Featured Interview With E.G. Moore
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hello there, I was raised in a small American town in Northern California, much like the setting of my book Rowdy Days of Dom Sanders. Horses, hiking, fishing, and hanging at the park were favorite past times for me and my two half sisters. My husband also grew up with me as one of my best friends, but we didn’t date until we were adults. Now, my husband, three children, and I live in Northern Idaho, close to Coeur d’Alene, where there are dozens of lakes to swim, camp, and fish in. We have three dogs, two cats, several spoiled goldfish, and a half dozen chickens.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I loved books from toddlerhood, both having my mom read them and making up stories. My mom gave me a cassette tape with a recording of me as a two-year-old telling her the story of the owl that said “ruff.” I loved writing anything, even for school. I excelled at English and Spanish writing in high school, but didn’t pursue much creative writing because I had other ambitions for careers and wanted to learn more about journalism. Fast forward a decade, and I found myself in love with all the fantasy stories I read.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I started with the wonder of middle school themes, but my brand has shifted to young adult where I can explore deeper, more meaningful themes to both teens and adults who also read these books.
As a child, I loved Tolkien, Bruce Coville, Madeleine L’Engle, and Goosebump books. Now I love epics like Pellinor Series by Groggon, Terry Brooks, as well as world building fantasy and myth retellings like the Sevenwaters Trilogy and indie book authors like Melanie Cellier and Eliza Tilton.
Most of my stories start with the question “what is something fantastical that is unexpected?” With my upcoming release, it was about magical animals morphing, and a victorian setting rather than medieval like many YA fantasy stories tend to be. With another YA fantasy series I’m working on, I thought about desert elves because usually they are associated with the forest. Why would they be in the desert? How would they be magical in this type of environment? These make for interesting characters and dynamics between races.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Last Dragonfly is a YA fantasy novel, and is book 1 of 2 plus a novella. It was supposed to be a stand alone, but I fell in love with the world and characters and wanted to explore them more. All I had to do was change the ending a bit to make another mission for the gang of characters that have thrown their lot in with each other. I really wanted the main character, Etoiny, to use her smarts rather than brawn to win the day in this book, and of course, there has to be magic involved. Etoiny is smart, rebellious, and curious. She can’t help it that these aren’t what women of Taachat are expected to be or do, especially those that will marry and make her husband the next Governor.
Tropes that readers might enjoy are light friends to lover (zero smut or even kissing in this one), found family, dysfunctional families, reluctant royalty/ arranged marriage, adults as adversaries, hidden world, and the chosen one. I also added some touches of mystery and gothic darkness, as well as politics between the three races and science versus magic. The environment is part of the antagonist by making toxic waters, poisonous minerals, and famine part of the Victorian plantation world’s landscape. Poor Etoiny kept having her author ask “what would be the worst thing to happen to her right now?” It just keeps getting worse.
It took me about four months to write the first draft and do two rounds of developmental edits. It still wasn’t ready at that point, so I pushed back the planned release date for five more months to get in two more rounds of developmental edits and outline the second book. It is so much better for it, so I don’t regret it except that my readers had to wait so long after the cover reveal to finally get their hands on it. I dedicated this one to my middle daughter, who is super book smart and loves interesting facts and exploring the world around her.
It will be out April 25th, 2023, and pre-orders are live now through my universal book link ( https://books2read.com/u/4NoOaJ) and Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Last-Dragonfly-Young-Fantasy-Destiny-ebook/dp/B0BT1CJW9Y).
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