The time it was about a goddess

I’m not sure how I found Tellulah Darling and her books.  I do know that I’ve loved every word of them and I definitely need to spread the word of her awesomeness.

And, we’ve all seen my recent posts about the Sassy Girl Swoony God Tourney, yes? Well, that fun adventure is almost over and I just wasn’t ready to stop fangirling all over Tellulah, so I begged asked her for an interview and she agreed!

But before we get to her awesome answers, check out two of the books in the Blooming Goddess trilogy!

Sixteen-year-old Sophie Bloom wishes she’d been taught the following:
a) Bad boy’s presence (TrOuBlE) + teen girl’s brain (DraMa) = TrAuMa (Highly unstable and very volatile.)
b) The Genus Greekulum Godissimus is notable for three traits: 1) awesome abilities, 2) grudges, and 3) hook-ups, break-ups, and in-fighting that puts cable to shame.
Prior to the Halloween dance, Sophie figures her worst problems involve adolescent theatrics, bitchy teen yoga girls, and being on probation at her boarding school for mouthy behaviour. Then she meets bad boy Kai and gets the kiss that rocks her world.

Literally.

This breath stealing lip lock reawakens Sophie’s true identity: Persephone, Goddess of Spring. She’s key to saving humanity in the war between the Underworld and Olympus, target numero uno of Hades and Zeus, and totally screwed.

Plus there’s also the little issue that Sophie’s last memory as Persephone was just before someone tried to murder her.

Big picture: master her powers, get her memories back, defeat Persephone’s would be assassin, and save the world. Also, sneak into the Underworld to retrieve stolen property, battle the minions of Hades and Zeus, outwit psycho nymphs, slay a dragon, rescue a classmate, keep from getting her butt expelled from the one place designed to keep her safe …

… and stop kissing Kai, Prince of the Underworld. My Ex From Hell is a YA romantic comedy/Greek mythology smackdown. Love meets comedy with a whole lot of sass in book one of this teen fantasy romance series. Compared to Kai and Sophie, Romeo and Juliet had it easy.

Annnnnnnnd:

Sophie Bloom’s junior year has been a bit of a train wreck. After the world’s greatest kiss re-awakened Sophie’s true identity as Persephone (Goddess of Spring and Savior of Humanity), she fought her dragon-lady guidance counselor to the death, navigated mean girl Bethany’s bitchy troublemaking, and dealt with the betrayal of her backstabbing ex, Kai (sexy Prince of Darkness). You’d think a girl could catch a break.
Yeah, right.

With Zeus stepping things up, it’s vital that Sophie retrieve Persephone’s memories and discover the location of the ritual to stop Zeus and Hades. So when Aphrodite strikes a deal that can unlock Sophie’s pre-mortal past, what choice does the teen goddess have but to accept?

The mission: stop media mogul Hermes from turning Bethany into a global mega-celebrity. The catch? Aphrodite partners Sophie and Kai to work together … and treat this suicide mission as a date. Which could work out for Sophie’s plan to force Kai to admit his feelings for her–if she doesn’t kill him first.

Add to that the fact that BFF Theo’s love life and other BFF Hannah’s actual life are in Sophie’s hands, and suddenly being a teenager—even a godlike one—seems a bit like … well, hell. Whatever happened to dinner and a movie?

The YA romantic comedy/Greek mythology fireworks continue to fly in My Date From Hell. Love meets comedy with a whole lot of sass in book two of this teen fantasy romance series. Breaking up is easy; dating is deadly.

Sounds good, right? [Trust me, they totally are.]

1. Where did the idea for the Blooming Goddess series come from?

I was a huge myth and fairy tale lover growing up. And I’ve always loved the idea of playing around and retelling them. When I got serious about doing that myself, it was Persephone who spoke to me. This was back in my days as a screenwriter and so I was thinking of the idea as a possible series. But in the end, I realized I wanted to tell it in novel form. I didn’t want to retell the original or just move the same story to modern day. I wanted her past mostly as is (with some liberties like Kai) and then make it firmly about a human struggling to be a goddess. To be divine. What does that mean for her? Sophie suddenly has to deal with all these expectations of herself on a global scale. It’s hard enough figuring out who we are as teens, so adding the goddess layer just made it that much more of a pressure cooker.

2. What do you love most about Sophie and Kai and why should we root for them?

If I’ve done my job right, then Sophie and Kai will have earned their happy ending. I love romantic comedies. Between books and movies, I’ve consumed thousands of them. And the thing that drives me nuts is when the leads end up together without working for it. Without overcoming those flaws that make their love seem to insurmountable at the start. Sophie and Kai are highly flawed. Their respective families have done a number on them. Not to mention, the spectre of Persephone complicates everything. Teen or god – self-awareness is not big on either’s agenda. But if they can acknowledge some hard truths about themselves, let themselves be vulnerable to the other, their love will be magic.

3. Did having these books rooted in mythology help or hinder the research process? Do you think there were any limitations on your characters because of it?

Even though I took some fairly big liberties with the story — i.e. the invention of Kai — I still wanted many of the details to be rooted in the canonical understanding of the story. For that reason, it was great to have an established pantheon to be able to explore. And while I don’t think it necessarily limited how I portrayed my characters, what did perhaps pose a challenge was the fact that Greek mythology is such a richly mined territory. I didn’t want my stories to come across as a pale imitation of anyone else’s. So I was really conscious of “how do I make my story balance being true to the original while feeling fresh and unique?”

4. What has been your favorite part about writing the series?

Back in my screenwriting days, I always enjoyed flipping between writing features and series. Features allowed me to tell a self-contained story in a two hour period while series allowed for a deeper exploration of character and theme. I find it’s the same with my novel writing. When I wrote by stand alone romcom Sam Cruz’s Infallible Guide to Getting Girls, all I wanted was to tell this funny, contained story. It wouldn’t have worked as a series. But Sophie’s story always demanded a trilogy. And in fact, each book had a specific thematic journey. It’s been wonderful having the freedom to play with those concepts on a book-by-book basis.

5. Describe the series in five words.

Sassy goddess saves world romcom

Speed [ish] round:

1. What three things would you take to a desert island?

1) Sharp Hatchet

A very  handy tool for both chopping of kindling and decapitation purposes when the zombie apocalypse happens.  Sure, you say, what are the chances the virus will spread to my particular deserted island and infect the local animals> But do I really want to take that chance? I think not.

2) Vat of Ground Espresso — preferably Lavazza Rossa.

This desert island stay can go one of two ways. I can be happy (with espresso) or very very cranky. Believe me, no one wants the latter. Since I’ll have my hatchet to both chop wood for the fire and cut open a coconut which I’ll turn into a stovetop (firetop?) expresso maker, it’s just common sense.

3) MAC paramount lipstick

I don’t leave home without it because I was not raised by wolves. And even if I’m only facing angry hyenas or zombies, there is no need for me to look as scary as they do. Plus at least my epitaph can say “She was stupid enough to get herself stranded on a deserted island, but boy, did she look good!”

2. What are you reading right now?

I just finished tearing through the Shifters series by Rachel Vincent which was a blast! I would love to read The Dream Thieves next, but I think I’m number 2 billion on hold at the library.

3. Who are your favorite swoony boys?

I’ve been thinking a lot about that because: a) why not and b) I’m planning on writing a post soon about my favourite book boyfriends. So I don’t want to give too much away right now, but I will say my absolute swooniest is Jericho Barrons from the Fever series. *fans self*

4. Are there any authors that you fangirl over?

So many! Neil Gaiman, Karen Marie Moning, David Levithan, Haruki Murakami, Oscar Wilde to name a few.

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Huge thanks to Tellulah for taking the time to answer my questions.  Make sure you check out her website, blog, Facebook and Twitter pages. And go add all of her books to your TBR shelf on GoodReads.

Now.  Haven’t had a chance to check this series out? Well, I definitely think you should. [You can check out my review here.] And when I contacted Tellulah about getting some signed copies for the giveaway, she offered to donate them! So, there will be two winners.  The first winner will get signed copies of My Ex from Hell and My Date from Hell. The second winner will get a copy of My Ex from Hell.

Rules for the giveaway are listed under the “terms & conditions” on the Rafflecopter widget.

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