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Good morning everyone. Today I'd like to welcome author Johanna Garth, who is stopping by for an interview. I recently read & reviewed her debut novel, Losing Beauty. Johanna is kindly taking time out of her busy schedule to stop by and answer my nosey questions :)




Bookworm: Welcome to my blog Johanna, and thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule for this interview. Please tell us a bit about yourself.

Johanna:

Hi Naida, Thank you so much for inviting me to be a guest author here at The Bookworm.

I‘m not one of those people who always knew they wanted to be a writer. Instead I always wanted to be a lawyer. It wasn’t until my oldest was born that I realized my love of reading and telling stories could translate into something else. Ever since then I’ve been stealing away to scribble, or type, down my thoughts. When I’m not writing I am the mother to two, chef de cuisine, carpooler, errand runner, rule enforcer and general boo-boo kisser.






Bookworm: What was the hardest thing about writing Losing Beauty? How long did it take you to complete?

Johanna:
The hardest thing about all my writing projects is finding quiet time. The only time my household is quiet is when the kids are at school. Everyone knows not to call me between the hours of 9:00-3:00. Losing Beauty is the third book I’ve written and, oddly enough, it was the easiest to write. The first draft of it took about five months and then I revised and edited for another six months. Maybe I’m getting quicker or maybe it was just because my youngest started kindergarten and I’ve had more time.






Bookworm: What kind of research did you do?

Johanna:
The research for every book is different depending on the subject matter. Losing Beauty is loosely based on the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades. Even though I didn’t feel compelled to stick strictly to the boundaries of the myth, I still needed to understand it. I read several books on Greek mythology and ancient Greek history and relied on the internet to fill in any holes. The ancient myths are rife with betrayals, jealousies and interfamily strife. I wanted Losing Beauty to reflect those themes in a modern setting and in a way that would feel current to the reader.







Bookworm: If Losing Beauty were to be made into a film who would you like to see playing the roles of Persey, Aaron, Daniel and Haden?

Johanna:
One of my closest friends is a movie buff and also happens to be an early reader of Losing Beauty. She has been lobbying for the following choices and I have to say I agree.

Persey: Amanda Seyfried

Aaron: Chord Overstreet from Glee

Daniel: Gabriel Macht

Haden: Hugh Jackman







Bookworm: Are you working on any other books at the moment?

Johanna:
Yes , yes, yes! I’m working on the second book in the Persephone Campbell series. It’s called Losing Hope. It’s a funny title for a work in progress because, as a writer, the one thing you want to avoid is losing hope.







Bookworm: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?


Johanna:
I write because I love it. My greatest measure of success is, not how many books I’ve sold, but whether the people reading my book have been able to step outside of their own lives and become lost in another world for a little while. I think that’s the mark of a wonderful book and something everyone should experience.





Bookworm: Who are your favorite authors and what is it that really strikes you about their work? What is your favorite genre?

Johanna:
That’s such a hard question to answer because I’ve always been a voracious reader. A few of my favorites, and I’m kind of picking at random here, are Judy Blume, Colette, Stephen King, Edith Wharton and Audrey Niffenegger. The thing these authors share is an amazing gift of telling story through dialogue and creating characters that feel real and present. As for genre, I’m a fiction omnivore. Occasionally I’ll read nonfiction but I do it exactly the way my kids their veggies, only because we know it’s good for us.






Bookworm: Last but not least, if you were stranded on a deserted island, and were allowed to bring 3 items with you, what would they be?

Johanna:
Can I just be a little silly here? Nobody wants to hear I would bring food, water and a first-aid kit, so barring those oh-so-boring-and-yet-extremely-practical items, I think I would bring the following:
1. A yoga mat so I could exercise and take a nap without being covered in sand. Also, in a pinch, I could roll it up and use it as a pillow.
2. An IPAD (because what deserted island isn’t fully equipped with wireless). I could read, write, look at pictures of my family and send out the occasional tweet and blog post.
3. The third item was a no-brainer. My friend Georgie’s pumpkin bars. They’re so amazing I’m certain they could sustain me for days. And healthy too, kind of, despite the cream cheese frosting, pumpkin’s a vegetable right?






Bookworm:
Thank you again Johanna. I truly enjoyed your book and am happy to hear you are writing the sequel. I like your casting choices, and I can easily imagine Hugh Jackman playing Haden!
I also like your three items of choice for the deserted island.

Best of luck with everything!







About the author:

Johanna Garth is a writer of urban fantasy and mythic fiction for adults who resides with her husband and two children in Portland, Oregon.

This is her debut novel.

About the book:



Losing Beauty

Child abuse, cross-dressing, theft, adultery—people in Persey Campbell’s town have terrible secrets and she is the unfortunate repository for all of them. What she can’t figure out is why everyone is so desperate to tell her their worst secrets.


Daniel Hartnett is a lawyer who has it all. People think he’s lucky. What they don’t understand is Daniel has a crap-o-meter that lets him hear the meanings behind other people’s words. He used to think his crap-o-meter was a gift from God. It made him successful with his career and women. Except now he’d like to meet someone and settle down and he can’t turn his crap-o-meter off. As long as it’s on, there are no surprises, no rush of anticipation and no falling in love.


When Daniel meets Persey he discovers the first girl he’s ever met who is immune to his special talent. The only problem is someone else discovered Persey first and is hell-bent on claiming her as his own. Haden is the king of the Underworld with a plan to make Persey his immortal queen. What Haden doesn’t plan on is Persey’s unique ability to compel secrets and how far the people who love Persey will go to protect her from the inner darkness that threatens to destroy her soul.

title: Losing Beauty

author: Johanna Garth

genre: paranormal romance

published: 2011

pages: 315

first line: "I've been to hell and back."

rated: 4 out of 5 stars

Her beauty was the lure and what lay beneath was the trap. She wished she could warn them, tell them to run from her before it was too late, but she couldn't. That was the other part of the deal. She got to be beautiful but she never, ever got to tell the truth.

p.3

About:

When Haden Sarantos arrives in the small town of Iowa claiming he is the new librarian, something is very different about him. He knows when people will die and I wondered if he was the grim reaper.



The beautiful Persephone Campbell is well known in her small home town.
She was raised by a single mom, her father having died in a car crash before she was born.


After meeting Persey, the one thing Haden notices right away is that as the ruler of death, he cannot 'see' how she will die.
Haden knows every 'humans end', how and when they will die, yet Persey is a mystery to him.






Persey herself is not like others, people are compelled to confide their deepest secrets to her, secrets she sometimes wishes she didn't know. The darker the secret, the stronger the urge for people to unburden it on her.





As the years pass, Persey goes on bewitching everyone she meets. Aaron Strait, a high school football player, falls in love with her. The two eventually marry and Persey goes to work at a law firm in NYC. Aaron goes on to become a Wall Street investment banker.



All the while, Haden is in her life in some form or another, waiting to make her his own. He has been obsessed with Persey since he first laid eyes on her.

A lawyer named Daniel Hartnett works with Persey and is hopelessly in love with her as well, even though she is married. Soon enough Daniel realizes there is something different about Persey, and he figures out her special talent of inspiring people to confess themselves to her.




Persey comes in contact with Haden again in NYC when he is instructing her Yoga class. Little does she know, Haden has plans to make Persey his own and will stop at nothing to claim her. He wants to make her his immortal queen.

The heat of his body threatened to suffocate her with its intensity. It was more than heat. It was devastation, sorrow, musty odors from rooms where people sobbed lonely tears. His secrets were inside of her, consuming her. She could feel their darkness and the horror. Each one was more devastating than the next, and yet, something in her called to them. They were part of her, their pain and suffering belonged to her.

p.145

My thoughts:


I have to say I didn't know what Losing Beauty was about when I first began reading it.

I have been pleasantly surprised! It reminded me a bit of the film Meet Joe Black as far as Haden's character was concered.




Author Johanna Garth does an excellent job at weaving a unique and interesting story here. In the beginning I couldn't figure out whether Haden was a villain or not. And when I did see that he wasn't one of the good guys, I still liked him. He's one of those bad boys you love to hate. Haden became my favorite character in the story. I now have a new literary crush.


The interactions between Haden and Persey gave me the chills.

The first time Persey came to the library, he felt her. Her presence was a dark space—a hole where knowledge should be. She entered the room and filled it up with nothingness. He found her sitting on the carpeted floor, between the stacks of older children's books. She looked up as though she was expecting him. He crouched down in front of her and she inched away from him.

"Hello, Persey," he said, smiling at her.

"You know my name." She said it without wonder or surprise. It was as though his knowledge of her name was just another thing she expected.

p. 11

I liked Persey's character. I wondered who she was, where she got this special power from. Imagine people having to reveal their deepest, darkest secrets to you? I think that's a sad fate.


I liked that Persey married Aaron, and yet, I liked Daniel too and could see her being happy with him as well. Daniel himself was a sweet guy with a good heart. I rooted for him throughout the story and I enjoyed the interactions between Persey and him.




The paranormal and romance elements in this book were right up my alley and I enjoyed reading Losing Beauty very much.
I liked the mythology of the story as well.

Kronos—ruler of both the world and immortals—lived on Mount Titanus. From his mountain-top palace, he pulled the strings of time which governed all human life. His palace was carpeted with the ever-changing map of time. He walked over it as he observed and guided the timing of all events in accordance with the dictates of natural law.

p.197

The book took some unexpected twists and turns and I never really knew what would happen next, my interest was held throughout. I also like how the events in the story were wrapped up together towards the end, to create an exciting conclusion. In my opinion, the ending leaves the story wide open for a sequel.





Special thanks to author Johanna Garth for providing me a copy of her debut novel for review! I recommend Losing Beauty to fans of romance and paranormals, or for anyone looking for a good story to get caught up in.





On a final note, I'll also mention, I'm old-fashioned and still have yet to purchase an e-reader. I don't tend to read full length books online, mainly because I just prefer to be holding a paperback. I did make the exception for Johanna's book and am glad I did.




About the author:

Johanna Garth is a writer of urban fantasy and mythic fiction for adults who resides with her husband and two children in Portland, Oregon.

This is her debut novel.