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 

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for your chance to win some amazing prizes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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?

Power of Tension Blogfest

First of all, I'm trying out a new look for my blog. It's been a long time coming, but today, today is the day. So what do you think? 

Next, I introduce you to the 

Thanks Cally Jackson and Rachel Morgan for hosting an awesome blogfest! 

From the completed MS: Neitherlands, Awakening

MG Fantasy

Blurb: When one considers all the poor, miserable, unimportant creatures of the Neitherlands, Kiri doesn’t even make the radar. She has no past. She has no future. She is a child alone… Until the summoning draws her into the presence of an extinct race: a wizard.

According to him, she is the last thing that stands between a mad warlock and her world’s annihilation. She alone knows where to find the missing High King—if she can just remember! Caught between the yearning to reunite with her family and the terror of surviving an ominous adversary’s attacks, she is the Neitherland’s only hope. 

The ENTRY:

Kiri dashed up the never-ending staircase breathing hard. She stumbled, slipped, and smacked her knee. It throbbed. In the quiet, hurried footsteps echoed from not far below.


She glanced behind, chest seizing in terror. Limping up, she dashed blindly around the corner and smashed into a solid wooden door.


The magic door... 

“Open!” she commanded, throwing her shoulder into it. Nothing happened.

“Open, please!” she begged, and hurled herself at it again. Instead of hitting wood, she tumbled through its opening and onto a moonlit outcropping. Night air filled her lungs. 


She got up and rushed to the brink. Distant ground disappeared through forming clouds. They billowed darkly, storm in tow. 


It was so high! Sickened and dizzy she stumbled backwards. Now was a terrible time to be afraid of heights.

Kiri turned back toward the open door, reaching for her dagger. 


Gone. No!

Lightning split the sky and a man stepped out onto the ledge.

Her heart seized. She couldn’t see his face and she didn’t want to, certain it held great satisfaction for the sinking of her heart.

“Ah, so good to see you again,” the stranger cooed. Moonlight hit his teeth--smiling like a jackal. “I hope he hasn’t filled your head with lies. Damien has a tendency to…exaggerate.” 


The seducing tone only pushed her further away. “Who are you?”

“I’m a friend.”

Rain began to spatter the mountain ridge.


“I don’t have any friends!” she screamed. “You killed them all!"

“Tut, tut.” He held out a hand, light finally catching those dark eyes. “Come with me.”

She stepped back, and felt the edge of the cliff against her heel.

“Kirina…” The stranger advanced.

"MY NAME IS ANN!" she shrieked and threw herself backwards, over the cliff.