The Kick-Ass Heroine: Have We Made a Mistake?

Today I have Alesha Escobar, the author of The Tower's Alchemist and Dark Rift with us to talk about The Kick-Ass Heroine.

Welcome, Alesha. :)

 

Everyone loves a strong heroine, right?

We appreciate her intelligence, down-to-earth demeanor, and strength. However, based on what you view strength as, you may either love or hate her. I recently came across an interesting blog post where the writer explained why she had a grudge against urban fantasy heroines. She said that society only validated or recognized one kind of strength in women--physical violence. And that was troubling to her.

Author Daniel Abraham said on the subject, “[Urban Fantasy heroines are] immune to traditional masculine power (that’s to say violence) because they have internalized it.  They’ve become it.  Urban Fantasy heroines are — for the most part — weaponized.

Okay, I don’t know about you, but I loved watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Xena Warrior Princess, and heck, even the first Underworld movie. One of the things so enjoyable about a fantasy heroine kicking butt is because it’s usually in defense of those who can’t defend themselves, or they’re dishing out justice to deserving offenders (vampires and ghouls included).

What if the violence wasn’t so much a display of “Ha-ha, I’m more powerful than you,” dominance as it is a willingness to fight for a person or cause? I’ll agree, that if all a heroine does throughout a book is walk into a room and punch people, it would be a huge turn off. However, can’t a girl wield a sword without being accused of being un-girly?

With that said, I also appreciate other types of strength women are able to display. Brains is one of them. I like a smart heroine who is able to think ahead and anticipate the enemy’s next move, or talk her way out of a fight before it even begins. I also believe strength can come from making a tough decision, one which may cost the heroine a huge sacrifice, but she’s willing to go through with it for the greater good. Those are also examples of strength.

I think both sides of the discussion have interesting and valid points, but I’m not quite ready to give up on kick-ass heroines just yet.

I’d love for you to share your thoughts with Cecelia and me in the comments section!

The Watcher Trailer Reveal

Author Lisa Voisin’s THE WATCHER will be releasing exactly one month from today, on March 4th, 2013 and we’re super excited to be able to share with our blog’s readers a short excerpt from the book and to be a part of the book’s awesome trailer reveal!

There is also a giveaway for a pre-order copy of THE WATCHER for US/Canada residents. So be sure to enter below.

THE WATCHER is author Lisa Voisin’s debut novel and is a book Eileen Cook says, “…is sure to keep readers turning the pages late into the night.”

And after having read both the excerpt and the book’s description, we couldn’t agree more! But we’ll let you decide for yourself. They’re both included below. As is the book’s wicked cool trailer!

With some gothic techno beats, super cool images and a description that is meant to tease, this trailer totally sets the mood for this story. What do you think?

About the Book

Title: THE WATCHER
Author: Lisa Voisin
Publisher: InkSpell Publishing
Publication date: March 4, 2013
Pages: 508
Format: Available to pre-order in Paperback
Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Inkspell | Kobo

Millennia ago, he fell from heaven for her.
Can he face her without falling again?

Fascinated with ancient civilizations, seventeen-year-old Mia Crawford dreams of becoming an archaeologist. She also dreams of wings—soft and silent like snow—and somebody trying to steal them.

When a horrible creature appears out of thin air and attacks her, she knows Michael Fontaine is involved, though he claims to know nothing about it. Secretive and aloof, Michael evokes feelings in Mia that she doesn’t understand. Images of another time and place haunt her. She recognizes them—but not from any textbook.

About the Author


A Canadian-born author, Lisa Voisin spent her childhood daydreaming and making up stories, but it was her love of reading and writing in her teens that drew her to Young Adult fiction.

When she's not writing, you'll find her meditating or hiking in the mountains to counter the side effects of drinking too much coffee.

She lives in Vancouver, B.C. with her fiance and their two cats.

Find her: Twitter | Facebook | Website | Blog

Instead of saying more, he brushed his fingertips along my cheek, and his halo glimmered. I could hear the waves slapping the rocks behind us, the wind driving them in. That same wind whipped against my skin, but the touch of his hand on my face was all I could think about. It sent a current through both of us and filled me with longing for something I wasn’t sure I understood.

“I’m sorry.” He stepped back and shoved his hands into his pockets as the light around him faded. “You don’t know what it’s like. Being near you now, remembering those moments we had…” His hair blew into his eyes, but this time he didn’t move. I wanted to brush it back, but I didn’t know how he’d react. Would touching him be bad?

“You want to know who you were?” he asked. “You may look different, but you’re the same. I look into your eyes and see you.” He took in a deep breath, fixing his attention on the horizon. I’d seen and heard so much now that the logical part of my brain had long since given up arguing with me. I could feel what he was saying was true. All of it.

• ONE pre-order copy of THE WATCHER by Lisa Voisin open to US/Canada.
• Must be 13 or older to enter.
• ONE entry per household.
• Winner will be announced in the Rafflecopter and contacted by email.
• Winner will have 48 hours after notification to respond or another winner will be chosen.

Enter below... a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ashes& Ice Release Day Blitz

Synopsis:

She is desperate to remember.
He is aching to forget.
Together, they are not broken.
But together, one may not survive.

​Jade wakes up with no memory of her past and blood on her hands.

Plagued by wicked thoughts, she searches for answers. Instead, she finds a boy who doesn't offer her answers, but hope. But sometimes, when nightmares turn into reality and death follows you everywhere, hope is not enough.

LUST. LOVE. LOSS. Sometimes, all that is left are Ashes and Ice

Excerpt

Connor

            Tears burn. I never realized it before, but they do. Tears reach down my throat and settle in my gut until the pain cripples me. I clutch my stomach as I look into the casket. His face doesn’t even look the same. Bloated like a Mardi Gras float, discolored like a mannequin. This isn’t my father.

            But it is.

            If I have learned anything in my short life, it is this: funerals are bullshit. People dress in carefully pressed black suits. Parents give me “meaningful” nods as if that could ease the grief. It doesn’t.

            Then there are the kids from school, the ones dragged along by their parents. People drag their kids along as if filling the church was a necessary thing. As if the more pews filled somehow expedite the dead’s trip to heaven. I doubt it does. Maybe some of the girls went shopping to buy just the right outfit so their cleavage to respectability ratio was just right, or  their ass to waist ratio was cinched properly.

            People sit in the pews dressed in their finest let’s-go-pay-our-respects-to-the-dead-guy-we-never-knew wear, smacking the gum in their mouths, cupping cellphones so they can LOL any comment  buzzing in, and drumming their fingers because the pastor is going on too long.  All they want to do is go home, sneak in a make-out session with their girlfriends, eat their dinners, and maybe catch a 7 o’clock movie.

            I hate these kids. The ones who stare at me, roll their eyes, and yawn. The ones who trip me at school and slam me into lockers. The ones who sit in a pew, contributing to the headcount, while I sit up here in front, holding back the tears fighting to make their appearance. I swallow them down. I won’t cry. Not here. Not with these people.

            Dad’s funeral should be an empty church with mom, his three brothers, and me. It should be the five of us having a messy, sloppy, sobbing affair where we cling to each other because we are all we have left. The marble floors should be slick with our tears. It isn’t. We sit here, straight backed, completely composed as if death is just a passing expiration date and our small, insignificant world has not been split open and left gaping.

***

            I’m in my room, staring at the ceiling. The funeral service was hours ago.

            The house feels empty and cold. I hear a stifled whimper from down the hall.

            Mom.

            Probably crying into a pillow so the house can’t hear, but it can. It seems unfair she can’t wail aloud, so loud  the house’s hundred-year-old studs tremble.

            She doesn’t. I don’t either. We cry in our own rooms, remembering a man who will never be here again.

            The house creaks. Maybe it feels the weight of our grief, maybe the floorboards are buckling because the burden is too heavy.

            I ache, desperate to forget the long battle with cancer, the blood sputtering out of his mouth with his last words—what where they? I can’t remember because the fear in his eyes overshadowed anything he said. Now the loss. I don’t want to feel this loss. Some divine entity has taken dull scissors and cut out a piece of my life and now I have jagged scars to remind me I lost too much. Too much.

            I want to forget, because it hurts to remember.

            I bury my head in the pillow, hoping to suffocate the memories, to choke out the pain.

Buy Link:  http://www.amazon.com/Ashes-and-Ice-ebook/dp/B00BAFOI02/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1359952546&sr=8-3&keywords=ashes+%26+ice

 

Author Bio:

Rochelle grew up dreaming up stories. When she entered high school, she tucked away her creative side and jumped head-first into academics, work, and service projects. She graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Political Science and Communication when she was twenty years old. After years away from her writing, Rochelle picked up a pen and started fleshing out a character sketch that she outlined when she was twelve. That sketch was the start of the Ashes and Ice story. Rochelle lives in the DC metro area with her husband and daughter. By day she works as a behavioral therapist. By night, she is a dreamer and is busy tapping out new stories on her keyboard.

Links:

http://www.rochellemayacallen.com/

twitter: rockyiswriting

goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15864513-ashes-and-ice

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Rochelle-Maya-Callen-Author/478176392210312

If were the lead in a fantasy novel...

If I were the lead in a fantasy novel --which by the way would be a dream come true--I would be want to be the captain of my own ship (Captainess?? :D) I always imagine all those countries I'd get to visit, wield my dagger while fighting crime left, right and centre at sea. My second in command would be my trustworthy two best friends who'll have my back anytime and can fight like pro. If one of them is as quirky as JAck Sparrow, the better. :D. We will be like the three musketeers. hahaha

Oh well, dreaming is a good thing, isn't it?

So what about you? What or who would you be if you were the lead in a fantasy novel? Please head over to the Addicted to Heroine on Facebook to join the fun!

See you there! :)

Good Ghost Gone Bad Release Day Blitz

Synopsis:

Brianna Moreno was an average 22-year-old women who loved shopping, hanging out with her friends and making more career plans....until the night she was brutally and unexpectedly murdered.

Now she finds herself trapped in the ghost world while residing on earth. The problem is, her killer can see all of his ghostly victims and enjoys taunting them as much as he does killing them.Brianna soon finds out that her killer has horrible new plans concerning her family.

Brianna meets up with a few of her killer's past victims to hatch a plan so terrifying, the entire town will never be the same again.

Brianna is a good ghost gone bad; the good girl side is gone forever!

*This book is not a YA read. It's an 18+ only novella that features sex, strong language and strong violence.

Grab Your Copy!

Amazon

Barnes & Nobles

Smashwords
$2.00 on all editions.

About the author

Janiera enjoys feeding her book addiction when she not writing. Writing is theraputic to her during her struggles with Fibromyalgia. Being unable to work a normal 9-5 is what encouraged her to write full time. She is also a book blogger at Beauty and Books where she mixes being a book nerd with keeping things chic. When not reading or writing she is freelance writing in the entertainment industry.When trying to relax she likes a huge yard sale on a Saturday morning, rainy days to read by and nacho cheese is her kryptonite. Soul Sisters is her debut novel.
Feel free to visit her book blog where she loves reviewing books and doing author interview at Books & Beauty- http://janieraeldridge.blogspot.com. She loves feedback and welcomes any questions or comments to her email:

Other Works by this author:

• Soul Sisters (Book one of the Soul Sisters series)
• Dark Expectations(Book two of the Soul Sister series)

Addicted to Heroines blog hop

Hello friends,

I am taking part in the Addicted to Heroines blog tour which runs from February 1st -February 10th. Thank you Alesha Escobar for coming up with such a wonderful idea. Other girls participating in this hop Samantha, Alesha, Devorah, Francine. To enter the ebook giveaways, here is the link Rafflecopter


Today on the hot spot is Ana Maria, Reaper's Novice heroine. Welcome, Ana.Thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview, Ana. So before we continue, can I offer something to drink?

*smiles* Oh I would love a glass of raspberry juice please.

So tell us a little about your yourself.

*shifts on her seat* Well, my name is Ana Maria Tei, and currently I work for Grim..er..Ernest as his Novice.

Let’s move on to you being chosen by Grim himself, um Ernest. Is it okay to talk about that? How has it been working for Ernest?

Sure. Ernest is,well,interesting. That's the only word I can find to describe him. Working for him has been an eye opener and emotional roller coaster. Wouldn't have known there exists so many creatures. I know that most people fear death itself. I used to, until I joined Ernest.

Let's talk about some of the perks that come with your job.

I can shift to places people only dream about within the blink of an eye, plus knowing that I've helped a soul come in terms with dying through soul conversation. Priceless.

What challenges have you faced so far in your profession?

The worst: soul snatchers. I really try to be on my client's collection site on time, otherwise they soul-nap souls. Oh you'd shudder if you knew what happens to the souls afterwords. I've had other challenges, like getting  used to the job itself and the creatures which roam our world. I've learned to expect anything, and every time I receive collection instructions, I hold my breath, wondering if it's someone I am close to. That is the hardest part.

 Zig. What did you think of him the first time you met?

A pain in the butt.

*chuckles* And now?

He’s grown on me, sort of. *grins*

So you traded your soul to work for Ernest. How difficult was the decision, knowing you will be bound to eternity? Wasn’t that kind of impulsive, reckless even?

Impulsive and reckless maybe. But I just couldn't let go. The hardest part will be parting with them when they finally...leave.


Where can you be found, when not collecting souls?

Dining at Ernest's castle or hanging out with my family, and best friend Lea. Now that I have learned to shift to several places, it's been easy visiting her in Italy.
You can join me on my adventures in Reaper's Novice, get to know me, my family and friends. Have to warn you though, my life through those pages is not all roses and diamonds, so tread with caution.

Thank you for joining us, Ana. All the best.

To check other heroine interviews on the hop.

Samantha LaFantasie – Heart Song

Alesha Escobar

Francene Stanley – Still Rock Water

Devorah Fox – The Lost King

The Fallen Stars by Stephanie Keyes---Cover Reveal

Hi lovely friends! Thank you for stopping by. Today I have a gorgeous cover reveal and I've been dying to share with you since the first time I saw it. My wonderful friend --a rockstar in my book--Stephanie Keyes' is releasing her second book in The Star Child series. Want to win some awesome stuff in celebration of the cover reveal? (: 1 wired star bookmark, 3 Star Child (Book 1) ebooks and 5 The Fallen Stars eBooks-- Open to US, UK and Canada-- The rafflecopter is at  the end of this post.

So here is The Fallen Stars cover . Drumroll....

When all is lost, he will have to make the ultimate decision.

Kellen St. James was just your average seventeen-year-old prodigy, until he eighty-sixed the Lord of Faerie
and proposed to a Celtic goddess. Now everything in Kellen’s life gets turned upside-down when Calienta, Kellen, and friend, Gabriel Stewart, find themselves on the run from a seriously irritated group of faeries. The worst part? They have zero idea why.

Suddenly, Kellen finds himself stuck in the middle of another prophecy that questions everything about him including where his loyalties lie. Plus, Calienta’s more than a bit different; she’s making choices that he doesn’t understand. And Gabe, his best friend? He’s started doing all sorts of freaky things that make Kellen question who he really is.

Kellen and Calienta will fight to stay together and keep the hidden part of the prophecy from becoming reality.

When the ultimate power is within reach, which side will he choose?

Release Date: 12-April-2013, Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Sounds good? If you liked Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, Need by Carrie Jones, or Fallen by Lauren Kate, you will love this book!

 

About the author:

Stephanie Keyes has been addicted to Fantasy since she discovered T.H. White as a child and started drumming up incredible journeys in her head. Today, she’s still doing the same thing, except now she puts those ideas down on paper.

When she’s not writing Stephanie is also a graphic designer, presenter, teacher, musician, avid reader, and Mom to two little boys who constantly keep her on her toes. In addition, she’s best friend to her incredible husband of eleven years.

Keyes is the author of The Star Child YA Fantasyseries, which currently includes The Star Child and The Fallen Stars. She is currently hard at work on the third book in the trilogy.

 Praise for The Star Child

"Imaginative and fast-paced. Couldn't put it down!" - E.G. Foley, New York Times Bestselling author of The Gryphon Chronicles

"This well-written and intriguing fantasy was a delight to read. I can't wait to read the second novel in this series!" - Linn B. Halton, author Never Alone on The Star Child by Stephanie Keyes

Giveaway (Open to US, UK and Canada)

1 wired star bookmark, 3 Star Child (Book 1) ebooks and 5 The Fallen Stars eBooks

a Rafflecopter giveaway