Posts Tagged: forgive my fins

Waiting on Wednesday- Fins Are Forever

09 Feb, 2011 by in tera lynn childs, wow 5 comments

Our Waiting on Wednesday is book number two in the Fins series by Tera Lynn Childs.

Fins Are Forever
Hardcover, 320 pages
Expected publication
July 1st 2011
by Katherine Tegen Books
ISBN 0061914681

On Lily Sanderson’s eighteenth birthday she’ll become just a girl—still a mer girl, true, but signing the renunciation paperwork will ink Princess Waterlily of Thalassinia out of existence. That leaves plain old Lily living on land, dating the boy she loves, and trying to master this being human thing once and for all.

Now that Lily and Quince are together, mer-bond or not, she’s almost content to give up her place in the royal succession of Thalassinia. But just when she thinks she has everything figured out, Lily’s father sends a certain whirlpool-stirring cousin to stay with her on land. What did Doe do to get herself exiled from Thalassinia and stuck in terraped form, when everyone knows how much she hates humans? And why why why is she batting her eyelashes at Lily’s former crush, Brody?

The seafoam on the surf comes when a merboy from Lily’s past shows up. Tellin asks Lily for something that clouds her view of the horizon. There’s a future with Quince on land, her loyalty to the kingdom in the sea, and Lily tossing on the waves in the middle. Will she find a way to reconcile her love, her duty, and her dreams?

Tera’s writing is fun and light. If you haven’t checked out her first book Forgive my Fins, run NOW and pick it up! It made our Best of 2010 list, plus you can never go wrong with a read about mermaids…See her website for more information on this series and her other books: http://www.teralynnchilds.com/

Tera Lynn Childs Giveaway and Interview

09 Dec, 2010 by in tera lynn childs 10 comments

Forgive My Fins
By Tera Lynn Childs
Released June 1, 2010
Published by Katherine Tegen Books

Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid like Lily, there’s no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily’s mermaid identity is a secret that can’t get out, since she’s not just any mermaid – she’s a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn’t feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she’s been living on land and going to Seaview high school ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems – like her obnoxious, biker boy neighbor Quince Fletcher – but it has that one major perk – Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren’t really the casual dating type – when they “bond,” it’s for life.

When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily-ever-after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.

Forgive My Fins made it on to my very favorite reads of 2010. It’s a splashtastic fun read that earned 5 stars from Fire and Ice. Here’s what author Tera Lynn Childs had to say in our exclusive interview…

Forgive My Fins is about Mermaids, what drove you to write about them?
I’ve dreamed of being a mermaid since I saw the movie Splash in elementary school. I was a competitive swimmer growing up and I love the water in all forms. It was a combination of those things and a summer in Florida spent wishing I were a mermaid that inspired my mermaid stories.

If you could have bonded with someone as Lily did who would it be and why?
As a single girl, that’s a tricky question, isn’t it? But my crush du jour is Brian J. Smith from Stargate: Universe. He’s actually the guy I have in mind for Thane, one of the boys in my upcoming Medusa girls trilogy. Besides being easy on the eyes, he’s a Juilliard grad, which means he’s got real acting chops. Talent is oh-so-attractive.

What other books have you written? And is there a sequel to any in the works?
Forgive My Fins is my third published book. My first two, Oh. My. Gods. and Goddess Boot Camp, were about a cross-country-running California girl uprooted to a tiny Greek island and trying to fit in at a school for the descendants of the gods. No more books are currently planned for that series. Fins Are Forever, the sequel to Forgive My Fins, will be out in June and I have a new trilogy starting in October about monster-hunting triplet descendants of Medusa.

Favorite Mermaid items on etsy, cause we know you shop there…
I bought my editor an adorable mermaid dish (http://www.etsy.com/transaction/19980626) and I love the mermaid Scrabble tile necklaces. I’ve bought a few for giveaways. But I actually haven’t bought myself any mermaid gear from Etsy. It’s probably about time.

Where and who would you cast for Forgive my Fins?
Well, I would set Forgive My Fins in South Florida, in a small Atlantic town with a beautiful beach. As for an ideal cast … I’m not so sure. The images in my mind as I wrote the book were Shakira (as Lily), Eric Dane (as Quince), and Brody Jenner (as Brody). But they aren’t exactly right for the roles. I’m open to suggestions.

Favorite munchie?
I go in phases. Recently it was cotton candy, for a while it was Oreos. Right now, because it’s the holiday season, I’m going to have to say my mom’s Nuts and Bolts. It’s like Chex Mix, made with all kinds of Chex, Cheerios and pretzel sticks. Drizzled with melted (vegan) butter, Worcestershire sauce (unfortunately not vegan), thyme and beau monde spice. Baked and stirred for a couple hours. It’s my favorite Christmas-time midnight snack.

Read our five star review Of Forgive My Fins at http://fireandicereads.com/2010/11/forgive-my-fins-by-tera-lynn-childs.html

Be sure to enter our related International Etsy shop giveaways for a mermaid bookmark and blue sand dollar necklace on the right sidebar. Or stop by our Siren shop on Etsy for more mermaid gifts!

We are giving away one copy of Forgive My Fins donated by Tera Lynn Childs to US residents as a part of BIR2010. Enter here.

Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

25 Nov, 2010 by in tera lynn childs, YA fiction 2 comments

Hardcover, 293 pages
Published May 19th 2010
by Katherine Tegen Books
ISBN 0061914665
5 stars

Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that she has a huge crush on swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid like Lily, there’s no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily’s mermaid identity is a secret that can’t get out, since she’s not just any mermaid – she’s a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn’t feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she’s been living on land and going to Seaview high school ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems – like her obnoxious, biker boy neighbor Quince Fletcher – but it has that one major perk – Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren’t really the casual dating type – when they “bond,” it’s for life.

When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily-ever-after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.

A couple of months ago I got deep into a stack of YA books for review and one after the other was depressing. I asked my Twitter followers for suggestions of a light funny read to break it up. Forgive My Fins came highly recommended and I ordered it on Amazon. I’m a gigantic mermaid fan, so diving into the book head first was not difficult. This is the first book I’ve read by Tera Lynn Childs but it won’t be the last. Her conversations between characters was witty, hilarious, and splashtastic. The main character Lily is full of funny fish phrases like “beat the carp out of him” and “son of a swordfish” that had me giggling. Lily was kind of clueless but I still liked her and could relate. (I mean, really, how many of us never obsessed over some uber popular guy who was way out of our reach?) Then along comes Quince. Ah, Quince…the tough motorcycle boy who likes to tease. Underneath his rough exterior he has some pretty deep wisdom to impart about love.

I really enjoyed Lily’s relationship with her father, the King of The Sea. What little time they had together in Thalassinia, you could tell they respected and cared for one another. It’s so nice to see functional, loving family bonds in YA fiction. The concept of the Mermaid bond was such a fun twist. My only wish was that some of the side characters were more fully developed. Overall, Forgive My Fins was just delightful. A great gift for adults and teens looking for a quick and fun page turner.

The epilogue hinted at a sequel and ta-da…book number two titled Fins Are Forever is coming out in June 2011. Woot Woot!!

For more information see her website at http://www.teralynnchilds.com/

And be sure to enter our two related Etsy shop giveaways below!

Blue Sandollar Necklace Giveaway

25 Nov, 2010 by in tera lynn child 51 comments


Our Etsy giveaway is inspired by the necklace Lily makes Quince in the book “Forgive My Fins” by Tera Lynn Childs. This handmade one of a kind necklace was donated by shop owner MermaidinCali. “I am a self taught artist and love to experiment with new materials. I have always been crafty and for many years my friends and family prospered from my handmade gifts. I thought is was time to see what the world thinks of my art and start a shop with Etsy. I hope you enjoy my work because it is all truly done with love.”

Description: Authentic pacific coast sand dollar pendant found in Southern California and dyed grayish blue. Unique and one of a kind and would make a great gift for yourself or a friend that loves jewelry or collecting shells. I love the simplicity of wearing something naturally beautiful and from the sea. As you can imagine the weight of the sand dollar is nearly nothing so you do not have a heavy pendant pulling at your neck. This sand dollar is adorned with a sterling silver plated medium sized bail, silver bead and 24” of suede cording.

When I was a little girl growing up in Massachusetts, I called sand dollars Mermaid Money. I had lived in various parts of San Diego since 1995 but it was not until we bought our house in 2004 in Imperial Beach that I started finding these wonderful shells on the beach. Fascinated by their beauty, I experimented for years and figured out a way to change their colors and a secret recipe to harden them and make them more durable. Although this sand dollar pendant is very durable it is not indestructible and care should be taken not to drop them on hard surfaces. Sand Dollar Measurements: Width- 2.6 inches; Height-2.6 inches

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Contest ends December 26, 2010 and open internationally