lot of themes and feelings that we had been and nonetheless have been reflecting on inside in the present day’s political panorama—how class and politics divide us, and the way troublesome it may be to bridge these gaps. We had been additionally grappling with the misogyny we see in our political system and the sense of powerlessness that usually comes with it to make a significant change. Channeling a few of that anger and frustration into a robust feminine character was cathartic, and we hope it rings true for our readers as properly.
You’ve described Dire Certain as a narrative born from female rage. How did that vitality form Meryn’s arc and the emotional pulse that drives the ebook?
Meryn is a personality who’s, rightfully, indignant on the world for its harshness. She’s needed to combat—actually—for survival, and she or he resents that issues have been so onerous for her whereas others reside lives of luxurious merely due to the households they had been born into. The trauma her household has endured, and their place in society, has formed her perspective of the world. However as she’s thrown into a completely totally different life expertise, she’s pressured to grapple with that. Her rage typically turns into unfair judgments of others, and a giant a part of her character arc is studying to beat these fast judgments with out burying or minimizing her personal anger.
That rage actually comes by within the Bonding Trials too—they really feel as psychological as they’re bodily. What impressed that lethal, symbolic gauntlet and the layers of which means behind it?
We each love trials as a narrative setup—the stakes are so speedy, and so they maintain you on the sting of your seat. For the Bonding Trials, we layered within the pack dynamics so that every trial builds on the earlier one and aligns with how we envision the packs functioning: first, solidifying the connection together with your direwolf; second, discovering your home inside your personal pack; and third, proving you could work along with all of the packs. We needed it to be completely clear to Meryn that the wolves had been in cost—and since they’re vicious and violent, she had higher fall in line.
Talking of Meryn’s uneasy bond with Anassa, it’s a relationship constructed on battle somewhat than belief. What drew you to root their partnership in hostility, and sustaining that friction with out softening it?
There’s one thing so satisfying about having a dynamic flip all through the ebook, and we knew probably the most enjoyable model of this story can be the one the place nothing comes simple for Meryn—whether or not due to her personal actions or the actions of others. We see Meryn and Anassa as embodying the true enemies-to-lovers arc on this ebook, and we labored to maintain a stress much like what you’d count on from that trope.
The wolves and their packs really feel primal but eerily human. How did you method worldbuilding in Dire Certain so it felt grounded in human emotion somewhat than pure fantasy?
We truly thought loads about wolf intuition as we created our world. Each of us grew up studying numerous books about wolves—from werewolf tales to Wolf Speaker by Tamora Pierce, to classics like Julie of the Wolves and Name of the Wild. In actual life, wolf packs have complicated buildings: whereas they look after their very own, they’ll additionally make merciless selections, comparable to exiling a wolf who doesn’t slot in or can’t sustain. We needed to create a Bonded world that echoed these dynamics—protecting the wolfishness on the core of their traditions whereas portraying our wolves as historic, clever beings.
On the facet notice, readers have additionally develop into fascinated by Stark—arguably the fandom’s most talked-about “morally gray obsession.” What makes his cruel-yet-vulnerable character that makes him so magnetic in line with you?
This world is harsh and violent, so it wants a male essential character who fits it. Each of us are drawn to sophisticated, morally questionable characters, so we knew we needed him to suit that mould—particularly since Meryn has a distinct love curiosity on this ebook.
Romantasy as a style thrives on beloved tropes, however Dire Certain refuses to play it secure. Which conventions did you get pleasure from leaning into, and the place did you’re feeling the urge to subvert reader expectations?
Each of us love tropes, so we got down to create a narrative stuffed with them—however we additionally needed to maintain readers guessing. We undoubtedly loved leaning into the enemies-to-lovers dynamic, however we additionally had enjoyable subverting a number of the smaller tropes (just like the “just one mattress” second).
Some readers have in contrast Dire Certain to Fourth Wing, ACOTAR, and The Starvation Video games, but it stands firmly by itself. What influences truly formed its DNA?
Thanks! All the titles talked about had been actually influential, however once we began engaged on this story collectively, we first figured the widespread passions we needed to attract from. As talked about, Philip Pullman’s His Darkish Supplies trilogy was monumental for each of us, and we drew inspiration from it—significantly within the animal bonding, the abductors, and the general sense of unease on the planet.
Recreation of Thrones additionally influenced us, although extra when it comes to its themes than its apparent components; we needed to craft a world the place it felt like dire penalties might occur to anybody at any time. And naturally, we drew from loads of wolf influences—from werewolf romances for Eliza to Julie of the Wolves for Annie. We additionally each love Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece Princess Mononoke, which impressed our large white wolf and the fierce warrior girl at her facet.
Let’s discuss your debut journey. Dire Certain’s rise was virtually instantaneous—one thing most authors can solely dream of. What had been these early days of self-publishing like, and when did you notice the ebook had damaged by to one thing a lot greater?
We’re nonetheless reeling from how shortly the whole lot occurred. It’s each creator’s dream to have their story resonate with readers, so after all we put it out into the world hoping for the most effective—however we assumed that, at most, we’d see a gradual and regular development in readership all through the sequence. Throughout that preliminary wave of virality, we spent quite a lot of time sending one another movies we discovered and shrieking over them. We realized we’d damaged by to one thing greater once we began seeing spikes within the Kindle retailer and couldn’t determine the place they had been coming from—and it was virtually all the time the results of a TikTok or Instagram video!
That success quickly led to a significant Hachette deal—how did that chance unfold, and the way has shifting into conventional publishing modified your relationship with the sequence?
After the ebook reached a sure degree of virality, we began receiving DMs and emails from each brokers and editors at numerous publishers. Our editor at Hachette, Ruqayyah Daud, was one of many first folks within the business to achieve out, saying she cherished the ebook and needed to speak—and we really feel extremely fortunate to be working along with her. Shifting into conventional publishing has slowed down our unique [intended] launch schedule; we’d hoped to launch the books extra quickly, however now we’ve got manufacturing timelines to contemplate, with extra thrilling developments occurring alongside, like deluxe hardcover editions and unimaginable duet-narration audiobooks. The artistic course of additionally strikes extra slowly now that we’re working with a genius editor, however the result’s that our second ebook is a gazillion instances stronger than it will’ve been in any other case.
I’d like to know the way your partnership as Sable Sorensen first got here to be—and what your course of appears like with regards to mixing two artistic voices into one. Has the act of co-writing ever stunned or challenged you in surprising methods?
We’ve been mates for over a decade and have labored collectively at two earlier jobs, so we knew we had a suitable working type. Over time, we each tried writing books individually and had a number of conversations about collaborating on a challenge—and at last, the celebs aligned! We put quite a lot of effort into making our merged writing voice sound cohesive, particularly since there’s just one POV character within the first ebook. That occurs by plotting the story collectively and creating very detailed outlines for every chapter earlier than we truly start writing. As soon as we’ve got a primary draft, we edit over one another’s work a number of instances till it feels full.
The most effective elements—and challenges—of collaborating on this sequence is once we run right into a plot level or scene that isn’t fairly working. Having two views as an alternative of 1 is invaluable; typically certainly one of us spots a problem the opposite missed, and brings it to the eye of the opposite. It additionally means we will hop on the cellphone to brainstorm options, which is a big assist at any time when we’re feeling caught.
Talking of partnership, your readers have virtually shaped packs of their very own. What has it been like watching readers construct upon your world in such artistic methods?
It’s been exceptional to see readers reply to our sequence this manner! Coming from fandom backgrounds ourselves, it’s such an honor to observe folks create issues impressed by our world. Somebody not too long ago received tattoos of the pack symbols (which Annie designed), and that utterly blew us away. We additionally had a extremely proficient artist, Judy (@judyblu27), create a beautiful piece of Meryn and Stark artwork that certainly one of her mates, Tammy (@sewinbind), then used to craft a surprising rebound version of the ebook. The ebook neighborhood is so artistic and intelligent, and we’re immensely grateful that individuals need to deliver their very own creativity into our sequence—and that our work sparks inspiration for others.
Lastly, as we put together to return to this world, what are you able to inform us about Fury Certain? How far are you prepared to push the stakes this time—and when can readers count on it on cabinets?
If Dire Certain is a ebook stuffed with bodily violence and trials, Fury Certain brings an excellent heightened degree of emotional violence for the characters—and that’s all we’ll say about that! It is going to be launched in deluxe hardcover, eBook, and audiobook codecs on Might 5, 2026.
Get your copy of Dire Certain right here — and put together to fulfill your wolf
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