Identity Discovery: Wordy Wednesday: Moonshadows Book Review #LightningBookPromos

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Wordy Wednesday: Moonshadows Book Review #LightningBookPromos

Title: Moonshadows
Series:
Author: Claude Dancourt
Publisher:
Desription: When Mira was turned into a werecat, she panicked. She ran away from her life and her boyfriend without a goodbye.

One year later, she’s on the verge of emotional and physical collapse, and answers are nowhere to be found. When the man she left behind shows up unexpectedly, Mira is so desperate to feel human again that she welcomes him back into her life despite her best resolves.

Erik has some questions of his own, and he won’t take no for an answer. He doesn’t believe in Supernatural, or in ancestral creatures. He wants a real explanation for her abandon. But when the new moon reveals the black panther inside Mira, he has no choice but to face the truth.

While the pair struggle to work out their issues, a killer lurks in the shadows. And its restraint is thinning…

Review: Have you read much about werecats? I love them and have read a few books about them. This one is all about a woman who is turned into a were-panther against her will (possibly even by accident). She has no idea what is happening to her so the first time she shifts into her cat form and kills a rat, she freaks out. She runs away from everyone she knows and loves in order to seek out information about what has happened to her. I think deep down she is actually searching for a cure. She denies her second self to the point of making herself physically ill. She is close to death when Erik, Mira's boyfriend at the time of turning, finds her hiding in Florida. Erik has been searching for her for no other reason than to get an explanation of why she left. I think he also just has to see her with his own eyes to truly believe that she is alive. What he doesn't expect to find is his beloved deathly sick, working in a bar, and never leaving the house during daylight. Mira's life has been completely turned upside down to a point where Erik struggles to recognize her.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was interesting to read about how Claude Dancourt interpreted how a werecat would act as a human and in werecat form. I would have liked more actual werecat scenes, but the way I read it is that Mira "lost herself" every time she turned. In other words, she never remembers what happened once her cat took over. Great story though.

Interview with the author, Claude Dancourt:

Why did you decide to write about werecats?

I was fed up with vampires and werewolves. It seemed fun to have the heroine changing into something else (and something cute). I like cats, and panthers are just big cats :)

Are all the terms you used in the story based on actual Indian legends? Where did you get your mythology?

The basic legend : the creation of the world Panther and Wind bickering are actual Seminole Legend. However, the idea of moon being Panther's egg, the Kittahi, and Nethletulke/Nethlehasselawe are mine. It made sense to have someone watching the werecats, and having "twisted" once worked with the plotline.

How did Mira figure out that she was a werecat when she doesn’t remember what happens after she turns?

Well, if I was to wake up naked in a garden covered in blood, stinking of raw meat on me with fur under my nails, and bumped into a rat, I would figure out something not right quickly enough. Mira does remember something, mostly as images and feelings rather than real memories. She also remembers that the bus driver said he had seen a panther attacking her. She's ill, panicking, and she just put two and two together.

What was Erik’s reaction to seeing Mira as a panther?

I leave that one to the reader imagination.

Mira was referred to as a skin walker a few times. What made her a skin walker and not a kittahi?

A skinwalker is someone who is able to change into an animal (Navarro legend). In the book, a kittahi is someone who watches the Nethletulki, and kills the Nethlehasselawi. One is the hunted, the other the hunter. Kittahi are humans with training. Skinwalkers is another name for Werecats.

Will there be a sequel? What are you currently working on?

I don't think I'll write a sequel. But in the Right Place Universe, some characters appear in more than one novel. For an example, Erik is Gavin's (the nurse from SECOND CHANCES) brother. Adam Fielding (the FBI agent) will appear in my current WIP (SMOKE AND SHADOWS). Mira and Erik will probably do a cameo in another novel (just brainstorming for now). My current WIP is a romantic suspense : a pyroman is on the loose, and Adam will try to catch him, while dealing with his high-school-college sweetheart, and his sister's crazy schemes.