I am happy to welcome T.D Thomas the author of Hera, Queen of Gods to my blog today, who was able to answer some questions for us. Also a review of his book and a Kindle copy Giveaway is below to follow so good luck!
About The Author
When
he's not battling to save Azeroth from its latest calamity, T.D.
Thomas lives with six of his closest friends in a tiny house in the
frosty north known as Canada. There, they are all ruled over by a
little white dog named Teo, who firmly believes he's a reincarnated
Egyptian pharaoh and demands to be treated as such. T.D.'s favourite
things include personal space, temperatures above 0 degrees Celsius,
and cats who don't take guff from pretentious little white dogs.
Interview
What
would you like to say about Hera, Queen of Gods to those who have not
read it yet?
Read
it. :p
That
said, it’s not a book for everyone. No book is. “Hera, Queen of
Gods” is definitely geared towards readers who like a LOT of action
and adventure in their novels. Some people find that pace too hectic.
Some of the other feedback I’ve received is that the novel reads
older than your typical YA. Then again, in the age of “Twilight”
and “The Hunger Games,” I think the YA audience is far more
mature than we sometimes realize.
Like
most books, if the story interests you at all, you really just have
to try it and see if the novel resonates with you.
How
did you come up with the inspiration to write Hera, Queen of Gods?
It
was something that had been buzzing around the back of my mind for a
while. I grew up with a love for mythology, and Hera was always
painted as such a “bad guy” in the stories I read. I couldn’t
help but wonder if there was more to it than that. After all, if Hera
was really such a rotten apple, why wouldn’t the other gods just
get rid of her? There had to be more, something I was missing. I
started to wonder what Hera might say in her defense if anyone
bothered to ask for her side of the story. “Hera, Queen of Gods”
is my take on how she’d explain herself.
Why
did you choose to write through Hera instead of another?
I
find Hera such a fascinating character, because she’s so complex.
She’s got a mix of strength and vulnerability that makes her very
real to me. She’s smart. She’s ambitious. She’s dedicated. But
she has her flaws too. She’s hot-tempered. She can be ruthless.
Especially with herself. Understanding (and hopefully appreciating)
where Hera’s coming from is the key to the novel, and hopefully,
it’ll gives readers a chance to look at traditional mythology with
fresh eyes.
Why
Greek Mythology? What is it about Greek Mythology that drew you to it
and made you write a book?
Gods.
Monsters. Magic. What’s not to love? Greek mythology has it all!
It’s one of the first real action-adventure settings. It’s a
perfect playground for the imagination because anything’s possible
in a world of mythology. You can create your own world, make it
however you like, but it’s also a world that most people know a
little about, so you don’t have to spend as much time explaining it
as if you were just inventing a world from scratch.
Did
you have to do a lot of research in order to write this book?
I
wouldn’t say I did a lot of research. My cousin is writing a
historical fiction, and the volumes of documents she has to pour over
is insane to me. And frankly, a little boring. :p Luckily, I read a
lot of mythology when I was younger, and it just stuck with me, so
all I had to do was refresh my memory now and then. When I needed to
fill a gap in the novel here and there, the Internet was a great,
quick resource to use that didn’t suck up my time or break me out
of my writing zone. That’s the advantage of writing fantasy:
accuracy is far less important than imagination.
How
did you come up with the personalities for some of these gods and
goddesses? Was it hard and did you happen to base them on any people
you know?
The
Greek gods are great archetypes: I think they’re very exaggerated
versions of what real people are like. There’s also already a lot
of mythology that really shows who they are too, so I didn’t have
to pull things out of the air myself.
As
for people I know, I think we all know a few people that we could peg
as Demeters or Aphrodites or Poseidon's. However, most people aren’t
entirely one Greek god or another. I think we all have pieces of each
Greek god inside us, just to different degrees.
How
did it feel to publish your first book?
Pick
an emotion, and that’s how it feels. :p Scary. Exciting. Sad (to be
finished). Happy (to be finished). It’s a total emotional roller-coaster! That said, no matter how I feel about publishing on a
given day, it’s been a surreal experience: I’ve never experienced
anything quite like it before.
What
inspired you to become an author? Have you always wanted to write?
Writing
is such a great way to share your point of view with the world. I
think we all have stories inside us to tell. It’s a shame more
people don’t offer theirs. But writing does take a lot of work too.
You have to be very dedicated. Anyone can start a story: finishing is
another matter entirely.
Writing
has definitely always been a part of my life. I’ve always been
imaginative. I used to read and write constantly when I was growing
up. I kind of had an epiphany later in life when it struck me that I
didn’t have to just write for myself, for pure enjoyment: I could
actually create something to share with others.
Why
did you choose the genre you write and what do you like about it?
Fantasy
has always been my favorite genre. To me, it is the essence of
literary freedom. Anything is possible in a fantasy world. Dreams.
Nightmares. Anything. You don’t have to worry about getting
anything right but the story, and you can mold the world to suit your
story however you want. I can’t think of a better genre to write
in, or one that’s more fun.
Are
you working on something else right now?
I
finished the sequel to “Hera, Queen of Gods,” which is in the
editing process. Hopefully it’ll be polished up and out by October
this year.
I’m
also close to finishing another urban fantasy novel, tentatively
titled “The Order,” about a girl who grows up in a mysterious
cult, but tries to break free when she realizes the truth about her
“family.”
I’m
also flirting with an epic fantasy novel about a priestess struggling
to find a way to save her kingdom from an invading empire.
So
many ideas, so little time!
Published October 3rd 2012
Kindle Edition, 536 pages
Series: Goddess Unbound
Genre: Young Adult FantasySource: Courtesy of the author in exchange of an honest review.
Amazon | Goodreads
Summary from Goodreads
Hera couldn't care less
what the other gods think, even when it's about her. And it often is.
Frankly, Hera couldn't care less about anything, except doing her duty
as queen - protecting order and defending the mortal world against any
threats. But when the Fates go missing, Hera and a handful of other gods
must temporarily become mortal to search the human world for the
missing goddesses.
Hera finds that mortality begins to change her. It's not just the loss of her divine powers. She expected that. It's deeper somehow. It's affecting how she thinks, how she feels, what's important to her. And it gets much worse after she meets Justin, who defies every prejudice she once had
about mortals. At the worst possible time, and despite all her efforts, Hera's black-and-white world starts to unravel.
Torn between who she's becoming and who she needs to be in order to fulfill her duty, Hera must survive a horde of murderous creatures sent to exploit her new weakness. In the end, only Hera can stop a traitorous plot conceived by a secret alliance of ancient and new enemies, a plot that threatens to destroy not only the order Hera is sworn to protect, but all of existence itself.
Hera finds that mortality begins to change her. It's not just the loss of her divine powers. She expected that. It's deeper somehow. It's affecting how she thinks, how she feels, what's important to her. And it gets much worse after she meets Justin, who defies every prejudice she once had
about mortals. At the worst possible time, and despite all her efforts, Hera's black-and-white world starts to unravel.
Torn between who she's becoming and who she needs to be in order to fulfill her duty, Hera must survive a horde of murderous creatures sent to exploit her new weakness. In the end, only Hera can stop a traitorous plot conceived by a secret alliance of ancient and new enemies, a plot that threatens to destroy not only the order Hera is sworn to protect, but all of existence itself.
When
the Fates are kidnapped, Hera the Queen of gods along with Zeus,
Hermes, Athena, Apollo, Demeter and Artemis must take on a human mortal
form and go down to Earth in order to save them and all of the humanity.
Hera, Queen of Gods was exciting, entertaining, dramatic and very action packed. The last thing Hera expected when she took on the mortal body was to have her world change so drastically. The Queen of Gods soon realizes that being in a mortal body comes with a great prize. The Queen who could care less about anything other than doing her rightful duty, soon finds herself facing challenges that are brand new to her. When she meets Justin, a mortal that changes her every negative view she once had on the mortals.
The book was exciting, and really a much quicker read. Once you get involved in the story, things happen so rapidly, that you just want to stay immersed and keep up. True, the book has a lot of action and adventure and quiet a bit of fight scenes, so I would say anyone who like having a bunch of those in their books, will probably enjoy this adventure. It is also an interesting take on the Greek Mythology and their gods. The book is obviously through Hera's eyes and an interesting intake on Hera's personality.
What I liked about this book.
I enjoyed the plot, it was very fast and kept me on the edge. With the book constantly rolling I found myself staying up many nights in order to finish it. Sometimes it was hard to get away in the middle of things.
I liked Demeter, her powers very interesting and she was kind of very sweet. The relationship between Zeus and Hera equally perked up my attention.
Artemis was exciting and strong character, sometimes I liked her better then Hera.
Hera's character at the beginning. She was kind of ruthless but strong and independent and she did stand for what she believes. She came to Earth to save the Fates and find who is responsible in kidnapping them and why and had to make a lot of tough decisions.
What I could have went without
The dynamics between Hera and Justin, I wasn't feeling it. It reminded me of puppy love and every time Justin proclaimed his love it was kind of dramatic and made me giggle – hard not to roll my eyes.
Way too much death in the book, thought I cannot complain much about that – after all Greek Mythology isn't all fun and roses it is deep and dark.
This book had a bit of an adult feel too it, I think it could have been swung either way if you pretended they weren't teenagers they were acting as adults basically. Well, they are much older in their immortal forms.
Other than that, I really enjoyed and liked this book. It was different and interesting and a really great read!
Hera, Queen of Gods was exciting, entertaining, dramatic and very action packed. The last thing Hera expected when she took on the mortal body was to have her world change so drastically. The Queen of Gods soon realizes that being in a mortal body comes with a great prize. The Queen who could care less about anything other than doing her rightful duty, soon finds herself facing challenges that are brand new to her. When she meets Justin, a mortal that changes her every negative view she once had on the mortals.
The book was exciting, and really a much quicker read. Once you get involved in the story, things happen so rapidly, that you just want to stay immersed and keep up. True, the book has a lot of action and adventure and quiet a bit of fight scenes, so I would say anyone who like having a bunch of those in their books, will probably enjoy this adventure. It is also an interesting take on the Greek Mythology and their gods. The book is obviously through Hera's eyes and an interesting intake on Hera's personality.
What I liked about this book.
I enjoyed the plot, it was very fast and kept me on the edge. With the book constantly rolling I found myself staying up many nights in order to finish it. Sometimes it was hard to get away in the middle of things.
I liked Demeter, her powers very interesting and she was kind of very sweet. The relationship between Zeus and Hera equally perked up my attention.
Artemis was exciting and strong character, sometimes I liked her better then Hera.
Hera's character at the beginning. She was kind of ruthless but strong and independent and she did stand for what she believes. She came to Earth to save the Fates and find who is responsible in kidnapping them and why and had to make a lot of tough decisions.
What I could have went without
The dynamics between Hera and Justin, I wasn't feeling it. It reminded me of puppy love and every time Justin proclaimed his love it was kind of dramatic and made me giggle – hard not to roll my eyes.
Way too much death in the book, thought I cannot complain much about that – after all Greek Mythology isn't all fun and roses it is deep and dark.
This book had a bit of an adult feel too it, I think it could have been swung either way if you pretended they weren't teenagers they were acting as adults basically. Well, they are much older in their immortal forms.
Other than that, I really enjoyed and liked this book. It was different and interesting and a really great read!
Please be at least 16 years old or older to enter. This is open internationally. Winner will be contacted by email, they they do not respond without 24hr, someone else will get the chance instead. Thank you and good luck!
I like lots of action and Greek mythology sounds like so,etching different. Thanks for the giveaway!
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