Friday, September 23, 2011

Interview: Tera Lynn Childs


Today author Tera Lynn Childs is joining me on the blog to chat about her newest release, Sweet Venom (LOVED!), and I could not be more excited to have her stop by! If you haven't had a chance to read Sweet Venom yet I hope you pick it up (you can read my review HERE), it's a hugely entertaining story and the second book cannot release soon enough. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Tera at a book signing a few weeks ago and she's just an all-around adorable person which of course makes me love her books even more. Fangirl moment over. On to the interview:

Of the three unique individual abilities the girls have, which would you most find useful in your own life?

Definitely autoporting. I want to see everywhere in the world and I don’t get to travel as much as I’d like. Being able to pop anywhere I wanted to visit in the blink of an eye would be amazing.

If two women who look just like you were to show up at your door claiming to be descendants of a figure in Greek mythology, what would be the first words out of your mouth after hearing them out?

I’m not sure I could get words out. There would be a lot of stammering and jaw-dropping. Then I would probably give my parents a call. They’d have a lot of explaining to do.

Are there any “G” names you had picked out for the girls but ultimately discarded in favor of Grace, Gretchen, and Greer?

Yes, actually! Gretchen was always going to be Gretchen, but the other two changed a couple of times. At first, Grace was going to be Gwen. I think Greer was Grace for a while (a la Grace Kelly) and also Genevieve.

You’ve just hypnotized someone like each of the girls can. Who have you hypnotized and what is the first thing you are going to ask them to do while under hypnosis?

Oh, dangerous. There are so many choices! I think I would head to a museum—maybe the Getty in Los Angeles—and ask the curator to let me wander the collections when the museum is closed to the public.

If you could pair Grace, Gretchen, and Greer with boyfriends from other young adult novels, who do you think would best suit each of them?

Well, I don’t want to step on any other authors’ toes, so I’ll match up the girls with boys from my other books. Grace would get along really well with Troy from Oh. My. Gods.. Greer would do well with enigmatic Xander from Goddess Boot Camp. And Gretchen would take Quince from Forgive My Fins head on.

What is your favorite creature in all of Greek mythology?

The Pegasus. Growing up, I had a collection of Breyer Horses and one of my favorites was the beautiful white Pegasus.

If you could rewrite the ending of one myth, what myth would it be and what exactly would you change?

I would rewrite the ending of Orpheus and Eurydice. It’s so tragic that Orpheus failed to save his love from the underworld because he couldn’t stop himself from turning around to make sure she was following. In my ending, he would keep looking forward and they would be together happily ever after.

Has there ever been a moment when writing any of your books where you surprised yourself with what found its way to the page when you started typing?

All the time! I can think of two really big examples. First, the identity of the character who was sending Phoebe anonymous notes in Goddess Boot Camp. I never once considered that character until the moment I typed the name. The other is the choice Lily makes at the end of Fins Are Forever. Throughout the entire book, I believed she was going to make the opposite choice.

What is the last book that kept up late reading?

Abandon
by Meg Cabot. It’s such a fun and intriguing retelling of the Persephone myth.

Name one line from a book that has stuck with you for a long time and will continue to do so for whatever reason.

Oh, this is a really big spoiler, so anyone who hasn’t read Catching Fire please stop reading now. I’m still haunted by the last line. “Katniss, there is no District Twelve.” I sobbed for five full minutes when I read that.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions Tera! For more information on her and her wonderful books, you can find Tera here:

Website
Blog
Twitter
Facebook

SWEET VENOM (from Goodreads)

Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

34 comments:

  1. I wish I was more familiar with Greek mythology. There have been so many great books inspired by it lately. I've heard great things about Sweet Venom. I also want to read Abandon. And I enjoyed Goddess Test. Starcrossed is influenced by Greek mythology too right?

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  2. Autoporting sounds like something for me :)
    And I do love Greek mythology, make that any mythology. It is just fascinating

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  3. Such a great interview! I have not read any of her books, but I have a bunch on my shelf. I love Greek Mythology, so I will most definitely have to check out this one. Thanks for sharing this!

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  4. I can't wait to start this one!!!! I love Medusa's myth!

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  5. Alison - I don't know much about it either, but I'm kind of in love with all the books that feature it:) Starcrossed does have Greek mythology as well, I really enjoyed that one:)

    Blodeuedd - Me too! Think of how much easier some things would be:)

    Christina - Sweet Venom was my first TLC book and now I need to go back and read everything else, she's got a great sense of humor:)

    Ashley - I loved this book, can't wait to see what you think!

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  6. I just ordered this book...:) I havent even read it yet and I already like it...the author seems so sweet...:)

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  7. This sounds like fun. I like the names she chose.

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  8. I love this interview! Sweet Venom was such a great book, I loved it! I'm dying for the next one. :) Thank you for sharing this with us, Jenny!

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  9. Tina - Yay! Can't wait to see what you think:)

    Juju - Me too, I have a thing for "G" names, I have no idea why. I named my dogs Gatsby and Griffin and the husband has told me I'm not allowed to name any future children "G" names. Spoilsport.

    Christy - Glad you enjoyed it!

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  10. Every time I read the Orpheus story, I want to reach out and tell him to not look back and it breaks my heart every time he does. *Sigh*

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  11. I just got the chills again from re-reading and remember that last line from CF. GAH! I was right there with Tera.

    And if I could autoport, I totally take advantage, especially right now since I'm stuck at work. LOL

    Thanks for the interview! :)

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  12. Oh, great interview! I really loved it! Also that line from Catching Fire, still gives me goosebumps.

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  13. Oh my gosh, I adore everything that has to do with Greek Mythology, and Sweet Venom seems like a super awesome book! I'm so excited to get my hands on a copy! Grace, Gretchen, and Greer? I'm really glad that those were the decided names -- they work so well together!

    I'm actually re-reading the Hunger Games trilogy right now and I agree with Tera one-hundred percent! That whole entire scene in CF made me want to cry too!

    Awesome interview! :)

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  14. Oh, I would definitely love autoporting too. So much time saved in traveling!

    Also, I'd probably choose to rewrite the ending of Orpheus too. They're barely married before Eurydice dies and when he's able to get Hades to let her go, he just has to look back at the last minute and lose his second chance with her.

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  15. Oh my goodness, autoporting sounds like a dream come true! I love travel, but I hate the cost (and the time it takes to get from place to place)!
    And I love that Tera would choose to go to a museum if she had hypnotic powers! I'd probably do something more sketchy! Haha.
    Fantastic interview, ladies! Thanks! :)

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  16. Rummanah - Same here. I just like to change the ending in my head and pretend that's how it happened:)

    Missie - Wouldn't autoporting be cool? For lunch you could just pop over to Italy and get some pizza or pasta:)

    Kris - Thanks! That line gives me goosebumps as well, that whole series does really:)

    Mimi - Me too! And I adore those names, Greer has always been a favorite of mine.

    Zahida - Right? Life would be so much easier! And the Eurydice myth just makes me sad thinking about it.

    Lauren - I would totally choose something sketchy too ;-)

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  17. I just got Sweet Venom!

    The idea of autoporting, to me, would be fantastic. That would be my choice! I hate wasting time and driving is a waste of time, especially where I live out in the boonies, just imagine what I could do if I could autoport!

    "There is no District 12, Katniss" was killer, to me, too! Great choice!

    Thanks for the awesome interview, Jenny and Tera Lynn!

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  18. Great interview :) I love her books. Read Oh my Gods and Goddess boot camp.
    And just got Sweet Venom in the mailbox :) So excited to read it.
    And Forgive my fins should be on it`s way soon too :P Love Tera`s writting :)

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  19. I have been looking forward to Sweet Venom for a while now. Can't wait to read it.

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  20. Kristi - YAY! Hope you love it as much as I did:) I need the next book in the series pronto:)

    MoonStar - Glad you enjoyed it! I need to read her other books, this was my first one by her and I adored it.

    Brandy - Can't wait to hear what you think!

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  21. Dude! Loved you interview questions! And I would love teleporting too! Then I can make it to all kinds of book launches and stuff!

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  22. I love the whole Greek mythology aspect and will definitely be picking htis one up. I am with you on the Getty museum too :)

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  23. This is a book I so can't wait to read! I also loved Breyer horses (would have loved a unicorn or a pegasus), but lost them when my cousins "played" with them. So, I always look at them with loss. :)

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  24. Thanks for the heads up about this book, it sounds really interesting from the synopsis and the interview. Now I just have to add it to my TBR and wish lists.

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  25. I love reading about the writing process. It's so fascinating how things happen. I love how Terra Lynn said she didn't know the identify of one of the characters until she typed his name. So Cool!

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  26. Terrrific interview with such fun questions. I cannot wait to read this book.

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  27. Aww I love the Pegasus. It is so cute. Especially in Hercules. ;)

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  28. This was such a cute story--I can't wait to see what happens with the girls next. And oh, how I loved the Pegasus, too. A flying horse? Yes, please. Great interview, ladies!

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  29. I love Tera Lynn Childs so can't wait to read her new book :)

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  30. Oh gosh... I have really got to read Tera's other books. I wanna know the male characters that she matched the females up with! ;)

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  31. Ooh, awesome interview! I've been wanting to read this book for a while, and now I want to read Tera's other ones, too! Thanks for the multiple recs!


    Smiles!
    Lori

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  32. Autoporting would be awesome! Funny thing is I always have this conversation with my sister in Ohio because I always want to hang out with her...but Arizona is too damn far away. *big sigh* We need to be able to "beam" places (Please, Scotty?!). o_o

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  33. I'd love to autoport too! This is a great interview! I just finished this book a few days ago and LOVED LOVED LOVED it!! I want more now!

    Heather

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  34. aw, the author seems awesome! :) can't wait to get my hands in sweet venom! thanks for the interview, Jenny.

    ps. Ms. Childs- you are not alone. When I read that line at the end of Catching Fire, I too cried for like 5 mins straight!

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