Author Interview: Tera Lynn Childs

Today, I'm excited to have Tera Lynn Childs talking about her upcoming book Sweet Venom and discussing her favorite mythology.

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Tera Lynn Childs is the award-winning author of the mythology-based Oh. My. Gods. and Goddess Boot Camp, the mermaid tales Forgive My Fins and Fins Are Forever (June 28, 2011) and a new trilogy about monster-hunting descendants of Medusa, starting with Sweet Venom (October 4, 2011). She has also epublished two fun chick lit romances, Eye Candy and Straight Stalk. Tera lives nowhere in particular and spends her time writing wherever she can find a comfy chair and a steady stream of caffeinated beverages.

Can you describe Grace, Gretchen, and Greer in one sentence each?


Grace is a sweet, vegetarian eco-geek who wears recycled jeans and can hack into any computer system. Gretchen is a kick-butt monster hunter who likes working on her own and has no time or tolerance for friends, boys or sisters. Greer is a rich, popular, success-driven girl who is smart, savvy, and knows she can do anything, even in high heels.


Most of your series are about mythology. What drew you to be so passionate about mythology?


I can't say specifically one thing or one moment made me love mythology. I've always studied things from ancient cultures, especially Greece. One reason Greek mythology remains so relevant and popular today is that the themes and stories and characters are timeless. Like how I used the gods and goddesses to define the cliques in Oh. My. Gods. we all know a beauty queen (Aphrodite), a jock (Ares), and a know-it-all-diva (Hera). It makes it fun to play with how those archetypes would apply today.


If your house was on fire (everyone was safe), what one book would you rescue? 

Aaargh! Evil question. My favorite book of all time is Pride and Prejudice (although The Hunger Games is a close second). But if I could only grab one book--and this is probably a totally lame answer--I would take the ARC of Forgive My Fins that I got signed by my editor and a couple of my favorite people who read the book early. Most books can be easily replaced, but the messages they scribbled inside are priceless. 

What is your favorite ancient mythology tale?


I have a lot of favorites, of course, but I really like the story of the judgment of Paris and the golden apple of discord. It's sort of Sleeping Beauty, with the mischievous goddess delivering the apple with the cryptic message, "To the fairest." Talk about a trouble maker! It reminds me of a scene in The 10th Kingdom, one of my favorite movies/mini-series. But I find if fascinating that one gift that started the Trojan war.

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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.

I, for one, can not wait to start on this trilogy! Don’t forget to tweet the daily Midnight Summer Festival.

Golden apples of sleep start the Trojan war. Oh you mischievous goddess! http://bit.ly/ffOOPX #MidnightSummerFesitval

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Categories: Author Interviews, Midnight Summer Festival