Claire in the UK: Christine Johnson Guest Post & Win a Signed Copy of Claire de Lune! (UK only)

This week is 'Claire in the UK' week, where author Christine Johnson has visited one UK blog per day, talking about her debut novel Claire de Lune. To find out more about the blog tour, have a look at Christine's post here.

Here's what Claire de Lune is about:

Hanover Falls hasn't had a werewolf problem in over one hundred years. But when people suddenly start dying in Claire Benoit's town, panic spreads fast. At Claire's sixteenth birthday party, the gruesome killings are all anyone can talk about. Claire, however, is more interested in the fact that the gorgeous Matthew Engle keeps chatting and flirting with her as if she's the only girl there. But that night, she discovers something that takes away all sense of normalcy: she's a werewolf. As Claire is initiated into the pack of female werewolves, she must deal not only with her changing identity, but also with a rogue werewolf who is putting everyone she knows in danger. Claire's new life threatens her blossoming romance with Matthew, whose father is leading the werewolf hunt. Now burdened with a dark secret and pushing the boundaries of forbidden love, Claire is struggling to feel comfortable in either skin. With her lupine loyalty at odds with her human heart, she will make a choice that will change her forever...

Sounds cool, right? To celebrate its availability in the UK, I have a very unusual guest post from Christine herself, along with a giveaway where you can win a signed copy of the book. Thanks, Christine!

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Christine Johnson

I love the comparison posts where authors match their characters up with other things. And of course, everyone always wants to know who authors would cast as their characters in a movie version of the novel. I am terrible at this, largely because I’m just not a movie person. (Hey! Quit hissing and throwing stuff!) I’ve done playlists for characters before and that’s fun, though I find it hard because I get torn about whether the tone/feel of the song or the actual lyrics should be the focus of my selection.

But there is one thing about which I have no doubt.

Cupcakes.

It’s pretty well-known at this point that I’m obsessed with dessert. I can’t help it - it’s genetic. No, really, it is! My great-grandmother had two children, so there were four people at the dinner table every night. On Sundays she would make two pies, and everyone would have a quarter of a pie after lunch and a quarter of a pie after dinner. Her daughter - my grandmother - makes up her weekly menus by deciding what she wants to have for dessert each night and then creates a meal to match it. True story.

So, with that as my history, I decided to head down to my fabulous local cupcake bakery, The Flying Cupcake and pick out flavors that matched my characters. Here’s what I came up with:

WARNING! This post COULD be considered SPOILERY in a very minor way. If you’re sensitive to these matters, please READ THE BOOK FIRST. Thanks!




Claire: Chocolate with chocolate buttercream frosting. Ironically, The Flying Cupcake’s two “plain” flavors, chocolate and vanilla, are called their “Happy Birthday” cupcakes. Since Claire’s story begins on her birthday, that’s a point right there. Also, the depth and richness of this particular cupcake makes it quite complex, even though it’s not all dolled up with extra stuff. Much like Claire. And there are a smattering of bright, unexpected sprinkles on top - just like Claire.




Matthew: Okay, the cupcake pictured here is called “Here Comes the Bride,” which obviously doesn’t fit. But the rest of it does. It LOOKS like a simple white cupcake. At first glance, you think you know exactly what you’re getting, that its pedigree is written in its plain white frosting. But you’re WRONG. Because it’s actually a very delicious ALMOND cupcake with the most to-die-for almond buttercream on top. Surprising and sweet wonderful, just like Matthew, who is different than Claire thinks he’ll be, too.




Marie: Classic vanilla. Restrained and elegant - this one makes the candy-and-flower-and-pink-frosted confections next to it look a little bit silly. Still, it seems harsh to me to walk into a cupcake bakery and walk out with JUST a vanilla cupcake. And Marie can be a bit harsh...




Emily: “The Bart Simpson.” I know. The name put me off, too, but the match was so good that I couldn’t resist it. This is a chocolate cupcake topped with peanut butter buttercream, rolled in crushed Butterfinger candy bars, and then drizzled with hot fudge. Funky and wild and completely over-the-top, just like Emily. It stands out in a crowd and it’s not satisfied with one sweet little sugar flower on top - it wants MORE and BIGGER and DRAMATICS, just like Emily.




Zahlia - The “Peanut Butter Blackout” cupcake is a dark chocolate cupcake topped with peanut butter buttercream and sprinkled with tiny shavings of dark chocolate. The peanut butter frosting seems sweet and all-American. Simple in a fun way, and maybe just a little bit daring, with those chocolate bits. But hiding underneath that sweetness is something dark and unexpected, just like Zahlia.




Lisbeth - The Flying Cupcake’s “What’s Up Doc?” is a dense carrot cake studded with raisins and walnuts and topped with the most delicious cream cheese frosting I have EVER had. It matches Lisbeth perfectly, because - carrot cake! With raisins! And nuts! It’s sort of hippyish and acts like it’s all nutritious and wholesome, but it’s RICH and SWEET and a complete diet-buster. Just like Lisbeth, who, underneath all her yoga and vegetarianism, is hiding some secrets of her own...

And here’s what the book looks like, with all of those characters together on a plate:



Oh, MAN. Now I’m really hungry. Okay, I’m ending this blog post and heading into the kitchen *right now.* The sugar and the butter and the flour are calling to me.

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Giveaway!

Christine has very kindly offered to give a signed copy of Claire de Lune away to one lucky UK reader.

Rules & info:

• Open to UK residents only.
  
• End date: October 15th, 2010.
  
• One entry per person.
• You do NOT have to follow my blog to enter.

Fill in the form to enter!