Jessica Therrien UPRISING Blog Tour Last Day

I'm frustrated... this was scheduled to post at 8am this morning but as you can tell it didn't happen...

To celebrate the UPRISING Blog Tour, Jessica Therrien is stopping by today to explain who she based her character off of and some of them became about. I had a blast getting to know her a little better and hope you do too!

Hey Dani’s blog buddies. I’m Jessica Therrien, author of the Children of the Gods series. I’m here to talk about building characters using real people. I’m a big believer in the concept: write what you know. Not only do I base characters off of people in my life, but I use my own memories and feelings as well.

When I started writing my Children of the Gods series it was just for fun. I never imagined anyone else would see it, so I based my main character on myself. Basing Elyse on myself was the easiest way for me to write. Throughout the process, Elyse became the best and worst parts of me.

I remember reading in Bird by Bird that the most important thing you can do is write the truth. I interpreted that as writing a character as they truly are, not how a reader wants them to be. Elyse isn’t perfect. She’s timid, a little naïve, reckless and irrational, but she’s determined and strong when it comes to those she loves.

The result has been both good and bad. Readers have very strong opinions about Elyse. Some good. Some bad. What’s important though, is that she makes people feel something. Anger over her choices, irritation at her recklessness, or compassion for her as she overcomes her struggles. In life, people are flawed. It’s unrealistic to write a character who does everything right or has no weaknesses. So, despite the fact that I sometimes get my feelings hurt when people don’t like something about her, I still stand by my decision to make her as real as possible. Using myself as the basis was the best way to do that.

A lot of my other characters are based on people in my life as well. Eventually all of my characters grow into their own, but in the beginning it’s always someone I know. Anna was based on my best friend, William was based on my husband, etc. It’s fun to use real people to create characters. It makes them more authentic, and honestly…it’s a lot easier. Besides, my husband gets a kick out of all the girls who fall for William.

Thank you for having me on your blog, Dani! It’s been fun J

It was my pleasure Jessica! Thanks for stopping by on the last day of your busy tour!

Synopsis:

Jessica Therrien follows up her bestselling novel OPPRESSION with UPRISING, the second book in the Children of the Gods series.

OPPRESSION, translated and sold around the world, was one of the best selling YA novels of 2012. UPRISING continues the story of Elyse, William and the Descendants.

Elyse has been in hiding for most of her life. Only now she’s hiding with William, and she knows who she’s hiding from. The Council wants a child Elyse and William have yet to conceive, a child who will be the next oracle, and who will provide the final piece to a plan Christoph has been organizing for years. Charged with leading the rebellion against Christoph and his Council, Elyse feels well out of her depth. But she has good friends and strong allies who are willing to fight with her to the end, regardless of how far they have to go, and how many lives will be lost in the process. They have one goal: to live freely and openly with the rest of humanity, out from under The Council’s oppressive rule. The stakes could not be higher for Elyse and the Descendants longing for freedom. They'll have to learn to fight if they want to stand up against The Council, and to find allies in a world ruled by their enemies. The hardest part of waging a war is knowing who to trust. Elyse knows their uprising will change the world. She doesn’t realize it will change her, too.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads Links to Oppression (Children of the Gods #1): Amazon | B&N | GoodReads | Facebook Links to Uprising (Children of the Gods #2): Amazon | B&N | GoodReads | Facebook

Bio:

Jessica Therrien is the author of the young adult paranormal fiction series Children of the Gods. Book one in the series, Oppression, was published by ZOVA Books in February of 2012 and became a Barnes & Noble best-seller shortly after its release. The second book in the series, Uprising, will be available in May of 2013.

Aside from her Children of the Gods series, Jessica’s work can also be found in a published collection of flash fiction stories called Campaigner Challenges 2011. Out of over 350 submissions her story, The Soulless, won first place for people’s choice and fourth place in the judging round of Rachael Harrie’s Writing Campaign Challenge. Her story, Saved, is also available as part of the anthology.

Jessica currently lives in Chula Vista with her husband and is working on book three in her Children of the Gods series.

Kyra Lennon Stops By Today

The ever amazing Kyra Lennon has done it again with her new novel Blindsided.

Here she has given us a little taste of what to look forward too...

This is a small snippet from the start of Chapter 2, and is from the POV of Isabelle.

Tuning out the sound of Mr. Swift talking about the way writers use and adapt language, I closed my eyes and a picture of him filled my mind.

When my parents had told Georgia and me our cousin, Hunter, and his friend were coming to stay for a few weeks, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea. Don’t get me wrong, Hunter was one of my favourite people in the world, and I wished he lived much nearer than he did, but having someone new in my house made me nervous. It took me a long time to warm up to new people, and most of the time, they didn’t wait around long enough for me to do so.

 I met Jesse for the first time when I was twelve, and I thought he was a bit of a dork. He had long, skinny legs and twiggy arms. His hair was a blond mess, and he spent all his time playing football with Hunter, and mostly ignoring me and Georgia.

When I saw him on Saturday morning, in my living room, hair ruffled from him falling asleep on the sofa, my mouth felt like it was filled with sawdust, and I could barely choke out a ‘hello.’

He’d got kind of … gorgeous. He’d grown into his gangly arms and legs, and developed muscles, and the kind of chiselled jaw you think only exists in romance novels.

Right away, his looks put him way out of my league, but when you threw in the fact he was on his way to becoming a football legend in America, he was obviously a guy who wouldn’t look twice at plain old Isabelle Mills. He tried really hard to make conversation, I suppose because he felt sorry for me. I appreciated his efforts, and I think I may have even flirted with him a little over lunch before reminding myself I definitely wasn’t going to get his attention. Boys were Georgia’s area of expertise. She already had a boyfriend, but that didn’t stop the other guys at college from checking her out. She was just so confident, whereas I preferred to sit in the background. The last thing I needed was some prat like Leon Baxter following me around. Lucky for me, that particular creep definitely preferred Georgia, though honestly, I wouldn’t have wished him on anyone. I hated the way he stared at her, making disgusting innuendos. He was the kind of guy who gave all the rest a bad name.

“Isabelle?”

I jumped at the sound of Mr. Swift saying my name, and the rest of the class started laughing. I tried to subtly wipe my chin, just in case I’d accidentally been drooling on the desk while in my trance, and Georgia giggled beside me.

“Sorry, sir,” I said, wishing I could crawl under the desk and hide.

“Welcome back,” he said, smiling. “Are you ready to join in the discussion now?”

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

 

Blindsided Synopsis:
After a successful first soccer season in L.A, Jesse Shaw heads to London with his best buddy, Hunter, but his world is turned upside down when a dangerous prank threatens his career and his blossoming relationship with Hunter’s cousin, Isabelle.

Isabelle Mills lives in Notting Hill with her parents and her twin sister, Georgia. When she finds out her cousin is coming to stay, along with his famous soccer player friend, her first instinct is to hibernate until they’ve gone. However, once she meets Jesse, everything changes. He’s everything she ever wanted, but with so many obstacles in their path, can she really risk putting her heart on the line?


Author Bio:
Kyra Lennon was born on the South coast of England, and to this day, still lives by the sea. After years spent working in retail, where she met enough versatile characters to write hundreds of books, she finally took the plunge and quit her day job. Kyra's debut novel, Game On, was released in July 2012. While fiction writing has always been her passion, she also has numerous articles on a variety of topics published on prolific websites.

Buy Links:
Kyra Lennon on Amazon.com
Kyra Lennon on Amazon.co.uk

Find Kyra online
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Thanks again Kyra for doing what you do best and thanks to everyone for taking the time to stop by and see what Kyra has up her sleeves this time!

If you are here for the And You Are? Bloghop that is here!