Monday, September 20, 2010

The Monday Muse: Interview with Tera Lynn Childs


Today's muse: Tera Lynn Childs, goddess of creative and funny YA novels! Today, Tera's talking travel, kissable characters, ancient Greece, and what's up next!
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Bookworm: Welcome, Tera! To begin--why Greek gods and mermaids as the subjects for your YA novels?
Tera: I've always loved Greek myth, everything about ancient cultures, really. My obsession with mermaids dates back to the movie Splash and childhood bath toys called SeaWees. So I guess the short answer is that both Greek gods and mermaids are the stuff of my childhood fantasies.

Bookworm: What is your favorite Greek myth and god?
Tera: One of my favorite myths is the story of Persephone and the underworld. Although kidnapping is never a good thing, I kind of feel sorry for Hades. He got the short end of the stick in the draw for kingdoms, definitely. And the underworld must get pretty lonely. My favorite god would probably be Ares, all that bad boy jockishness is just too yummy.

Bookworm: Have you ever been to Greece?
Tera: Sadly, no. It's on my life list.

Bookworm: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
Tera: Autoportation. I'd love to be able to go anywhere in the world in an instant. Though I'd probably want to break the rule about only going places you've been and would end up popping myself into trouble.

Bookworm: Who was your personal favorite character in the Oh. My. Gods books?
Tera: As weird as this sounds, I kind of like Stella. Yeah, she's a brat with an attitude, but she's got layers and she definitely has her act together. I always like writing the bad character and finding a way to redeem them.

Bookworm: Moving on to your next (fabulous) book...How long was your writing process for Forgive My Fins?
Tera: Technically, three years. I started writing Forgive My Fins in the summer of 2006, right before I sold Oh. My. Gods. I had to put the project on hold while I worked on Oh. My. Gods and Goddess Boot Camp and didn't get to return to Seaview until 2008. I think the final revision was turned in by June 2009. Probably my time spent on the writing adds up to six months.

Bookworm: How are you and Lily alike, and how are you different?
Tera: Lily and I are probably less alike than any of my other girl characters. As a teen, I did tend to fall head over fins for a guy I barely knew, just like Lily, but she's way more scattered and clumsy and frazzled than me.

Bookworm: If you could kiss one of your character in Forgive My Fins, who would it be?
Tera: Do you even have to ask that question?

Bookworm: Who would you cast as the characters in a Forgive My Fins movie?
Tera: This one is hard because the people I picture as Lily, Brody, and Quince (Shakira, Brody Jenner, and Eric Dane) aren't exactly role appropriate. I saw a review the other day that suggested Taylor Swift as Lily and Cam Gigandet as Quince and I think that's pretty awesome.

Bookworm: If you were a mermaid, what would be your essential item to have undersea?
Tera: If I were a mermaid, I'd be so happy I wouldn't need anything else! But every mer girl needs a fashionable tankini top or two.

Bookworm: If you could be any place right now in the world, where would you be?
Tera: Seattle, but only because I'm moving there soon and I wish I were already there. As for travel dreams, I fantasize about Buenos Aires, Tokyo, and Morocco.

Bookworm: What are your travel essentials?
Tera: A camera and a comfortable pair of shoes. I try to pack as light as possible, because I'd rather spend my time exploring than lugging and unpacking. After spending seven weeks traveling with nothing but a carry-on suitcase, I still wished I'd packed less.

Bookworm: What's the most exciting place you've traveled?
Tera: Alaska. I got to go for about two weeks with a friend who is from there, and it was amazing. The two most spectacular moments were canoeing across a small lake to go blueberry picking and an awe-inspiring glacier cruise of Prince William Sound.

Bookworm: What YA book have you read and loved recently?
Tera: Firelight by Sophie Jordan. It's a breathtaking story about a girl who is descended from dragons and the boy whose family hunts her kind.

Bookworm: What's your next writing project?
Tera: Next up is Fins are Forever, the sequel to Forgive My Fins, which will be out next summer. After that, I'm starting a new trilogy about triplet descendants of Medusa who discover it's their destiny to guard the door between the world of monsters and that of man.
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Thanks so much, Tera! All the best to you in your next exciting project!
Visit Tera's website here, and check out what's next undersea in the upcoming Fins are Forever by visiting its page on Goodreads!

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