Guest Post & Giveaway: Powerless


The Top 10 Most Useless Superpowers by Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs

Hi there, friends and readers! *waves*  Tracy and I are so excited to be here today and to tell you a little bit aboutPowerless, our new book. We love it so much and hope you love it too!

We are both big fans of superhero worlds and comic book universes, and we had so much fun creating one of our own. Seriously, we should have videoed our brainstorming sessions when we came up with our characters and the world they live in. (At least we thought we were pretty hilarious!) One of the underlying principles of our world is that the characters fall into one of three categories: hero, villain, or ordinary. These three groups couldn’t be more different. The heroes are the supposed good guys, the ones in power, with the highly organized society and lots of rules and regulations in place. They have schools and businesses and, most importantly, a super high-tech science lab. And, above all, they believe they are always in the right. Villains, on the other hand, are painted as the bad guys. They are a bit of a rogue element, hunted by the heroes and living outside of any strict sense of order. They are the outsiders, the rebels who want to bring down the whole hero system, which might not be as righteous as many believe. Finally, we have our ordinaries, the “normal” people without powers. While most ordinaries live their entire lives without even knowing the supers exist, a select few—mostly scientist and their families—live and work amongst the heroes.

So there you have a brief snapshot into the types of characters who inhabit the world of Powerless and the Hero Agenda. But what about those powers? That what superhero books are really about, right? All those awesome powers. Well, Tracy and I think that some powers aren’t all that super… Here is our list of the most useless super powers:

TLC’s Top 5 Most Useless Superpowers

1.       The ability to sneeze glitter. Unless you’re at a Sweet 16 party or a beauty pageant, no one wants to see that much sparkle. And every time something tickles your nose you’d have to break out the vacuum.
2.       The ability to kill plants. I live in the desert, so keeping plants alive is already practically impossible. Really, no good can come from planticide.
3.       The ability to make dogs bark. Because once one starts… the whole neighborhood ends up barking. My dogs already bark at the stupidest things—mail carrier, children playing, wind—they don’t need my help.
4.       The ability to type backward. I guess maybe that could be useful if you were a spy or a secret agent or Leonardo da Vinci reincarnated, but for the most part just typing forward is good enough.
5.       The ability to turn mirrors into funhouse mirrors. Trying to put makeup on in the morning without stabbing myself in the eye with the mascara wand is hard enough in a regular mirror. I can’t imagine a situation in which it would be useful to have a wobbly reflection.

Tracy’s 5 Most Useless Superpowers

1.       The ability to become half invisible—I’m not sure this one needs an explanation, but imagine what it would be like if you went to turn invisible but could only make your top half or your bottom half do so at any given time … take about a waste of time and energy.
2.       The ability to repel technology.  Take it from someone who definitely has this superpower, there’s nothing worse than standing in a public bathroom trying to get the sink to turn on when it’s motion activated and somehow can’t sense you no matter what you do …
3.       The ability to make body parts fall asleep.  I mean, I guess if you need a head start, this might work. But I’d really prefer superspeed in that situation …
4.       The ability to shapeshift into a guinea pig (Sky High, anyone?) I love Magenta, but that was always my least favorite superpower in the movie …
5.       And the all time most useless superpower? The ability to absorb bad luck from everyone around you? I’m super clumsy, and can fall over even when just standing still (I swear, it’s really happened) so the idea isn’t so far-fetched in my mind.  But if I’ve got it, I’m more than willing to give it back … 


Book Information

Title: Powerless
Authors: Tera Lynn Childs and Tracy Deebs
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: Young Adult (Paranormal)
Series: The Hero Agenda, Book #1

Summary

Kenna is tired of being "normal."

The only thing special about her is that she isn't special at all. Which is frustrating when you're constantly surrounded by superheroes. Her best friend, her ex-boyfriend, practically everyone she knows has some talent or power. Sure, Kenna's smart and independent, but as an ordinary girl in an extraordinary world, it's hard not to feel inferior.

So when three villains break into the lab where she interns, Kenna refuses to be a victim. She's not about to let criminals steal the research that will make her extraordinary too.

But in the heat of battle, secrets are spilled and one of the villains saves her life. Twice. Suddenly, everything Kenna thought she knew about good and evil, heroes and villains is upended. And to protect her life and those she loves, she must team up with her sworn enemies on a mission that will redefine what it means to be powerful and powerless...


Author Biographies


One fateful summer, Tera Lynn Childs and Tracy Deebs embarked on a nine hour (each way!) road trip to Santa Fe that ended with a flaming samurai, an enduring friendship, and the kernel of an idea that would eventually becomePowerless. On their own, they have written YA tales about mermaids (Forgive My Fins, Tempest Rising), mythology (Doomed, Oh. My Gods., Sweet Venom), smooching (International Kissing Club), and fae princes (When Magic Sleeps). Between them, they have three boys (all Tracy), three dogs (mostly TLC), and almost fifty published books. Find TLC and the #TeamHillain headquarters at teralynnchilds.com. Check out Tracy and the #TeamVero lair at tracydeebs.com. Hang out with all the heroes, villains, ordinaries, and none-of-the-aboves at heroagenda.com



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