Guest Post - Author Jessica Therrien

by 8:28 AM 8 comments
 Guest Post by Jessica Therrien - Author of Oppression

Hello! I’m Jessica Therrien, author of Oppression (Children of the Gods #1). If you’ve stopped by for the blog tour, thanks so much! Also thanks to Claire for having me on her blog!

I was asked to talk about why I chose Greek Mythology as a basis for my novel. So here goes…

My interest in Greek Mythology started after I studied The Odyssey in the 10th grade. It wasn’t an immense interest, but I remembered learning that some of the places in Greek Mythology were thought to actually exist.

Here are two examples:

Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida. It is best known for being the setting of the Trojan War described in the Greek Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer.

The island of Gozo has long been identified as Ogygia, the domain of the nymph Calypso in Homer's Odyssey. Calypso, possessed of great supernatural powers, holds Odysseus captive for a number of years because of her love for him before releasing him to continue his journey home.

When I decided to write a novel, I wanted it to be about something that had an element of believability. I wanted readers to be intrigued by the paranormal, but still feel like the story was somewhat feasible. That’s why I loved Twilight so much. I was sucked into a paranormal, yet realistic, world.  

The idea that parts of Greek Mythology could be real was both fascinating and mysterious to me. It got me thinking. What if more than just the places were real? You can imagine where my imagination went from there. 

I started researching the different gods. I came up with the backstory and explanation for the myths, and went with it.

The following was my inspiration for my main character, Elyse:

The blood of the Gorgon, which Athena gave Asclepius, came from two very different veins. The blood from the right side could heal mankind, while the blood from the left vein could kill.

Honestly, I didn’t know very much about Greek Mythology when I started writing. Of course I’ve learned a ton since then, but most of my story is based on the premise that Greek gods were never really gods at all, and that the myths were only embellishments about a race of people who live long lives and have abilities.

This allowed me to be creative with my characters and define a different idea of what was true and what wasn’t.

It was a lot of fun digging up different abilities and linking them to the certain gods and goddesses. I really loved finding inspiration in the myths and figuring out how to make things work in the way I needed them to.

I hope you enjoy Oppression, and thanks for stopping by to read about how Greek Mythology influenced my imagination.


Thank you to Jessica for allowing me to be part of her blog tour and joining us today! For more info, here blog is here.


The Winners of the Oppression Giveaway are Sarah, Julie and Cassandra! Congrats :)





Claire <3



Unknown

Reader, Blogger

Twenty-something | book-blogger | tea-drinker | procrastinator | wannabe-writer | student

8 comments:

  1. One of my favorite posts of the tour so far.. I LOVE getting back story about a book. Thanks Claire for having her and thanks Jessica!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Claire!! Thanks for letting me take over your blog today ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, great post!! I've been really wanting to read this book! Will definitely look into it now! <3

    Really like your blog, Claire! New NB follower :)
    Vivian @ Vivaciously, Vivian

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Vivian :) I hope you like the book!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very interesting post! Thanks for the interview, I always enjoy reading about the 'behind-the-scenes'. Greek mythology is a recent interest of mine too! I did some reading up for some of my design classes and the stories are really fascinating.

    ReplyDelete

Ooh yes, comments puh-leaaase :D