Today, I’d like to welcome Jessica Therrien, whose new book, REDEMPTION (Children of the Gods #3), was just released. And here she is —

Hello! I’m Jessica Therrien, author of the Children of the Gods series. If you’re here as part of the tour for REDEMPTION (Children of the Gods #3), thanks for stopping by! I wanted to talk about my inspiration behind the series.

My inspiration for writing a novel in general was my search for the next “it” book. I fell in love with the YA genre and worked my way through all the MUST READs. After a while, I was having trouble finding one that sucked me in the way my favorites did. I looked for months, reading a bunch of books that left me disappointed. Eventually I decided I’d write it myself. After all, I knew what I was looking for. I knew what I wanted to read.

I started dabbling in writing and needed a premise for a story. I wanted my characters to be supernatural, but I wanted the story to have a sense of realism. As if it could all be happening right under our noses.

I remembered learning in school that certain parts of Greek mythology are based in fact. I thought…what if more than just the city of Troy was real? What if the Greek gods were never really gods, but a supernatural race of people who were misunderstood and mistaken for gods?

My imagination took it from there…

Here are some interesting tid-bits of Greek mythology that got me thinking (per Wikipedia):

Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, south of the southwest end of the Dardanelles / Hellespont and northwest of 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 associated with Ogygia, the island home 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.[2]

Thanks for having me on your blog, Lori! 🙂

I’m happy to have you here, Jessica!

 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

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