Monday, May 05, 2008

Speaking of Greek...

It's the second debut launch week in a row here on the Buzz blog. (Technically, my launch was last week, too, but we can't exactly have two at once, can we?) So this week is dedicated to the release of my debut novel, OH. MY. GODS.


The official blurb:

If Phoebe Castro can keep her grades up and have another stellar cross-country season, her dream of attending USC with her best friends is only a track scholarship away. She’s made all her plans, so it’s a complete shock when her mom announces she’s marrying a mysterious stranger and moving them half-way around the world—to Greece.

Phoebe’s stuck on a secret island in the Aegean attending the super-exclusive Academy, where her new stepfather is the headmaster and the kids are anything but your average students—they are descendants of the Greek gods, super powers included. That’s right, Greek gods are no myth! If Phoebe thought high school was hard, she knows this is going to be mortal misery.

Securing that scholarship seems like Phoebe’s only ticket out of Greece, but training and maintaining her grades will be grueling, even without a sabotaging stepsister from Hades and a gorgeous guy—what a god!—who just might be her Achilles heel. One thing is for sure—summoning the will to win and find her place among the gods could be Phoebe’s toughest course yet.

The Greek gods get a makeover in this romantic odyssey of mythic proportion.

The real dish:

Phoebe gets uprooted from her life-long California home, separated from her two inseparable-since-kindergarten best friends, and plopped into a word where your clique is determined by your god. And, since Phoebe and her mom are the only two people on the entire island of Serfopoula who aren't descendants of a Greek god, she doesn't exactly have a clique to join.

These god- and goddess-based cliques play a huge part in the story, and they were oh so much fun to write. I'm going to give you a quick rundown of the major cliques and their characteristics, so that if you get uprooted to Serfopoula you'll know your way around the lunch room.

APHRODITE
The goddess of love and beauty. Most of her descendants are cheerleaders--blonde, beautiful, and another "B" I can't name in this blog. Phoebe's chief rival, Adara, belongs to Aphrodite and she is definitely not showing the new girl any love.

ARES
The god of war. In Ancient Greece, he was reviled, but his descendants are the cream of the crop. They're the jocks, the king athletes who aren't above playing a little unfair to win the day. Bad boy runner Griffin is a descendant of Ares.

POSEIDON
The god of the sea. Just as Poseidon rules the waters, his descendants rule the waves. His kin are the tanned and sun-bleached surfer dudes and dudettes who wear board shorts and Pookah shells.

ZEUS
The king of the gods. The descendants of the ruler of Mt. Olympus are the uber-popular crowd. They're rich, powerful, dress like they stepped out of a fashion magazine, and know how to throw a bash that makes Vegas at New Year's look like a church picnic.

HADES
The god of the underworld. He reigns over the dead, so is it any wonder that his descendants are the macabre goth girls? If there's leather, piercings, or black lipstick to be worn, the Hades harem is wearing 'em.

HERA
The queen of the gods. Descendant's of Zeus' consort are poised, polished, and ready to take on the world with a perfect preppy veneer. A little bit Stepford wife, a little bit Jackie O. Phoebe's new stepdad and (evil) stepsister are descendants of Hera.

Okay, so those are the main cliques you'll meet in OH. MY. GODS. (There are more, of course, but these are the most critical to your social survival.) Would you want to be a descendant of one of these gods or goddesses? Or do you have another god or goddess in mind?

Dish on which god you'd like to claim and why. One lucky commenter will win a signed copy of the actual, beautiful hardcover book!

Hugs,
TLC
OH. MY. GODS. -- Dutton, available like NOW!
teralynnchilds.com

PS--This is a one day only contest! Enter by midnight Pacific time.

38 comments:

the story siren said...

I think i would have to go with good ole' Poseidon! Mainly because i am a swimmer, and i pretty much love anything associated with water.

I would love, love, love to win a signed copy of OMG! so, pretty please sign me up!

TJ Brown said...

Poseidon sounds like the most fun:) Enter me to win!
Teri

stephhale said...

Ewww...so fun. Everyone is going to love your book SOOOOOO much! :)

The Golfing Librarian said...

I'll have to say Ares would be mine. Whenever you have to deal with the public, day in and day out, it's a little like going into battle. :)
Sign me up! It sounds like a great read!

TinaFerraro said...

I've got my copy already, so my comment doesn't count. But I'm going outside the posted list of gods and goddesses to say Tera Lynn Childs is my favorite goddess of all...

Carrie Harris said...

I've always had this thing for Greek mythology, and for the goddess of night, Nyx. The whole thing about moving the universe to the rhythm of Nyx chanting is just plain COOL. So I'd be a clique of one. :)

Rachael Stein said...

my fav=Ares

why? he's hot and sexy :D and bad boys are always awesome

and i REALLLLLLLLY wanna read this book. it sounds fantastic :D

Anonymous said...

i think i'd like zeus. he's the king. awesome :D

-samantha

Anonymous said...

Ooh, I like the dark Hades. It would be interesting to get a trip down his way.

Please enter me! I'd love to win a signed copy of your book!!!

Kim Baccellia

Marley Gibson said...

Huge CONGRATS, Tera!!!!! I'm soooooooooooo happy for you! Boy...we certainly do have the buzz going in here, don't we?

You know...I can never tell the Greek gods from the Roman gods. I mean, they're pretty much the same, just co-opted off one another, right? I like the guy who can run really fast. Seems like you could save a lot of time if you could run like a scalded dog. LOL!!!

Huge success on your book!!!

Lori T said...

Congrats on the release Tera. The book looks great.

I think that I would have to choose either Poseiden...I love the ocean and surf and sand or on a completely opposite track...Hades...there is just something about those piercings and tattoos that also appeals to me.

Have a great day!

Amee said...

I'd have to go with Poseidon. I don't really like the water but his description sounds the best! :P

Anonymous said...

I'd like to go with Hera. I'd love to be poised in times of panic.

~~mybkclub@aol.com

Kim Lenox said...

Congratulations on your release Tera!

Unknown said...

I would rather be from Hades because I love the dark side, it's like Tim Burton's Corpse Bride's underworld, it's just plain awesome!

MJ said...

I'd have to say Hera. What do I say, I'm a control freak when it comes to perfection and sort of have a take charge attitude or maybe Athena, who was not mentioned, because books are my one true love.

Elainareads said...

Hmm I think I'd like Zeus, nothing like an awesome party. =D

I can't wait to read your book it sounds so awesome. Please sign me up. =D

Book Sp(l)ot said...

Poseidon would be great for the ocean but I'd have to make sure the surfers weren't like ones I live around who don't care about anything else first...

Otherwise I'm going with Zeus because, hey, you get the great clothes and you can always make the party be at the ocean and problem solved ;)

Congratulations on your book--and on it being such a fabulous sounding one at that!

Steph said...

Ahh I know all things there ARE to know about Greek mythology--I'm half Greek myself! :) I'd have to go with Hera. She's a royal pain the ass in most of the myths, but I love her adamant stance at keeping her husband. She's persistent and she doesn't let anyone walk all over her, and even if most of the things she does are utter crap, this is one of the few times where the means justify the end. She also has the best Roman name of all the other gods, in my opinion: Juno.

:)

Steph

Anonymous said...

APHRODITE just because of the love!! =)!

Anonymous said...

I love this concept! I need to head to the bookstore, ASAP.

Since I was a swimmer in high school, I'd have to go with Poseidon.

Charity

Kimberly Frost said...

Zeus is not my favorite god, but if I were going to be a goddess girl in a clique, I'd want to be descended from him.

I can NOT wait to read your book. Yay, that it's finally out. This week I'm going Greek. ;)

Unknown said...

Congrats Tera! I'm so excited for you. Can't wait to read OMG!

As far as goddess cliques go, I think I'm going to pick one not on the list: Athena. I think she was the goddess of wisdom and a warrior...kind of like a protector of people. Strong and wise...

Anonymous said...

hmm. i don't know which i would want to be...
i'm a libra, and isn't that aphrodite's turf?

Breanna said...

Hmm, I think I'd have to go with Hades. Basically because I don't think I'd fit with any of the others listed, lol.

I'd love a copy of OH MY GODS, I really want to read it!

Congrats on the release of course =)

-Breanna

Liv said...

All right, so I'm going to sound like a total nerd here, but I take Latin and we're required to learn about the Roman versions of the gods and therefore, I'm going to go outside the list and say that I'd like to be in the Athena group. Most importantly she's the goddess of wisdom, warriors, and music so I think that that would be a pretty fun group of kids to hang out with. :P

I'd love to win a copy of Oh. My. Gods. I've been looking forward to reading it for a while. Congrats on the release!

-Liv

Peace, Love and ME! said...

Oh this is really hard, i love the Greek Gods and all of their "myths" haha, and you have some good choices here, but i am going to have to go outside the list and say:

Apollo. He is the God of music, prophecies, and archery...so i think that group of kids would be like the Drama Nerds, and other activities like that.

I also love that he is a way hotty. He is said to be "the most beautiful of the Gods" that sounds yummy right? I mean he is Zeus' son, so that would make sense, i guess.

And congradulationson the release, you can bet that i am going to buy it if i don't win this copy!!

I have been waiting for it for a while, now!

<3
Chantelle

Carolina said...

I would go with Artemis the goddess of the hunt and childbirth. She's really beautiful and really cares about people and doesn't let guys take advantage of women. She's a feminist like me.I hope I win the book and if I don't I would certainly buy it. It sounds so good.

Melay said...

I would have to go with Hades. For me, Hades seems like one of the most level Gods out there. Belonging to the Hades clique would mean that I was with the people who shared my tastes. Besides, black is a pretty wicked color.

Melay said...

I would have to go with Hades. For me, Hades seems like one of the most level Gods out there. Belonging to the Hades clique would mean that I was with the people who shared my tastes. Besides, black is a pretty wicked color.

Meredith said...

I am thinking either Hera because I kind of like that little bit o' prep look. But I am more Poseidon! Arizona girl all the way here. Swimming, hanging out with friends by the pool and catching some rays.

Ann said...

Hera is my favorite. Please enter me in the contest for a signed copy.
Thanks!
Ann

Librarykat said...

I would be in with the Hades crowd, that seems the most me. Fitting since I have a dog named Persephone LOL.

I hope that counts for an entry!

Anonymous said...

Apollo. He was god of the arts, if I remember correctly, and leader of the muses. Just imagine what that could do for my writing!

Then again, I wouldn't mind being in Hecate's clique. She was a goddess of magic, both light and dark. Ooh, how wonderfully complicated that could get...

~Mary

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the new release!

Dude it's has to be Poseidon Ποσειδῶν. He rocks! I'm a child of the sea what can I say...love the water...swimming, sailing, snorkeling and surfing etc...I'd rather live under it than on land! I even have the Olympic Pin of Poseidon from when the games were held in Greece!

Plus my name means mermaid in Italian. And the strangest thing of all is when I visited Italy my favourite place I found out is actually called Poseidonia by the locals who don't use the modern name.

Sirena

Me said...

I am SO impressed by all these answers! You guys came up with some fun ones that I never thought of. I especially love the idea that Apollo's descendants are the drama nerds--so clever! And I had no idea there were so many Poseidon lovers out there!

Because of all the great answers, I've decided to give away TWO copies! One chosen by randomizer.org and one for my favorite. So, the winners are:

1. Charity/Writing Wrongs
2. Chantelle/Peace, Love and Me!

send your mailing address to tlc at teralynchilds.com

sarah said...

I can't wait to read it. And I have to remember to get a copy for a friend's daughter this weekend...

and she's on her school's cross country teams!

Unknown said...

Oh, this is too easy! Dionysus...god of wine (and madness, natch!). :) Best. Blog. Post. Ever. XO