Author on the Grill and Giveaway: Tonya Alexandra

Nymph: The Love Oracles is available now.

Thank you to Jaclyn and the team at Walker Books

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The Love Oracles is a love story based on Greek mythological characters set in modern times. It chronicles the story of Merope, a Pleiad star nymph, who falls in love with Lukas, a mortal boy who lives on an olive farm on a small Greek island. The relationship between Lukas and Merope is forbidden and so a wild journey of gods, men and monsters unfolds as the two struggle to find a way to be together. A fun and flirty teen read that will appeal to the fans of Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush Hush series. She's Tonya Alexandra, and she's an Author on the grill.

Nymph is based on a enchanting mythological storyline, is mythology something that you've always been interested in exploring?

Answer:

Not really. I read Jeanette Winterson’s book Weight and her characterisation of Atlas interested me so much I researched him and found out about the Pleiades. The myth is that Merope’s star is faded in the constellation because she is ashamed of marrying a mortal. That triggered the idea of the Love Oracle series.

When I started talking about it to my sisters, they reminded me of the Greek tales my grandparents used to tell us when we were small. Which is why I think it struck a chord with me when I came across Weight.

I loved the twist on how young adult usually depicts heavenly beings, with the gods and demigods within Merope's world being quite chauvinistic and overindulged. Was that a conscious decision to set Nymph apart from other mythology releases by providing readers with less than perfect leaders?

Answer:

There was not much conscious decision making in the writing of Nymph at all! The story just kind of flowed out. I haven’t read any other YA mythology releases – I don’t want it to affect my own imagings of the mythological world - so I wasn’t trying to set it apart. I envisaged the gods as shameless and self-indulgent because it seems likely they would turn out this way after eons of lazing about.

Merope's creation of being a star nymph was unique, what was the inspiration behind

her sassy and rebellious character?

Answer:

Merope’s character is an interesting one. She is quite frustrating at the beginning of the series because she is so shy and incapable of making decisions. She has been dictated to for millenniums by pushy gods and has no real control over her life so this is understandable. It is only when she comes to Earth she becomes more confident and starts to see she has options. I have enjoyed developing her character over the three books from a ‘faded’ insecure star nymph to a female who actually stands up for what she believes in.

The forbidden romance was a big part of Nymph, but it could also be seen as a coming of age novel. What aspects of Merope's life on earth can you compare to the issues that teens face everyday?

Answer:

There are issues in the book a lot of us struggle with, not only teenagers. Belonging is a big one. Being accepted by our peers, longing for authentic relationships with friends and lovers, finding our place in the world. Another, is having confidence in ourselves; learning to take chances even though we are afraid. And in regards to love, knowing that it is okay to love someone different to us - someone that our peers might not approve of.

I loved the character of Heracles, he was adorably annoying but often strayed into villain status more than once. Why do you feel it's important to have Hercules type characters in our books?

Answer:

People are complex. And exploring that complexity creates more interesting characters and therefore more interesting books. There are no strict good or bad people, we just make different choices. Lukas makes a terrible choice in book two that could disappoint a lot of readers. But he’s a teenager, he’s going to make mistakes. So I forgive him – hopefully the readers will too.

As for Heracles, if you’ve read any myths about him, you’ll know that besides being a ‘Hero’ he’s had a messed up existence. Hera has been trying to have him killed since he was a baby and he actually murdered his wife. He was under a spell, but still, that would be hard to live with. So yeah, he’s got some issues!

If Nymph was being cast for the big screen, who can you image playing the lead rolls of Merope, Lukas, Heracles, Prometheus and Eleni?

Answer:

Ooh! That’s the first time I’ve been asked that! I love Gabriella Wilde, from Carrie, for Merope. Nina Dobrev from Vampire Diaries, would be a cute Eleni. For Herc maybe Taylor Kitsch from Friday Night Lights or Ryan Gosling (just so I could meet him!) Lukas is tricky – young, cute but needs a big nose. Is Adrian Grenier from Entourage too old? Maybe Luke Pasqualino or George Finn. Then someone scrumptious like Daniel Craig (with full beard!) as Prometheus.

The storyline takes place on a small Greek island, was the location fictional or is it based on somewhere you've been or likely to travel to?

Answer:

The island is fictional but I totally had the Mama Mia! movie island in my head when I wrote Nymph. I have been to Corfu but I am desperate to go to Delos (one of the most important mythological sites in Greece) and Santorini (just plain beautiful).

Merope found it difficult to immerse herself into life on earth as a teen girl. If you could have given her any advice to help her adjust, what would that have been?

Answer:

Relax and don’t feel compelled to compete or be someone you are not. Be kind and you will always have friends, even if they are not the popular crowd. A few true friends are much more fun.

The cover of Nymph is stunning! How much influence do you have in the artistic aesthetics of the series bookcovers?

Answer:

I had a few delightful hours of sending through pictures of gorgeous redheads and male models to show the team how I envisaged the characters of Nymph but that was all. Walker Books did the rest, credit goes entirely to them. I’ve heard the girls in the office have had some fun cover meetings discussing ‘shirt on or shirt off?’ for a little longer than necessary.

And lastly, what can readers expect from book two, Heavenly Longing?

Answer:

More romance, but more action too. Lukas goes on an epic voyage to rescue Merope while Merope causes trouble in Olympus rejecting her subservient role as a nymph. Herc is there to help and hinder in his usual way plus many more gods, goddesses and monsters as it is set mostly on Mount Olympus. It has been very fun creating their world.

About the author

Tonya Alexandra always needed to be a writer. She needed words to capture her imaginings and to fully express herself. So she studied communications at university, did a PR job in Prague and worked as a Marketing Assistant at an educational publisher. She knew she wanted to write but didn't know how. After being a marketing guru for an internet start-up and a web content producer for Adobe, Tonya went on to study publishing and editing at Macleay College. She has since written travel articles for magazines and newspapers such The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Nymph is her first novel.

You can find Tonya via Facebook  Twitter  Goodreads and her Website  

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