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
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!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading, glad you enjoyed :)
DeleteThanks for commenting, Cassandra :)
DeleteHi Claire!! Thanks for letting me take over your blog today ;)
ReplyDeleteYour most welcome, so glad to have you :D
DeleteWow, great post!! I've been really wanting to read this book! Will definitely look into it now! <3
ReplyDeleteReally like your blog, Claire! New NB follower :)
Vivian @ Vivaciously, Vivian
Thanks Vivian :) I hope you like the book!
ReplyDeleteVery 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