Mundie Moms

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Mundie Moms Interview with Claire De Lune author Christine Johnson

We are very excited to have Christine Johnson, author of Claire De Lune on our blog with us today!

We are wolf girls at heart and are very excited for Claire De Lune. What can you tell us about the origin of your werewolf mythology?


Yay! I’m so glad to hear about people looking forward to Claire! It was so much fun to write. Okay, so the origin of my werewolf mythology. Right. Well, basically what I did was spend a ton of time reading werewolf (and werefox and werebat and werewhathaveyou) mythology from around the world, and then I pretty much turned it all on its head. Because there’s no - I mean, it’s not a written tradition, right? It’s like anything mythological. It’s a story told from a story told from a story. Like a game of telephone, where the end result is totally different from the origin. That’s one reason I incorporated certain facets of the myth - that werewolves would have unusual abilities, like opening locks without keys - but expanded on them. Often, I think, “fantastic” things that manage to survive do so because they stay hidden. Because the stories and the treasure-maps and the myths are misleading enough to cover the “true” tracks. Does that make sense?


Yes, that definitely makes sense and we think sounds for an amazing read!


Which character did you enjoy writing the most? Why?


Emily. (I mean, besides Claire, of course.) I love Emily. I can hear her, see her. If I type something for her that’s not quite in her voice, I can practically see her rolling her eyes at me. She’s just incredibly real in my own head.


Which character did you find most challenging to write? Why?


This is a hard question to answer without spoilers. Dr. Engle was rather difficult, though. His character required a really fine balance. While he’s obviously a huge danger to Claire and her kind, and he’s rabidly dedicated to the idea of eradicating lycanthropy . . . he’s not evil. What he’s doing, he’s doing out of a very real sense of what’s right.

He’s wrong, of course, but he’s not malicious. Sometimes those are the most dangerous people, and that combination was perfect for his character . . . but it turns out that it’s not such an easy thing to write!

We're looking forward to meeting these characters.

What was special about Hanover Falls that made it the setting for your book?


Well, Hanover Falls is a fictional town. I thought about trying to use a real-life city, but it didn’t work. In a lot of ways, Claire de Lune was really complicated, setting-wise. I needed specific places, and I needed them to relate in certain ways. I didn’t know any actual towns that had the combination of things I needed to make the plot function smoothly. Eventually, I decided that the best thing to do was create a town. And, since I’d already created an all-female species of werewolf, it didn’t seem like a huge hurdle to make up a town!


In writing Claire De Lune, which author do you think influenced you the most?


That’s a tough question. I try to ride the line between action and literature . . . I don’t think any one author influenced me in particular. I’m always reading YA stuff, and I read really fast. So whatever I’m reading is influencing me at that moment, but that means from Monday to Wednesday, I’m trying to be John Green, but from Wednesday to Friday, I’m all fired up because of a Holly Black novel. And on and on and on. Mostly, I think that I’m inspired to try and strike a balance wherein my readers are finding the plot exciting and intriguing, but are also able to notice some good metaphors, etc. I’ll tell you, the person/book that has done that the absolute BEST in the last year (in my opinion, of course,) is Libba Bray, with GOING BOVINE.


You've listed some of our favorite authors!


How did you balance writing Claire De Lune with Mom duties?

I didn’t. Honestly.

My cousin’s wife said it best. We were talking about working and parenting and she said “I feel like my life is a string of interruptions.” And that’s just it. The moment I’m fully engaged and really rocking as a mommy, I need to/have to/want to work. And then as soon as the writing is flowing and I’m in a perfect groove and could go forever - that’s when the sitter has to leave. Or the kids wake up from their naps. Or when I really have to go to bed if I’m not going to be a total grump over Hi-Ho Cherri-o in the morning.

The other thing that makes it work is that I have really great support. Some good baby-sitters. A wonderful husband. And a mom who is there for me every step of the way, always volunteering to watch the kids or make dinner. Without my mother, I would not be able to do half of what I do (mostly because *she’s* doing the other half of the stuff for me.)

Of course, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Writing and mothering are the two most important things I do - they’re my most critical self-identities. The frustration of trying to juggle them is absolutely worth it if I get to claim both.

Hey - it’s been so fun talking to you! Thanks for having me over for a chat.

I love the honest answer. Some of us started writing and are finding it's hard to balance Mom time and writing. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us! We are looking forward to Claire De Lune's release on May 18th and our chat with you that same night!!

You can find out more about Claire De Lune here- http://www.christinejohnsonbooks.com/books/ Be sure to pre-order Clare De Lune today! Don't forget to mark your calendars for our May 18th chat with Christine, when Claire De Lune is released by Simon Pulse (Simon and Schuster).

2 comments:

  1. Oh, I've been waiting for Claire de Lune to come out. I can hardly wait to read it. And I lovelovelove the answer about balancing motherhood and writing -- LOL. Honest and true.

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  2. I'm really looking forward to this book. It seems like such an original twist on an old idea! Love what I'm learning about it so far!

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