INTERVIEW: Tera Lynn Childs

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Today I have a special treat for everyone! I have author Tera Lynn Childs on the blog! She is the author of many young adult books that includes the newly released book, Forgive My Fins! Let’s get started!

To start off, welcome and can you tell the readers a little about yourself?


I’m a lifelong nomad, the product of theatre parents, a recovering theatre major, an Ivy Leaguer, a reality TV junkie, and owner of the bestest dog ever. I’ve lived in two countries and ten states. I’m about to move to my eleventh. I’m still seventeen … on the inside. I’ve been a vegan since April. Also, I write books.
Can you tell us a little about your upcoming or latest release?

My most recent release (my third book) is Forgive My Fins. It tells the story of a half-mermaid princess who’s been living on land for a few years and crushing on the most perfect boy she’s ever met. Things get complicated when she accidentally bestows her magical first kiss on the wrong boy. Up next is the sequel, Fins Are Forever, out in June of 2011.
How did you come up with the idea for Forgive My Fins?

I’ve always loved mermaids, always wanted to be a mermaid, ever since I was a little girl. While I was in Florida for the summer, spending lots of time on the beach and still wishing mermaids were real, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool if a mermaid could bestow the magical powers of her people with a kiss?” And then, because I’m a writer and I like conflict, “What if she kissed the wrong boy?”
If you had to pick just one, which one of your own books that you have written is your favorite and why?

Always the next one. The one that’s still in the idea stage and hasn’t been battered by the process of actually writing words on a page. If I have to pick one that already written, I’d have to say the first Medusa girls book (a new untitled trilogy starting in Fall of 2011). I really love the three main characters, the action, the cute boys, and the mythology, all mixed into one.
I am a fly on your wall.  What would I report back to my master about the daily grind of Tera?
Sadly, a lot of procrastinating. A lot of web surfing, Tweeting, Facebooking, shopping, buying books (but not reading as many as I should). Occasionally sewing or painting or cooking or baking. When I’m feeling productive, I’ll do a burst of emailing and responding to interviews. My most productive writing days come when my deadline nears. Then I’ll spend up to six hours pounding out pages in the nearest coffee shop.
When you are not writing, what kind of books do you like to read? Do you have any favorite authors, that are must reads?

I read mostly YA and occasionally historical romance (especially Julia Quinn and Shana Galen). My favorite YA author is Jaclyn Moriarty. I think she’s just absolutely brilliant. And my must read books are The Hunger Games (duh) by Suzanne Collins, Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, and Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart. Recently,I really enjoyed The Duff by Kody Keplinger. And Firelight by Sophie Jordan is going to be huge.

What are 3 things that are “must haves” for you when you sit down to write a new book?

A coffee shop (I can’t write at home and I need the comfy chairs and the caffeinated beverages). My Alphasmart (the best writing investment I ever made). Character collages for the main and some secondary characters (as a very visual person, they really give me a fuller sense of who the character is). I might never look at the collages again after I make them, but they definitely help my process.
Do you have a blog or website that your readers can keep up with you and your books?  Twitter?

Now for some fun stuff:

1. Vampire or Werewolf? Werewolf, just because
2. Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt? Brad Pitt (we went to the same high school, twelve years apart, plus he’s not noticeably insane)
3. If you choke a Smurf, what color do they turn? Trick question! You can’t, because their necks are so tiny. (Also, it would be very, very mean.)
4. Quince or Brody? Quince, hands down my dream guy

Favorite perfume: Stella by Stella McCartney
Favorite TV show: Psych and Leverage (it’s a tie)
Favorite Movie: The Usual Suspects
Favorite Drink: Pineapple Fanta
Favorite Dessert: Vegan cupcakes

Thanks for joining us on My Overstuffed Bookshelf!!

The Fire Lord’s Lover by Kathryne Kennedy

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THE FIRE LORD’S LOVER
Author: Kathryne Kennedy
Source: Publisher
*I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

  • Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (July 6, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1402236522
  • ISBN-13: 978-1402236525

SYNOPSIS:


If his powers are discovered, his father will destroy him…
In a magical land ruled by ruthless Elven lords, the Fire Lord’s son Dominic Raikes plays a deadly game to conceal his growing might from his malevolent father-until his arranged bride awakens in him passions he thought he had buried forever…

Unless his fiancée kills him first…
Lady Cassandra has been raised in outward purity and innocence, while secretly being trained as an assassin. Her mission is to bring down the Elven Lord and his champion son. But when she gets to court she discovers that nothing is what it seems, least of all the man she married…
Then Dominic and Cassandra together uncover an unspeakable evil, one that threatens the destruction of the magical realm they would give their souls to save…

MY THOUGHTS:

I haven’t read too many books involving elves, unless you want to count the ElfQuest comics and books.  So I thought I would give this one a try.

This is book one in a series by author Kathryne Kennedy. She is a new to me author as well.   I loved the characters that the author introduced us to. Cassandra was easy to like, but Dominic wasn’t. He was cold  and closed off.  Yet, even with these characteristics, the author was able to portray him as a character that would grow on me. The author involved fantasy and historical romance that you don’t see too often.  She combined the two genre’s and pulled it off wonderfully.

This book left me wanting more.  I found a new series that has captivated me from a new author that has a new fan! I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!

MY RATING:


Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf
For Rereading! 5 STARS

Farm Fatale by Wendy Holden

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FARM FATALE
Author: Wendy Holden
Source: Publisher
*I received this ARC free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

  • Paperback: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (July 1, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1402237162
  • ISBN-13: 978-1402237164

SYNOPSIS:

Cash-strapped Rosie and her boyfriend Mark are city folk longing for a country cottage. Rampant nouveaux riches Samantha and Guy are also searching for rustic bliss—in the biggest mansion money can buy. The village of Eight Mile Bottom seems quiet enough, despite a nosy postman, a reclusive rock star, a glamorous Bond Girl, and a ghost with a knife in its back. But there are unexpected thrills in the hills, and Rosie is rapidly discovering that country life isn’t so simple after all.

MY THOUGHTS:

After reading the last book by Wendy Holden, Beautiful People, I was hesitant on reading this one.  I didn’t like the previous book, but I thought I would give the author another try.

I wasn’t thrilled with this installment either.  It had a slow start with too many characters and didn’t seem to pick up at all throughout the whole story. It fell flat and just couldn’t pick up.  To me, the author just doesn’t put her all into the plot and story. The couples were undeveloped and left me wanting to know more about them than what was offered. The ending felt rushed, like the author was even happy to see the story finish.

It did have some good spots though. Each character brought some happiness, sadness and love to the table.  I just wish it would have been more often than what was written.

MY RATING:

 
  If the library doesn’t have it, don’t worry about reading it!

COVER ALERT: Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann

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RELEASE DATE: FEB.11. 2011
SYNOPSIS:

The community of Cryer’s Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace. Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany’s empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on… until Kendall’s boyfriend Nico also disappears, and also without a trace.

Now the town is in a panic. Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk. She knows it’s crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nico and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear…and whether that would be so bad. 
Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico. Can he possibly be alive somewhere? Where is he? And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating…and attractive. As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico’s mysterious disappearance only to stumble upon some ugly—and deadly—local history.
Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

WOW: Waiting on Wednesday

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Bad Taste In Boys by Carrie Harris

Synopsis: 

Someone’s been a very bad zombie.

Super-smartie Kate Grable gets to play doctor, helping out her high school football team. Not only will the experience look good on her college apps, she gets to be thisclose to her quarterback crush, Aaron. Then something disturbing happens. Kate finds out that the coach has given the team steroids. Except . . . the vials she finds don’t exactly contain steroids. Whatever’s in them is turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless, flesh-eating . . . zombies.

Unless she finds an antidote, no one is safe. Not Aaron, not Kate’s brother, not her best friend . . . not even Kate . . .

It’s scary. It’s twisted. It’s sick. It’s high school.
 

Look at that cover! It caught my eye and I need to find a really good zombie book to change up the reads I have been reading.