Author Interview: Tera Lynn-Childs

I am so pleased to have Tera Lynn-Childs on the blog today for an interview. Her newest book, Sweet Venom is published today!!
(You can buy the book here)

Synopsis

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.

Please describe Sweet Venom in 5 words.

Triplet, monster-hunting descendants of Medusa.

What kind of research did you need to do for Sweet Venom?

I could make something up about scouring the annals of Greek mythology or reading everything I could about Medusa and her sisters. The truth is, the most important research I did was... watching Buffy. I never watched when it was first on, but when I got this idea for monster-hunting descendants of Medusa it seemed like the perfect research for monster butt-kicking. I did nothing but watch all seven seasons (and all five seasons of Angel--just research, of course) for three weeks straight.

Were any of the characters or their traits inspired by people you know?

Not consciously. I'm sure there are things that my characters have in common with people in my life, maybe little things like eating habits or idiosyncrasies. That's just a natural part of being an observant author who tries to make her characters as real as possible.

Some authors do certain things while they write like listen to music etc. Do you have to do anything like this while you write?

Yes. My writing ritual involves leaving the house. I usually head to the nearest cafe or coffee shop--I should own stock in Starbucks--with my laptop, my iPhone, and my earbuds. I find a comfy chair, plug in the music, and tune out everything else.

Which YA (human) character would you love to be and why?

I would say Katniss Everdeen, but that means I'd have to fight to the death and I totally wouldn't win. Instead, I'd choose Cammie Morgan from Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series. I'd love to have her super spy skills!

Which YA (non-human) character would you love to be and why?

Definitely Jacinda from Sophie Jordan's Firelight series. Not only can she transform into a dragon, but she can fly and breathe fire!

What is your favourite book of all time and why?

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen for oh so many reasons. Mostly because of the beautiful romance (ahem, Mr. Darcy) but also because it was the first book I read for a class that I really loved.

When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?

After graduate school, I moved back home and was spending a lot of time house-sitting alone. I started reading. A lot. I would go to the bookstore and pick up a new stack of romance novels every week and I devoured them. The more I read, the more I wanted to make the characters do or say something different. I finally decided that I would have to write my own to make that happen.