MY EX FROM HELL
by : Tellulah Darling
Publication Date: April 1, 2013
We have to admit that we fangirl over Tellulah… no lie – she’s funny as hell, she’s wonderful to chat with and holy crap is she talented! Her first book, Sam Cruz’s Infallible Guide to Getting Girls is one of my favorites – especially if you’re looking for something a bit different than the normal contemporary romance. When we had the opportunity to read My Ex From Hell, I jumped at the chance and we may have crossed that imaginary line of appropriate gushing about someone you don’t really know. But we don’t even care… that’s how much we loved this book!
We had the opportunity to ask Tellulah a few questions and she was kind enough to entertain us …
So you’re a former screenwriter… was the transition to author easy to make?
Yes and no. I think my understanding of story, character, structure, theme – all of that was equally applicable. But novel writing definitely has its own needs. There are a lot more words! Who knew? That said, I love that I can be in my characters’ heads in a novel, in a way that I can’t in a screenplay.
When did you write your first book and what was the title?
I may have written a novel’s worth of very bad fanfic when I was a teenager, which I pray was consumed by fire. It had no title. I started another one in university, again, titleless, again, very bad. I thought it was ironic. It was not. So my first novel that got a title was Sam Cruz.
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Anxious, funny and smart. I can write my flaws down no problem, but the other two were hard to do because the next adjective I’d put is self-critical.
Sam Cruz is a favorite of mine… Did you find it easy to write part of that story from the perspective of a teenage boy?
Thank you! I did because it was Sam. I knew his character so well by the time I started writing this book that he pretty much wrote himself. Poor, deluded boy…
We’re here to talk about My Ex From Hell, which I absolutely loved by the way! Give me your three minute elevator pitch about this story!
Ack – I always hating pitching. Okay, a slacker teen girl gets a midnight kiss from a bad boy and discovers that she’s actually Persephone, Goddess of Spring. Somehow she’s got to save humanity in the war between Hades and Zeus, survive God-ordered assassination attempts, deal with mean girls and teen drama, and stop being kissed by aforementioned bad boy who is actually Kai, Prince of the Underworld. Hijinks ensue.
How would you introduce Sophie Bloom to readers?
Sophie is one of those girls who is just biding her time through high school. Not the popular girl, not the total misfit – she is picked on but mouths off in return and is pretty much middle of the road in the pecking order. She’s smart enough to shine but instead waits for the day she can graduate and her real life start. So I turned her world upside down and made it blow open and hit the ground running. Even though I was one of the “smart kids” in high school, there’s a lot of me in Sophie. I remember telling myself to hang on until I got out and my “real life” could start. But it’s always real life. And I wanted Sophie to stop all her avoidance tactics and deal with the here and now. Because really, that’s what we’ve got. Romance-wise, she’s in over her head. I think that’s pretty true for a lot of teen girls as well. Certainly was for me and with boys that were nowhere near as swoony as Kai. Maybe as irritating though.
If you could introduce one of your characters to another character from any other book, who would it be and why?
Great question! I would introduce Ally from Sam Cruz to Hannah from My Ex From Hell. I think those two glorious science geeks and all-around fab girls would hit it off famously.
My Ex From Hell is described as a ‘romantic comedy/Greek mythology smackdown – Where/how was the idea for this series born?
I’ve always loved the idea of retelling/reshaping classic myths and fairy tales. Playing with them in different contexts. When I started to think about doing that myself, it was Persephone that really spoke to me. I didn’t want to retell the original or simply move the same story to modern day. I wanted her past mostly (with the addition of Kai) as is, and then make it firmly a human struggling to be a goddess. Sophie suddenly has to deal with all these expectations of herself on a global scale. It’s hard enough figuring out who we are as teens, so revealing a goddess identity just threw her into an entirely new pressure cooker. And because I love romantic comedy so much, this whole series, in my head at least, really is a rom-com first and foremost.
What can we look forward to in book 2 – My Date From Hell?
More love! For Hannah, for Theo. New gods get introduced and current relationships take new turns. There, was that cryptic enough?
What is the one thing readers would be surprised to learn about you?
I tap dance.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received from another author?
Keep writing. I like to think of it as “hang in long enough and statistically a whole bunch of other authors will drop out or die, leaving readers to find you.” Did I put down cynical as one of my adjectives?
What authors do you fangirl over?
So many. Karen Marie Moning (Jericho Barrons – who’s with me?), Neil Gaiman, Douglas Adams, Richelle Mead, John Green, David Levithan, Dr. Seuss, Armistead Maupin, Jennifer Crusie
Do you have any current or future projects you can tell us about?
I do have my next series in mind – five books each with a stand-alone romantic comedy but an overarching battle. It’s too easy for me to go play with new ideas instead of focusing on the hard work of my current projects. I need to write the final book in Sophie’s story. That’s the priority right now.
Thanks so much for having me on your awesome blog!
If, for some reason, you haven’t seen my original review for My Ex From Hell where I refer to it as ‘a wonderfully fresh romantic comedy’ and tell you that Tellulah Darling has been put on my ‘auto buy’ list, click the link and you can read the full thing!
SO!! In celebration of the release of My Ex From Hell, Tellulah is hosting a giveaway – She’s giving away 3 signed copies of My Ex From Hell and you WANT to win this one… hell, I want to win this one!!
here are the pesky rules:
There is no purchase necessary to enter or win. This contest is open to participation between the dates of April 1, 2013- April 7, 2013. Tellulah Darling has the right to disqualify any entries with false or unverifiable email addresses on any of the blogs/sites hosting this giveaway.
SO!! In celebration of the release of My Ex From Hell, Tellulah is hosting a giveaway – She’s giving away 3 signed copies of My Ex From Hell and you WANT to win this one… hell, I want to win this one!!
here are the pesky rules:
There is no purchase necessary to enter or win. This contest is open to participation between the dates of April 1, 2013- April 7, 2013. Tellulah Darling has the right to disqualify any entries with false or unverifiable email addresses on any of the blogs/sites hosting this giveaway.
Three (3) winners will be selected randomly through the Rafflecopter widget to win the prize and contacted by email within 48 hours of the contest end date of April 1, 2013. The winner’s name may be publicly announced on tellulahdarling.com or any of the other blogs/sites also hosting this contest.
hey! This is International too!!
hey! This is International too!!
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