Showing posts with label Medusa Girls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medusa Girls. Show all posts

Sunday, 6 October 2013

Month of Guests 2013: Tera Lynn Childs


The lovely Tera Lynn Childs has brought over the Medusa Girls, Gretchen, Grace and Greer, for me to interview today!!  Yay!! :D


Hi Gretchen, Grace and Greer!  It's great to have you all here today!
Greer: Thank you for having us. 


Ok so girls, you're descendants of Medusa.  That sounds pretty damn awesome.  But what exactly does that mean?
Gretchen: That means it's our responsibility to protect ordinary, unsuspecting humans from the monsters that lurk in plain sight.
Grace: And we get to kick a lot of serious monster butt! 


Now for those who haven't met you, can you each describe yourself in one sentence?
Greer: I'm like Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way.
Gretchen: *eyeroll*
Grace: I'm just a normal girl who's good with computers and not so good with boys.
Gretchen: I've been doing this job for four years, so I pretty much am the job. 


So what was it like, finding out that you were triplets?  Was it more exciting or scary or...
All at once: Both!
Grace: I was probably the most excited. I'd always wanted sisters. 


Gretchen: How does it feel, knowing that you're not on your own any more?  And were you surprised by how Grace and Greer took the news?
Gretchen: I was surprised by how well Grace took it. Like she said, she was excited. Greer's no-thank-you, slam-the-door-in-my-face response was as expected.
Greer: I apologized for that.
Gretchen: *eyeroll


Taken from Tera Lynn Child's Pinterest
Grace: I think you were probably the most excited to find your sisters.  Why was this - you yourself say that your adopted family are amazing, and your new life is pretty dangerous... so what makes you so excited - and what do you want most with your new sisters?
Grace: I do, I love my adopted family so much. But I always felt like there was something more, something missing. And as much as my new life is scary on a daily basis, I think that's a good thing. Life should be scary, you should do things that challenge you. That's how you grow and become a better person. 


Taken from Tera Lynn Child's Pinterest
Greer: You've always been an only child.  It's gotta be weird, suddenly having these three sisters who look exactly like you and say you're the offspring of a mythical being.  What was your initial, most innermost reaction to the discovery - and has that first impression changed now that you've gotten to know, gotten to fight with your sisters?
Greer: At first I was absolutely, unequivocally, ridiculously terrified. Not to find out I had sisters or that I had this mythological heritage, but because everything I thought I knew about my life turned out to be a lie. Now I recognize how the truth, however scary, is always preferable to the lie. 


Taken from Tera Lynn Child's Pinterest
Gretchen, you've known about the beasties for a while.  But Grace and Greer, this is all new to you.  How did it make you feel, discovering that the world is so much more - so much scarier - than you thought it was?
Gretchen: I've always seen monsters. Even before Ursula found me and told me they were real and why I was destined to fight them. It was harder for me to tell my sisters the truth, to show them this world they had been protected from.
Greer: After seeing that monster in my bedroom when I was very young, I'd spent the rest of my life convincing myself that I'd just imagined the whole thing. It was scary to learn it was real, but it was also a relief.
Grace: I was really scared at first. But once I realized I would never be facing this alone, that I would always have my sisters at my side, I knew everything would be okay.


All of you now have a destiny - a purpose.  But if you had just one day where there was no beasties, no danger, no responsibilities and no fear, what would you do?
All at once: Sleep!
Grace: Monsters don't exactly keep to a time clock. I can't remember the last time I got to sleep through the night.
Greer: Me neither.
Gretchen: It's a 24/7 job and it's definitely exhausting. 


Each of you: what is your favourite thing about your sisters?
Grace: They both strong and confident, and I admire that so much. I aspire to that.
Gretchen: They are courageous. Even when they are in way over their heads.
Greer: They value people (me included) for who they are, not what they can do for them.


Who would be your ideal boyfriend - and is there anyone special in your lives...?
Greer: I like a mysterious boy. And I have one particular mystery in mind...
Grace: Milo and I are taking it one step at a time. He's pretty much my idea of a perfect boy.
Gretchen: I'm not a fan of the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing. But I guess Nick and I are together.


What's next for you three - the Medusa Girls?  Or, more precisely, what would you like to happen next?
Gretchen: I'd like to take a vacation.
Greer: Me too. Somewhere tropical.
Grace: *blushes* I'm happy just hanging out with my sisters, my brother, and Milo.
Gretchen: *grumbles* Yeah, me too.
*group hug*


Quick Fire!
Fave colour:
Grace: Green
Gretchen: Black
Greer: Gold

Fave book:
Grace: The Hunger Games
Gretchen: I only read non-fiction, monster research.
Greer: A Tale of Two Cities
  
Fave film:
Grace: The Matrix.
Gretchen: I don't watch movies.
Greer: Anything starring Grace Kelly. She is my idol.
   
Fave activity:
Gretchen: Punching things
Greer: Shoe shopping
Grace: Reading
   
Describe yourself in one word:
Grace: Happy
Gretchen: Strong
Greer: Perfect


Well, there you go.  Three sisters who just want to sleep! ;) 
Thank you so much for stopping by! :D



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Thank you Tera!!  This was so much fun!! :D
Hope you all enjoyed the interview! And don't forget to follow Tera's Site, follow her on TwitterFacebook and Pinterest, and check out her books on Goodreads! :D
And keep up to date with MonthOfGuests on Twitter using #MonthOfGuests2013! And stop by tomorrow for a brilliant post by the amazing Sarah Alderson!!


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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, Fins Are Forever and Just For Fins, and a new trilogy about monster-hunting descendants of Medusa that includes Sweet Venom, Sweet Shadows, and Sweet Legacy (September 3, 2013). She has two new e-novellas coming soon, Goddess In Time (November 2013) and Pretty In Pearls (January 2014). She has also e-published 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.

Monday, 25 February 2013

Sweet Legacy by Tera Lynn Childs Cover Reveal!

I love love love Tera Lynn Childs - especially her Medusa Girls series!  So you can see why I'm super excited (and also really sad) to take part in her awesome UK cover reveal for the last in the Medusa Girls series - Sweet Legacy!  


Descendants of Medusa do battle with beasties in modern-day San Francisco in this action-packed trilogy.
The concluding book in this kick-ass trilogy. Teenage descendants of Medusa, triplets Gretchen, Grace and Greer, face their toughest test yet as the mythological and the modern collide in a fast-paced urban fantasy adventure.

Sweet Legacy is publishing in the UK September 2013 by Templar!  Personally, I can't wait! 

Author bio: Tera Lynn Childs is an award-winning and best-selling US author of teenage fiction. She holds a degree in Theatre from the University of Colorado and a Masters degree in Historic Preservation from Columbia University. Tera now spends her time blogging and writing wherever she can find a comfy chair and a steady stream of caffeinated beverages. Her first book with Templar Publishing, the mermaid romance Forgive My Fins, was published in 2011, with the follow-up, Fins are Forever, in 2012 and the concluding title, Just For Fins, coming in June 2013. Sweet Venom and Sweet Shadows are published in America by HarperCollins.Tera tweets: @teralynnchilds

Friday, 28 September 2012

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs


Series: Medusa Girls, Book One
Publisher: Templar
Format: ARC
Published: 1st September 2012

Number of Pages: 368
Book: For Review*
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Mythical, Paranormal, Romance, Magic, Mystery, Humour, Action-Adventure, YA
Recommended Age: 12+
Contains: Violence, Swearing, Beasties' Deaths
No Alcohol, Drug References
Author's Site: Tera Lynn Childs

Watch out, all you mythological beasties roaming the streets of San Francisco.  There’s a new kick-ass team of demon-fighters in town…
Meet Grace, who just moved to San Francisco.  It’s a tiny bit scary, starting over, but it gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door.  And even more shocking when a girl who looks exactly like her turns up to fight the monster.  Then, there’s Gretchen, who is fed up of monsters pulling her out into the small hours, especially on a school night.  Getting rid of a minotaur is just another notch on Gretchen’s combat belt, but she never expected to run into this girl who could be her double in the process.  Finally, there’s Greer, whose life is pretty sorted, thank you very much.  But everything tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they’re all sisters.
Grace, Gretchen and Greer – three teenage descendants of Medusa who must embrace their fates in a world where monsters lurk in plain sight.


                                                                    Review:
"You belong to an elite lineage of guardians," she explained.  "Destined to hunt down the monsters that escape into our realm and send them back into theirs..."
Everyone knows about Medusa, right?  The evil snake-haired woman who turned people to stone with a single glance, one of the Gorgon sisters.  We all know she was a monster, don't we?
Well, think again.  Medusa and her sisters weren't monsters - they were protectors, the only ones standing between the human world and the real monsters, the ones trapped in a hell-like underworld. 
But with Medusa dead, it's up to her ancestors to protect humanity.  Speaking of...
Grace Whitfield is just starting at a new school in San Francisco and she’s doing ok-ish - there's even a cute guy in the picture - until a man with the head of a bull walks in.  Even more shocking is running into her doppelgänger, who is battling monsters
Gretchen Sharpe is focused - she's been kicking beasties' butts for four years, since she ran away from home at the age of twelve, and was taken in by Ursula, who taught her all about her destiny.  Her duty.  What Ursula thoughtfully left out was that her destiny is a shared one: shared by three sisters
Which brings us to Greer Morgenthal, the high society girl, who is growing up with the picture-perfect life and is most certainly not impressed to find her so-called-long-lost-sisters knocking on her door and telling her that monsters exist and that she exists to find them. 
Yes, Grace, Gretchen and Greer are Medusa's descendants and they must protect humanity from the monsterpocalypse...
I love Tera's Fins series, so when I was offered the chance to review Sweet Venom, I pounced!  I started reading the moment it landed on my doorstep, discarding my usual read-the-month-before-publication rule.  Considering this book had two of my favourite aspects - demon-butt-kicking and Greek mythology - I had huge and excited expectations going into it, and added to them was the fact I love Tera's other books: I never thought Sweet Venom could live unto my giant-sized expectations.  I was very, very wrong.  Sweet Venom just rocked my world and left me hungry for more, more, more! 
I loved how Tera wrote all of her characters.  They were all so real and vivid.  And there were just so many to love!  Gretchen was so kickbutt awesome - a total badass demon fighter!  She was tough and snarky and brave and awesome!  Reasons to love Gretchen: she uses words like "monsterpocalypse" and curses like "what the Hades" and "son of a centaur".   So yes, she definitely must go into my Kickbutt Lead Girls Wall of Fame!  Grace was shy and nerdy - I just loved all her geekiness, snark and how she made me laugh!  She was so chirpy and rambly, so hyper and bubbly it was impossible not to love her.  Plus, she totally killed me!  Now Greer we didn't meet ‘til the end.  She was totally fierce and a bit snobby and cynical - she was just very Gossip Girl.  I didn't know her as well as the other girls, so I can't wait to learn more about her.  But the whole sister bond was amazing and developed so brilliantly and believably.  I cannot wait to see where they all go!
Oh, and there were also yummy guys.  And they were all so mysterious and secretive - I am desperate to know all of their secrets!  Anyway, Nick was cute and persistent and funny - but who is he?  Thane was a great brother - but what was his secret?  And Milo was adorable and hot - but does he have a secret like all the other hot guys in this story?  Either way, I love the budding romance between him and Grace!
The writing was just amazing.  It's no secret that I love split POVs and Tera is just one of the best and most natural users of the style I've come across.  Each girl sounded so different and unique and I loved that it was between sisters rather than love interests.  And I loved the plot just as much: it was action packed, addictive, fast paced and just so much fun!   Plus, I loved that even though there were cute guys to crush on, the huge emphasis wasn't on romance, but instead on the sisterly bonds.  And, of course, the mythology - which I loved!  I've always loved Greek myths and absolutely adore the twist Tera put on the Medusa story.  Even with all the Greekish books I've read, I've never come across one with this twist, or anything near it.  
As I said earlier, I love Tera's Fins series to pieces, but man do I love the Medusa Girls!   It's funny, action packed, fast paced, utterly addictive and just, quite frankly, kickbutt awesome.  And it's totally changed my view of Greek mythology - if my brother ever calls me Medusa (again) I'm just gonna smile and say "Thank you", 'cause in my head I'll be thinking of this book!
So yeah, this book kicked butt.  It's safe to say I'm absolutely and totally desperate for the next in the series.  I'm gonna be first in line to get my greedy little hands on it!  Oh, why must everyone make me love a book so much, and then make me wait for I don't even know how long for a sequel?!!?

Star Rating:
4½ Out of 5



Read this book if you liked:
Fins by Tera Lynn Childs
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan
Charmed (The TV Series & The Books) 


Challenges It's Taking Part In:
Happy Reading
Megan
* This book was received from Templar in exchange for an honest review