Sensational 7 Q & A with Tera Lynn Childs!

Have you ever wanted to know what it would be like to hang out with your favorite author(s)? In an attempt to get a better understanding of authors, my Sensational Seven Q & A takes a closer or more personal look at these authors to give you a glimpse of the personalities behind the writing of your favorite books.

“Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book; a personality which, by birth and quality, is pledged to the doctrines there set forth, and which exists to see and state things so, and not otherwise.” By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tera Lynn Childs is a wannabe goddess and the author of OH. MY. GODS., GODDESS BOOT CAMP, and her current mermaid tale, FORGIVE MY FINS. Tera lives nowhere in particular and has spent time fleeing hurricanes, making character profiles on MySpace, blogging with the Buzz Girls at booksboysbuzz.com and the Fivers at livingyourfive.com, and writing wherever she can find a comfy chair and a steady stream of caffeinated beverages.

FORGIVE MY FINS is in stores today!

If you were given a chance to travel back in time, what year or place would you go / Why?
I'm a History Channel junkie (and Discovery Channel, Science Channel, National Geographic Channel... basically anything with dramatic documentaries) so this is a really hard decision. There have been so many wonderful times in history. I could choose the Victorian London of Charles Dickens, Boston during the Revolutionary War, or Egypt during the construction of the Great Pyramids. But I guess, if I could choose just one, it would be Ancient Greece so I could attend the Dionysian theatre festivals. I would love to experience the power and emotion of Antigone in its original style.

Describe your novel in seven words or less?
Mermaid princess kisses wrong human, magically bonded.

Please share with us about your favorite book and fictional crush to date?
Another toughie, because this one changes every day. Right now, the books for which I would walk across hot coals to get the next in the series are Hunger Games and Catching Fire. My all-time favorite fictional crush is Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice (see next question). As for more contemporary crushes, I'd have to say I'm definitely Team Gale, and I'd spend quality time with Seth from Wicked Lovely, Titus from Fly on the Wall, and Po from Graceling.

If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be / Why?
Lizzie Bennet from Pride and Prejudice because she's smart and funny and knows herself, well, Darcy. He was the original bad boy romantic hero. Very handsome, very rich, and (in the end) very kind and generous.

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you/ Why?
Drew Barrymore. She's funny and quirky and the kind of girl you'd like to spend a Girls' Weekend with. I've always respected her acting skills, her directorial debut (Whip It) proves she's got other skills, too, and I admire how she's risen above the horrible and destructive things in her past.

If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be – please explain?
The Life of a Theatre Brat

When I tell people how much I moved around growing up (a different school/city/state/country every year or two until high school) they almost always as if I'm a military brat. But no, I tell them, I was a theatre brat. My parents met at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in the summer of 1965, my mom was working in the costume shop and my dad in the scene shop. You cannot possibly overestimate the bizarre life of a theatre person. In my parents' garage right now are: three and a half painted-white mannequins, giant sheets of mirrored plexiglas, enough tools to build small housing development, and various lighting instruments, colored gels, scenic paints, and who knows what else. Good theatre is a balance between creativity, practicality, entertainment and education. Growing up in this environment has definitely influenced my writing to be the same.

How would you describe yourself/life in seven words?
Always changing, always learning, always dreaming big.

Bonus:

**Is there any additional info you would like to share with your readers about what’s next for you and your books?**
Next up from me is the sequel to FORGIVE MY FINS. (Right now it doesn't have an official title, but I'm calling it FINS ARE FOREVER.) It should be out Summer 2011. And *then* in Fall 2011 I'll release the first book of a new (also untitled) trilogy about triplet descendants of Medusa who discover they are destined to guard the door between the world of monsters and the world of men. Very kick-butt, Buffy-esque, mythological action. I'm writing the first book right now and am so unbelievably excited about this one.

Thanks for stopping by Tera!

For more information about Tera Lynn Childs and her books, please visit her website here.