James Peter Behr - A Profound Journey of Resilience, Second Chances, and Magic Found in Unexpected Friendships

James Behr is the pen name of an author who has written seven non-fiction books, four of which became best sellers. He lives in Canada with his wife. Since Bear is his totem animal, and because he has silver hair, he chose a Polar Bear as his avatar, and “Behr” as his pen name.

This is his first pure fiction book, and was written to help someone he met online who was in a distressing situation. Since he didn't know who they were, or where they lived, he tried to help the only way he knew how – by telling an adult bedtime story in an effort to help them sleep. "Bear and Girl" was made up, one line at a time in an online chat, as a bedtime story for adults.

He later published some of the early chapters online, and his readers asked him t publish them all as a book. As a result, he gathered each evening's stories together, then edited them into book form, and "Bear and Girl" is the result.

It’s not only an intriguing fantasy adventure; it’s also a profound journey of resilience, second chances, and the magic found in unexpected friendships – much like the friendship that developed between James and his online friend.He hopes this book will bring comfort and joy to others who come to know Girl and her friend, Bear. As our Author of the Day, James tells us all about this book.

Please give us a short introduction to what Bear and Girl is about.

Bear and Girl is an adult fantasy, the tale of a woman with a heartbreaking past who meets a gentle, enchanted bear with a mischievous sense of humor. Together, they discover the healing power of affection and find the strength to move beyond their painful pasts.

Bear and Girl began as a bedtime story for an online friend. Can you share more about the circumstances that inspired you to turn it into a full novel?

Beyond what I said in the two blogs, with the real Girl’s permission I began to publish the early chapters of Bear and Girl online on an online writer’s site, www.StoriesSpace.com, where I still occasionally publish fiction stories. The response was very gratifying, and a number of readers said they would like to have the whole story as a book. That’s what got me thinking about collecting the stories, editing them (because good editing makes much better writing!), and then publish them.

BTW, I cut out about a third of all the stories I told Girl online in order to make the storyline of the novel flow better.

The relationship between Bear and Girl is unique and deeply healing. How did you approach crafting such an emotional and magical dynamic between these characters?

I didn’t. It happened almost by itself, and is a deep reflection of the underlying dynamic of the real Girl and me, embodied in the two characters. Girl and I have come to care deeply for each other, even though we have never met, and only spoken on the phone a handful of times.

In essence, the characters wrote themselves, and I kind of sat back and watched them grow.

The Canadian Rockies serve as the backdrop for this story. Why did you choose this setting, and how does the natural environment contribute to the characters’ journeys of healing?

I’ve visited the Rockies many times, especially to Banff to speak at conferences, and always found them magical and deeply moving. I wanted a setting that was, itself, magical, and one that could become one of the characters of the book, as indeed it does. It was also a very different environment from where Girl lives – which helped create a greater sense of distance and distraction from her horrible real world.

You explore themes of trauma, recovery, and friendship in Bear and Girl. Were there any specific experiences or influences in your life that helped shape these themes?

Like most people, I’ve experienced many traumas, mostly of people dying and leaving my life, but I had never encountered the kind of trauma that Girl experienced, so most of the examples I used in Bear and Girl I drew from the things she revealed to me in our online chats. They created the backdrop for the story, for I was seeking ways of taking her out of that headspace, and into something more serene and comforting. The stories were literally written to be comforting. That’s not PR.

As for friendship, again, Bear and Girl’s friendship developed in parallel with my online friendship with the real-life Girl, and the feelings between them are a reflection of our true online friendship – including the kibbitzing back and forth, and the grumpiness!

BTW, Girl is in a much better space now. She’s left her abusive partner, and is in the process of creating a new, better life for herself – the life she always wanted.

The character of Bear has a mischievous sense of humor, which balances the emotional depth of the story. What inspired this trait in Bear, and how do you see humor playing a role in healing?

(ducks his head bashfully) Well, TBH, Bear is me. His sense of humour is very much mine. And I have always used humour to be supportive and helpful – never to denigrate. My father once told me that he could never discipline me as a kid because I always made him laugh, so I guess it was also a protective trait as well.

Mother Nature appears in the story as a mystical character. Can you talk about her role and how she fits into the overarching themes of magic and resilience?

TBH, her appearance was a bit of a surprise to me. I originally had no intention of including Her in the stories I was writing. I didn’t even think of it. Yet, as I explored Bear and Girl’s world, I found Her appearing at the edges of the story, mostly apparent by her shadow.

The first full appearance onstage happened when I had to figure out how Bear came into being. When I started writing the stories, I had no idea how this magical creature appeared, or how he lived in a cabin in the Rockies, or how he managed to be able to talk, or many other things. I just started spinning the tale – then followed where it led me, which is something I learned from Stephen King’s excellent book, On Writing.

By the time I decided I had to come up with Bear’s backstory, it was one of the very few times that I had to plan it out ahead of time, and not make it up on the fly. And for that to work, I needed a magical agent. By that time, Mother Nature was definitely hovering in the wings, so it was the most natural(!) thing in the world to have Her be the agent who brought Bear into being.

Later on, at the end of the book, we find out that Mother Nature is only one of the many ways She’s perceived. But let’s leave that to your readers to discover, shall we?

Besides writing, what other secret skills do you have?

Well, I was in the national yo-yo finals two years running. Does that count?

This is your first venture into fiction after writing several successful non-fiction books. How was the writing process different for Bear and Girl compared to your previous works?

Ah, great question. Let’s see. Writing non-fiction is both harder and easier. The harder part is you have to do a lot of research because you’re supposed to write about things that are real. The easier part is that the facts tell you what you need to write – although not how to write it. And editing is harder, too, because you have to check your facts to make sure they’re accurate.

Since I was working with conventional publishers for my non-fiction books, they did the fact checking – a process I hated because I wound up having to justify myself and the statements I made. But it was a necessary process, and I accepted that.

In contrast, writing fiction is both easier and harder – a mirror image, as it were. You don’t need to fact-check as much, although I actually sat down and identified every statement I made about Bear and Girl and the world they inhabited in order to make sure the statements were consistent all the way through. One example: Where did the sun rise and set, and how did it create shadows?

But I could change where the sun rose and set, or even how if I wanted. I wasn’t bound by reality, and that’s the part that makes fiction so much easier. It’s also intensely enjoyable – at least to me! But then, I’ve been an avid reader of fiction all my life, and enjoy living in the minds of authors!

The harder part of fiction is that you have to make it all up – and it has to hang together and make sense. “The willing suspension of disbelief” that gives storytellers license to create fiction can’t strain the reader’s disbelief too much, or they will just chuck your book and move on to the next one.

The book has been described as "a magical bedtime story for adults." How do you think stories like this can bring comfort to adult readers in the same way that childhood bedtime stories did?

One of my early readers commented:

“I've been trying to find the right words for this. It has a comforting, magical child-like storytelling, yet it’s for adults. I’ve had trouble putting to words why I think this story is so special and needs to be published. In our ‘hurry up’ world of increasing complexities, this story is told at a relaxing pace with child-like simplicity, soothing the reader while addressing universal themes of fear, pain, loneliness, hope, and friendship. Who wouldn't want something big and furry to snuggle with and keep nightmares away? It's unique in many ways.”

How does it bring comfort? By slowing the pace of life. By focusing on things that are uplifting. By actively trying to be supportive and loving in a person-to-person way, even with people you don’t know.

I’ve always tried to do this, but a speaker I once heard put it into words for me. He said, “If you meet someone at an emotional level of 6 (out of 10) and leave them at an emotional level of 4, they’re not going to want to see you again. But if you meet them at 6, and leave them at 8, they want to see you and be with you!”

I always try to lift people up, even strangers in casual exchanges. And that was the tone I used when I wrote the stories.

The story blends fantasy and philosophy. How did you strike a balance between these elements to ensure the narrative remained both enchanting and thought-provoking?

I don’t know, honestly. The philosophy is my own, mostly, worked out over many years. I put it forward for the real Girl partly to distract her from the harsh reality of her life, and partly to offer her a broader perspective of what life could be than the constrained world she was forced to live in. Yet, the purpose wasn’t to expound philosophical principles, but to comfort her at a difficult time.

I edited it down a lot, especially Chapter 3, when I was shaping the stories into a book, trying to make sure the philosophy wasn’t boring and overbearing (no pun intended). That it turned out to be both “enchanting and thought-provoking” is, perhaps, as much attributable to Girl, and what she needed more than it was to any brilliant master plan on my part.

What message or feeling do you hope readers will take away from Bear and Girl's journey?

(smile) That’s easy. I want them to be comforted, to find it soothing and helpful. Again, one of my readers wrote me to say:

“Bear and Girl … make my day always brighter. The stories are magical. Truly. Honestly. And they do help by their kindness and love and beauty. And reminders of all that is good.

“I have fallen in love with Bear. So sweet and so kind. I feel like when my father used to read me one chapter of Heidi at night....lovely, lovely story. Bear warms my heart. Thank you.

“Oh, Bear, please come and visit me. I need you sometimes.”

That is what I hope readers get from Bear and Girl – that it warms their hearts.

Your readers encouraged you to publish Bear and Girl after sharing parts of it online. How did their feedback shape the development of the book?

I think I’ve pretty much covered that, but if you want more, ask.

Since Bear is your totem animal and "Behr" is part of your pen name, how much of yourself is reflected in Bear’s character?

A lot. Not everything, but Bear is pretty much me. Especially the grumpy and mischievous bits.

Do you plan to explore more stories within the same magical world of Bear and Girl? Are there any characters or themes you’d like to revisit?

Ironically, I already did, even before I started writing the Bear and Girl stories. Another online friend, a woman who has since married and is much happier today, needed some comic relief, so that was how I created Henry, the mischievous Arctic Fox. He likes Cheetos, BTW, even though they stain his fur orange. And he loves to steal your covers, so beware!

I was fascinated how the relationship with the nearby Indigenous people emerged. I didn’t plan it, it just happened. I’d be interested in learning more about them, although I would want to be respectful.

And then there’s always the question of whether Bear could actually meet humans of the Western culture who wouldn’t try to capture or abuse him.

Yet, at the moment, I have no active plans for more Bear and Girl stories. I’d like to make sure this book is well launched and widely available.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

Well, I often visit the online café at StoriesSpace.com, which is called Inspirations. People can interact with me there – but be patient as I’m not there every day. Plus they can try their hand at writing fiction there. I didn’t think i could write fiction – until the pandemic pushed me into trying. And StoriesSpace offered me a venue to earn my wings. I would encourage your readers to try. The folks there are very supportive and friendly. Plus some of my other fiction stories are there, although not all of them are about Bear and Girl, or set in that world.

Or they can interact with me directly through my website, www.BearandGirl.com My email address is [email protected].

I would like these stories to lift people up, to make their burdens lighter, and leave them feeling happier and comforted. I fully intend to plow any money earned back into promoting the book, not put it in my pocket. It's what Girl and I agreed when I asked her if I she would be okay with me publishing the stories I wrote for her.

If your readers enjoy Bear and Girl, I’d very much appreciate it if they could tell other people about it, or even give a copy as a birthday or Christmas present. And it would mean a great deal to me if they were to leave a comment on Amazon’s website about it. Thank you!