Friday 7 March 2014

ARC REVIEW + AUTHOR INTERVIEW : Moonflower By E.D.C. Johnson


SUMMARY :

After Josephine Woods' father dies of cancer, her mother up-roots the two of them and moves to the city. Josie hates her city life, but her teenage issues are of little consequence when they have a car accident and she wakes up in a strange land (reminiscent of Victorian Europe) alone. Lost, with her school backpack as the only connection to her world, Josie struggles to find her way home.

 She is found by Lucius Conrí, the son of a Marquess, who possesses royal blood and the gift to shift into a wolf’s form at will. 
Can the kind-hearted Lucius help her find her way while winning her love, or will she fall for Donovan Conrí his older, more serious brother and heir to the Conrí wealth?

REVIEW:

How often does it happen that you become unconcious and wake up in a different era? 

Yep that's what happens to our dear Josie here and soon enough she meets Lucius, the younger son of the Marquess who olso happens to be a shapeshifter. 
Although the concept of guy turning into wolf may not be something unique in the stories today but the concept of Moonflower sure was. Though I'm not really a fan of love triangles or of historical novels , the way this one was executed  it simply didnt bother me as much. That's what I really liked about this book. The way it held my interest from the first page to the last. Yes and now I can't wait for a sequel!

 The characters i.e all of them were great. Only Josie seemed to piss me off a little at times. And that would be everytime she got confused in her feeling for Lucius & Donovan. And yes that is exactly the reason I dislike triangles. Though between the two, I'm definetly Team Lucius. Though I had sympathy towards Donovan in the end it wasnt strong enough for me to waver from Team Lucius. But aside from that Josie was a really kind hearted soul. 

Overall the story was a good read if a little sad in the end, it will keep you glued to it.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW : 

Hey there all you beautiful people. Today I have the honour of interviewing a very talented author EDC Johnson. 
Welcome EDC, Thankyou so much for doing this interview. So tell us a little about yourself.

I live with my husband and almost one year old daughter in Palm Harbor, Florida. 
We moved here about seven years ago from Michigan where we grew up. I 
graduated from Michigan State University with my BFA in Art Education and my MA 
in Art Education from Western Michigan University. I taught art in public schools 
for over a decade but decided I wanted to dedicate my time to being a fulltime 
mother, for now. That is a full time mom that also is a writer, but my other day job 
is working for my husband as his social media specialist. That’s a fancy way to say 
I manage the website, facebook and twitter for his business. I’m a pretty busy lady 
these days.

What inspired the idea of Moonflower?

It may seem cliché, but it came to me in a daydream. One night, before I fell asleep, I 
imagined this scenario and it began to play like a movie in my mind. So basically the 
major scenes from the story just popped into my head. 

How did you come up with the title?

After I had decided to create the story I would brainstorm about how to create
these scenes I had imagined into a cohesive story and how I could make it more 
detailed. I decided I would like to incorporate my favorite necklace. It is made of 
moonstone. Well, one thing led to another and I began to wonder if there was an 
actual moonflower. Turns out that there is, and the rest is history.

Is there a sequel to Moonflower? If yes, when is it expected to be published?

I am currently working on the second novel in the Moonflower series. I think 
fans are going to love the direction the story is going. There are new characters 
and unexpected developments. Of course there is romance in the air but what 
is romance without a little conflict. The next book should be published by late 
summer or early fall this year.

What was the hardest part of writing this book?

The publishing process was the most difficult part for me. All of the editing, and 
reediting, along with more reviewing after an editor looked at it. Looking at 
proofs and having to reedit those. It was a longer, more tedious process than I had 
expected.

If you had to do it all over again, is there anything you would like to change in this book?

Believe it or not after all that editing I know there are mistakes that squeaked 
through. I suppose there are some aspects of how I wrote the story that I would 
have written differently if I was to write it again now (since I have grown as a 
writer), but my journey as an author is in the future. I want to look forward to the 
next project and take what I have learned writing this novel and strive to create 
even better works. Looking backward seems somewhat counterproductive.

Would you like it to be made into a movie? If yes which actors do your prefer play Josie, Lucius & Donovan?

Who wouldn’t enjoy her book being made into a movie? I certainly would think it a 
glorious thing to have Moonflower on the big screen. After all, I have seen it played 
in my mind’s-eye time and time again. I think the best actors for Josie and Lucius 
would have to be some young start-ups that really don’t have much of a name for 
themselves. If I were to ever pick an actor in my mind that they would soon be 
too old for the part and I would have to pick another. It would constantly change 
time and time again. I’m sorry that isn’t very fun, is it? I will give you this though. 
Donovan I can imagine as an Ian Somerhalder type. The delivery couldn’t be as 
snarky as he does for many of his character but the look is right. But if we are going 
to be true to age with Josie and Lucius, alas, Ian is becoming far too old as well…but 
he’s still smokin’ hot. <wink>

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider your mentor?

I have said time and time again in interviews that Jane Austen is my biggest 
inspiration. I think that confuses some people because they then expect the book 
to be period. Yes, the world Josie lands in is “Victorian” like but it is a fantasy novel 
and without giving too much away the setting and era is not Victorian Europe. 

But that being said Jane Austen’s writing did inspire me a great deal while writing 
Moonflower and helped to set some of the tone for the environment she is in.


What are your current projects?

Well, besides the second book in the Moonflower series I’m already planning out my 
next series. It will definitely be amped up in paranormal fantasy and allow for even 
more creativity. I’m really looking forward to it. I love Moonflower, but it will come 
to an end before you know it and new adventures are always exciting. 

How do readers discover more about you and your work?

My website is www.edcjohnson.com where you can follow my updates. I also 
have sites on other social media. I’m
on Facebook and on Twitter. Wait there’s more, 
have an author page on Goodreads

I would love for my readers to follow me, to feel free to ask me questions and of 
course to please leave reviews on the various book sites like Barnes and Noble, 
Amazon and such.

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