Oh. My. Gods. series by Tera Lynn Childs

OH. MY. GODS. and GODDESS BOOT CAMP

by Tera Lynn Childs

Commercial Young Adult

Dutton
www.TeraLynnChilds.com

10 Signed Copies (5 of each!!!) will be given away on Friday, September 25, 2009!

About Oh. My. Gods.

When Phoebe’s mom returns from Greece with a new husband and plans to move to an island in the Aegean Sea, Phoebe’s well-plotted senior year becomes ancient history. Now, instead of enjoying a triumphant track season and planning for college with her best friends, Phoebe is trying to keep her head above water at the überexclusive Academy. If it isn’t hard enough being the new kid in school, Phoebe’s classmates are all descendents of the Greek gods! When you’re running against teammates with superpowers, dealing with a stepsister from Hades, and nursing a crush on a boy who is quite literally a god, the drama takes on mythic proportions!

*Winner of the 2009 RITA awards for Best First Book!!!

About Goddess Boot Camp

Phoebe, who recently discovered she’s a descendant of Nike (the goddess, not the shoe), is finding that supernatural powers come with a crazy learning curve. Her stepfather, headmaster of the Academy for descendants of the Greek gods, has enrolled her at Dynamotheos Development Camp—aka Goddess Boot Camp—with a bunch of ten-year-olds for the summer. Embarrassing as that is, hopefully it’ll help her gain control over her powers in time to pass the test of the gods, continue training hard enough to qualify for the Pythian Games, and enjoy her godly boyfriend, Griffin, all while avoiding the ultimate mistake of accidentally misusing powers.

It’s another fast-paced myth-inspired heroine’s quest that’s sure to bring out the goddess in anyone.

Read our exclusive interview with Tera Lynn Childs!

1) Descendent from the Gods? What a great concept! Where did you get the idea?

From the mafia. No, seriously. Back in 2005 there was a reality show on A&E called Growing Up Gotti, about the mob boss John Gotti's daughter and grandsons. (It was insane, btw.) I was playing around with title ideas, tweaking reality tv show names, and came up with Growing Up Godly. I loved the title immediately. From there it was just a matter of figuring out the story that fit. Who was growing up (enter Phoebe) and what did godly mean (descendants of the Greek gods)? We ended up changing the title so readers didn't think it was religious fiction, but I love the title Oh. My. Gods. even more!!

2) Did you have to do much research on Greek mythology to get the story just right?

Some. But I've been in love with mythology and all things ancient since forever, so I already knew a lot of the details I needed in the book. I spent more time researching stuff like travel from California to Greece, hydrofoil ferries, the number of steps on the Eiffel Tower, and the amazing beauty of the Greek islands (sadly, not in person). The mythology research I had to do usually came up on a case-by-case basis as I wrote. Like figuring out what god would expect his descendants to be doctors when I realized that Troy's family was pressuring him to abandon music for medicine. But that definitely wasn't work. I love research.

3) What fictional character (excluding your own!) would you most like to have coffee with?

Oh, I already get to have coffee with my characters, so I don’t need any more time with them. The girl whose head I'd really like to get inside right now is Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. She has some serious skills and the heart of a warrior, but she's also someone dedicated—to the point of self-sacrifice—to protecting the people she loves. You've got to admire someone like that. Also, she might let a few details slip about the third book and I'm dying that I have to wait an entire year to learn how everything turns out!

4) As writers, we all love to procrastinate. What’s your favorite procrastination activity?

Favorite? You mean I have to pick just one? I think I have three main means of procrastinating. 1) Shopping. Especially at Target. If every other store on the planet disappeared, but there were still Targets, I'd be okay with that. 2) Cleaning. My apartment tends to have areas of perpetual mess, but as soon it's time to work I get suddenly motivated to do the dishes, run Wilbur the Roomba, and dust the blinds. 3) Web/graphic design. I love designing bookmarks and web pages and character MySpaces. This is the trickiest one because, in a delusional world, it can be seen as productive. It's promotion, right? Really, between those three it's a wonder I ever get anything done.

5) I read you have a new book coming out…about mermaids! How cool! Can you tell us a little bit about that?

I am so very excited about this book. (Not that I wasn't excited about my other books, you understand.) It's called Forgive My Fins and it's about a half-mermaid princess who goes to high school on the mainland and all the trouble that brews up when she accidentally bestows her magical first kiss on the wrong boy. Not only have I been slightly obsessed with mermaids all my life (I used to be a competitive swimmer and dreamed of discovering I was secretly a mermaid), but I'm also excited because I started this book three long years ago. It's been waiting a long time to see the light of day. We sent it out to a select group of librarians and booksellers for advance feedback and it's all been really great. I can't wait to send Lily, Quince, and the rest of the gang out into the world at large.

About the Author:

Tera Lynn Childs is the author of the prequel to Goddess Boot Camp, Oh. My. Gods., and lives in Houston, Texas. She started her writing career as a romance writer, but followed her movie preferences to the teen side of things and discovered YA fiction, where she’s still bringing the romance. Visit her online at: www.TeraLynnChilds.com

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