Showing posts with label Gwen Gardner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gwen Gardner. Show all posts

Monday, November 3, 2014

Who's Your Hero?


Today's hop is hosted by J.L. Campbell and Michelle Wallace.

EVERYBODY has a hero/heroine. It can be real-life or a fictional hero/heroine.

Options...

1.  The Perfect Hero
2.  The Misfit
3.  The Grizzled Old-Timer
4.  The Everyman
5.  The Anti-Hero
6.  The Prodigy
7.  The Loner Hero
8.  The Tragic Hero

I shared a whole A to Z series about real life heroes, so today I'm going to share a fictional one--someone who has been with me a long, long time. Here we go, in 300 words or less...


I was emotionally black and blue. At the ripe old age of 10, my classmates latched onto my maiden name (Hicken...now add my first initial...) and I became the target of much bullying. (Including a group pledge to the rubber chicken.) I came home to a big brother who was also being bullied at school, so he took it out on me. At church I was the youngest girl in my age group, and in a different grade than everyone else, therefore, I was only worthy of being shunned.

Life was awesome.

It was about that time Kiri appeared. She emerged in my sketches and told me her tragic story: an orphan, alone in the world, abandoned by every decent scrap of hope. She was meant to be an heir--pampered, adored, respected--but instead ended up a foster child to an abusive man, essentially a slave who was fed for her labor. Kiri had every reason to complain. To hate her life. But she never did. 

Instead, she found people to train her with weapons. She sacrificed her nights and risked her safety to sneak out and learn. She dedicated herself to a cause--protecting and serving others who were unable to defend themselves.

Kiri didn't want the glory. She didn't want the notoriety. She didn't want the praise.

All she wanted was the family she'd lost.

Since that was impossible, she set out to keep others from losing the one thing that mattered most. 

She’s been with me since I was 12. I hope to one day share her story with the world, but until then, she remains an integral piece of my heart, a hero who helped me conquer my own dark days. 




   

Follow the blog tour for wonderful reading and (ready for this?) FUN:

Gina shares an excerpt: The Soulless are Here

Gwen Gardner introduces you to Men with Lies

Rae at A Writer's Dream shares a steamy excerpt AND me, reading chapter 1

And be sure to enter the 
Rafflecopter
for your chance to win some amazing prizes!

Follow the pony on to the rest of the tour. He will lead you to cheese and danger...erm, I mean fun. Yes, fun. 


Do you have a literary hero? A character who carried you through some of your dark times?

Monday, November 18, 2013

Motivate THIS!

Are you happy? I mean, are you truly happy? 

Last April I participated in the A-Z Challenge, blogging the whole month about finding happiness. But today I'm not interested in happiness. I'm interested in JOY.

Image courtesy of Koolente
Specifically, I'm talking joy that comes from hard labor after the day's work is done. Is there anything so satisfying as sitting back, seeing something you've worked to create, and feeling like you did good? Or better yet, that you did great?

How about after ten years of pounding at the same book? I feel like the smithy who's developed all the right muscles from forging several weapons, but one specific masterpiece that required me to lovingly fold the metal again, and again and again to build character, strength, and an enduring legacy. It's been such an amazing journey thus far, and I feel privileged to share the final product with all of you. 

What is it you're working on? Do you have any projects you've put your sweat, guts and tears into? 

And now on to the blog tour...


Special Event: 

Mystery Sentence Game: Unravel the mystery of the Moonless night! Gather all 8 hidden words from the excerpts and figure out the sentence to win a free copy of Moonless. Send your mystery sentence to crystal (AT) crystal-collier.com with the subject MYSTERY SENTENCE before December 10, 2013, and you will be entered to win one of 10 copies of MOONLESS—just in time for Christmas. Happy hunting!

Truth or Lie Game: It's Writerly Wednesday on STERIODS! (Minus the Wednesdays...and the steroids.) You have 6 chances to guess the lie and win a copy of MOONLESS. Each post has different truths and lies, so here's a chance to really test your human lie detector skills. Winners will be announced here December 11th. Are you a human lie detector?

Today:

Natalie Aguirre asks every question about anything, ever. No, but seriously, she hosts a wallop of an interview. If you've ever considered writing historical fiction, this is a must read. Oh, and let's not forget it's a giveaway.

What kinds of crazy things did you do as a kid? Gwen Gardner hosts the first Truth or Lie giveaway.


Out of the fire, characters are born. Come read all about it with Laurel Garver


Carrie Butler is trying to decide which high adventure story is a lie. Help a girl out, eh? 

Okay friends, what have you been working on?

Oh, and ENTER TO WIN! (Because you know deep down you are a winner.)