Friday, August 26, 2011

Guest Post: Tera Lynn Childs + Sophie Jordan


I'm super excited today to be a part of a blog tour organized by Big Honcho Media and Harper Teen for Tera Lynn Child's Sweet Venom and Sophie Jordan's Vanish. I've read both of these titles (you can read my reviews HERE and HERE) and absolutely adored them! I'm therefore truly thrilled to allow Tera and Sophie to take over the blog to give us some of their very best romantic advice.

BEST ROMANTIC ADVICE - TERA LYNN CHILDS

My parents met when my mom was nineteen and my dad was twenty-two and this year they celebrated their forty-fifth wedding anniversary, so I have a pretty amazing romantic example to follow. They met, knew they wanted to get married by the next weekend and got married the next year, after a year apart on opposite sides of the country.

If their relationship has taught me one thing it’s that when you know, you know. My mom knew my dad was the one the moment she saw him. When my grandfather asked her if she was sure, she said she was sure. She never doubted, has never doubted. Not once.

I’ve been in plenty of situations—whether it’s a guy, a literary agent, or a pair of shiny new shoes—where I find myself making the argument. Trying to convince myself that the thing in question is right, that it’s worth the love or the trust or the money. Whenever I realize I’m doing that, I always try to make myself walk away. Because if I’m having doubts now, chances are I’ll regret the thing later.

If you have to talk yourself into something, then it’s not the right thing in the first place. Make things easier on yourself by walking away now, before it’s too late.

BEST ROMANTIC ADVICE - SOPHIE JORDAN

Make sure you like him.

Yes, this is the best romantic advice I’ve ever received and ever given. It’s so simple, but true. Of course, you’re first drawn to a “partner” due to that special zing! That first toe-curling moment when you both first see each other. This isn’t to say I’m discounting the importance of chemistry. In the beginning, it might seem like the only important thing. Chemistry. Attraction. I get it. It’s what I write about – partly. The other part, believe it or not, has to do with liking. Both in real life and the stories I make up.

When I craft a book, I create those moments where gazes meet, where hearts race, hands touch and sparks fly. As a writer, I love writing the “steamy” scenes. But just as important are what I call the “quiet” scenes … where a hero and heroine are learning about each other, when they’re discovering common ground and respect for one another. When they’re laughing and having a genuine exchange that sets the groundwork for a healthy future relationship.

If chemistry is the only thing a relationship has going for it … it’s not going to go very far. The same goes for the believability of a romantic couple in a book. Make sure you like each other. Make sure you are friends.

Thanks so much for stopping by ladies! This should be a really fun tour, so be sure and stop by Anna Reads on Monday to see what they have to say next!

Sophie and Tera are going to be making several physical tour stops as well at the following locations. I'm hoping to make it to the Dayton event as that's not far from me, and I would love to see some of you there!

September 7 @ 7 PM Blue Willow Bookshop - Houston, TX

September 8 @ 7 PM Books & Co - Dayton, OH

September 9 @ 7 PM Magic Tree Bookstore - Chicago, IL

October 1 - Austin Teen Book Festival - Austin, TX

SWEET VENOM


Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they’re triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful Gorgon maligned in myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

VANISH


An Impossible Romance. Bitter Rivalries. Deadly Choices.

To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.

Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?

In bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s dramatic follow-up to Firelight, forbidden love burns brighter than ever.

39 comments:

  1. *claps* Two awesome authors, one awesome post. I'm so excited for both of these books!

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  2. I loved both bits of advice and both of these books are wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Tera Lynn Childs has been a favorite YA author for a while now and Sweet Venom is on my TBR list. Now I have another author (Sophie Jordan) to try and add to that same list!

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  4. Really good advice! My husband and I met when I was 17 and he was 18 and we've been together 8 years now. Liking is a huge deal!

    Love this post!

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  5. Awww lovely advice :D And I know how she just knew

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  6. When you know, you know! I love that! That is sometimes how I tell myself "insta-love" is okay in novels. :)

    Make sure you're friends...also awesome advice! My husband is my best friend :)

    They're coming to Chicago! YAY!

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  7. Great post! I very much agree that the quiet moments are so important. It's best when a book has both chemistry and quiet time.

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  8. While I don't necessarily agree with the advice, that was way fun :) Great post.

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  9. Pretty good advice. The best advice I ever got was to love your significant other the way he (or she) is now, not as you want them to be, or for their potential, because they are unlikely to change. :)

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  10. Love the advice and so true! I read Vanish and loved it. Now I need to get my hands on Sweet Venom.

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  11. Great advice and cute post! I have been meaning to read both books and have Firelight sitting right here on my bookshelf. Thanks for sharing this with us, Jenny!

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  12. Aww, that was a nice post! It was nice to see their sides on the topic. Thanks, Jenny!

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  13. Ahhh Love... we all have such different takes on what it is......

    I always tell my daughters when the time comes to date or marry to look for a guy who:

    1. Has a Job
    2. Has goals to better his life
    3. Isnt a wuss
    4. opens the car door for you

    all the rest is up for debate.....

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  14. Aw, I love the story of Tera's parents! That's so cute! And I kind of agree with Sophie--you need to actually like someone, not just be physically attracted to them, to make a relationship work. :)

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  15. Great guest post & great romantic advice. I love Tera's story about her parents. So cute! :)

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  16. Great story about Tera's parents. Maybe I can find a love like that someday.

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  17. I've read Vanished but I really want venom now. So adding that to my wishlist, it's probably going to be one of my next buys. Thanks so much for the awesome post.

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  18. Wonderful advice ladies! My parents did the 'we just knew' thing too. They eloped after knowing each other 4 months and will be celebrating 23 years in a couple months. And the good news is they still like each other!

    I love both of these authors and can't wait to dive into Sweet Venom and Vanish!

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  19. Such a cute post! Perfect for YA and some adults. ;)

    Oh I want to read Sweet Venom! I have Vanish on my review tbr and I can't wait!

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  20. I agree with the part about liking your partner. My husband and I were good friends for several years before we started dating.

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  21. I'm super excited for Vanish. And, it's so true about what Sophie Jordan says. Make sure you like him. Of course chemistry is important, but if you can't work together as friends and accomplices then whats the point? Seriously, I wish I knew this better when I was younger.

    Jen
    In the Closet With a Bibliophile

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  22. LOL It would be pretty important to like the guy! I hate it when guys are yummy looking but are total jerks which are most yummy looking guys. =P

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  23. YAY!!! I'm SO glad I like my hubs...

    Technically I 'met' the hubby when I was 14, although we disliked each other immensely until we were 20! Then we FELL in love... got married... *aww* I should be nicer to him! ;)

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  24. Great advice from both ladies. Tera's story about her parents is so cute.

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  25. This was so grest and what great advice. I have to say i met my husband when i was 17 in highschool. We became friends first and i knew someday he would be my husband. I am now going on 26 and we will be married 3 years in sept. I cant wait for these books. I still have to read Firelight and hope to be able to get it soon. Thanks ladies and thanks Jenny!

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  26. Such sweet advice from the authors. I knew my husband in high school and never in a million years would I have dreamed we would be married. He was such a prep! Anyway, I still haven't read Vanish : P Hopefully I'll get to it. Sweet Venom sounds pretty unique.

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  27. As someone who married a "friend" that went to High School with me and we have been together and still like each other, most days, for 30 years the above is good advice from both Sophie and Tera.

    Jenny you have given me some food for thought, would love to get a chance to meet these two as live near Austin now just need to find the details out about the Teen festival in October.

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  28. I can't wait to read both of these! I'm starting Sweet Venom tomorrow! :) Great post!

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  29. Great post, I was really nice to hear from the authors giving real advice. Relationships are much more complicated than we think and being honest with yourself is the most important thing to remember.

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  30. This is truly such lovely advice...brilliant guest posts. I wish I knew enough about men to turn them away earlier ;)

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  31. Great advice! I do have to agree that you have to like him-he ain't gonna change. If you don't like him now, you're not gonna like him any better when you're married! Friends first is always good. But chemistry is necessary! Eighteen years this coming spring...we met at a bar.

    And I cannot wait for both books!!!

    Heather

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  32. I do think you know when you know! Then you do have to make sure you like him! Those are both great pieces of advice :)

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  33. Both great advice! I agree about if you are in love you never doubt it :)

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  34. What great advice! I like how they relate it to books and writing. Fun post!

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  35. Loved reading this! So lovely, great advice!

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  36. Awwwwww, yes! Simple and sweet advice that lingers, even if you don't always follow it.
    Lovely post.

    P.S. I love those quite moments, too.

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  37. I have both of these books (and I have for months) and I have yet to read either of them! I seriously don't know what is wrong with me! Oh well, I suppose I have a bit more time left until Sept 6th! Thanks so much for the words of wisdom ladies!

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  38. Both great pieces of advice :)
    It was a friends turned to lovers with me and my husband.

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