Jessica Therrien and the Redemption Blog Tour!

Hello! I’m Jessica Therrien, author of the YA Paranormal Romance series, CHILDREN OF THE GODS. Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Tyrean! (Thank you for visiting, Jessica!)

If you’ve stopped by for the blog tour then thank you too!

I’m going to be a bit honest here about what I went through when beginning to write my series, maybe more than I should be, but I wanted to let you all in a little. Writing my first novel wasn’t all cupcakes and lollipops. It was hard.

When I started writing Oppression (Children of the Gods #1), I really didn’t know anything about writing a book. I knew a lot about writing in general. I’d written poems, short stories, and with an English teacher for a mother, I’d been raised to love the written word, but writing a whole book was something new.

Starting was easy. I was so inspired by the idea for my book that the words poured out of me, page after page. I’d never written anything so long. I’ll never forget the feeling, calling up my mom and sister to freak out over those first fifty pages. If you’re a writer you know what that’s like. Getting THE IDEA. Writing so fast you worry you’ll forget what comes next if you don’t get it out quick enough. It’s a great feeling.

And it really sucks when you lose that feeling…

Every writer has a different process, and after those first fifty pages I had to figure out what mine was, because I got lost. I tried plotting, outlining, brainstorming. Nothing. I was stuck. So I did what most people do when they start writing a book. I gave up.

Months went by with OPPRESSION left untouched, but after a while I started to hear my character’s voices again, nagging me as I was trying to sleep. Thank God they did, because it snapped me out of my writer funk. I suddenly realized something about the way I’d been writing. All along I had been trying to write in order, from beginning to end, when really, my mind was reeling over something that needed to happen later in the book.

I started to learn about my writing process, and that it didn’t need to be all neat and pretty. I could jump around, move away from my outline, add characters, change the plot. I stopped being so ridged with myself and it worked. The story went where it wanted, and I loved it. I was a true Pantser (without even knowing the term yet).

You’d think by the third book in my series I’d have mastered my process. But each book had its challenges (becoming a wife, then a mother added a new level of crazy that I had to learn to work around). But whenever I felt discouraged I’d remember my favorite story from a favorite book of mine (those who know me are going to roll their eyes because I ALWAYS talk about it)…BIRD BY BIRD.

“Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report written on birds that he'd had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books about birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, "Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.” 
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

If you’re a writer, don’t be discouraged about feeling uninspired, or what may seem like writers block…try something new instead, figure out your process, or just take it bird by bird. Writing is hard, for most of us at least. For those who aren’t writers reading this post, at least you know that my series didn’t come about easily. It was challenging, but I’m pleased to say that the end result was very much worth it. I hope you enjoy the books.

Thanks for reading!

Lead Council member, Christoph, is dead by Elyse’s hand, and Descendants have begun to emerge, exposing their secret to the world. Some see this as the prophecy come to fruition, but the prophecy caries a heavy consequence. It was never meant to be as peaceful as most had hoped.

Humans and Descendants struggle to live together in a world that isn’t ready for such a change. America is divided. Those who glorify the supernatural race believe Descendants truly are the gods they claim relation to. Others see them as a threat.

When Elyse gives birth to the next generation oracle, she sees one final vision—war. The destruction of the country’s major cities, and the end of America as we know it.

After her daughter is born, Elyse finds herself without the ability she needs to predict the future. Desperate to save the world from such conflict, she puts her faith in the hope that Descendants are the key to survival. After all, they have the power to supply a broken society with the means to survive.

Only from the ashes can a new world be born.

GOODREADS | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE (Links available soon)

Elyse’s Story…

OPPRESSION (Book #1)

UPRISING (Book #2)

REDEMPTION (Book #3)

The Children of the Gods Series

The Descendants have waited long enough for freedom…

About The Author

JESSICA THERRIEN spent most of her life in the small town of Chilcoot, California, high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In this town of nearly 100 residents, with no streetlights or grocery stores, there was little to do but find ways to be creative. Her mother, the local English teacher, inspired her to do all things artistic, and ultimately instilled in her a love for language. Jessica currently lives in Southern California with her husband and their two children.

You can visit her online at

www.jessicatherrien.com

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Thanksgiving side note from Tyrean: I'm thankful for writers who share their journey of writing on the good days and the bad days!