Faerie Tales from the White Forest Series Blog Tour: Guest Post + Giveaway

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the FAERIE TALES FROM THE WHITE FOREST SERIES by Danika Dinsmore Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

FAERIE TALES FROM THE WHITE FOREST SERIES: Vol 1
Author: Danika Dinsmore
Release Date: August 16, 2014
Publisher: Hydra House
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook
Pages: 610

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/FAERIE-TALES-FROM-THE-WHITE-FOREST1

Brigitta of the White Forest / The Ruins of Noe / Ondelle of Grioth

A collection of the first three books in the Faerie Tales from the White Forest series.

For those who enjoy fantasy adventure, Faerie Tales from the White Forest offers a new twist on the traditional faerie tales so loved by young readers.

From devastating curses to death-defying quests, Water Faerie Brigitta and her growing collective of misfit friends face greater and greater challenges when destiny calls upon them to “make the balance right again” after the Great World Cry has left their world in elemental chaos.

 

FAERIE TALES FROM THE WHITE FOREST SERIES: Vol 2
Author: Danika Dinsmore
Release Date: September 5, 2023
Publisher: Hydra House
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook
Pages: 673

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/FAERIE-TALES-FROM-THE-WHITE-FOREST2

Continuing the saga of Brigitta of the White Forest, this Omnibus contains books 4-6 of the series.

 

 

What the Heck is Hamartia? (aka Make Your Heroes Messy)

Hamartia comes from the Greek for "to miss the mark" or "to err." I first came across the word decades ago when studying Aristotle’s Poetics. He used it to describe the best kind of tragic hero: one whose downfall arises from his or her own error of judgment.

I think it’s important to avoid creating heroes (or other characters) who are too perfect. I don’t think readers sympathize with perfect. As Aristotle put it, we want our heroes to be like us, aka messy. Perhaps with a slightly higher moral stance, but still fundamentally human.

Aristotle’s tragic hero stuck with me over the years. Even if I’m not writing tragedy (which I rarely am), the idea of this flawed hero is important for my own storytelling. Humans are definitely messy. We do the right things for the wrong reason, the wrong things for the right reason. We sabotage ourselves and hurt the ones we love.

When a protagonist brings about their own misfortune from making bad decisions due to lack of knowledge, miscommunication, emotion overwhelm, or fear this is when I empathize most of all. It leaves the opportunity for heroes to redeem themselves, which is ultimately satisfying.*

I like to use a scene from What’s Eating Gilbert Grape as an example because it’s so simple, yet powerful: when Gilbert hits his younger, mentally disabled, brother. We see how Gilbert strives toward goodness. He’s under a lot of pressure for a teenager, taking care of his family. We’re rooting for him to somehow escape. He loves his brother, but the tension builds up so beautifully so that when he strikes his brother we actually feel sorry for Gilbert for hitting him.

If you’re a writer, consider having your protagonist make some sympathetic bad decisions that backfire, leaving them a mess to clean up, conflicts to arise, and holes to dig out of. If you’re a reader, maybe this will get you thinking about why it is you sympathize with particular literary heroes.

(*There are definitely stories with unsympathetic protagonists, and I personally don’t enjoy these as much.)

Danika Dinsmore is an award-winning author, performance artist, and educator. Over the past 30 years she has developed content for the page, stage, screen, and web. Danika writes literary and speculative fiction with an emphasis on juvenile & young adult literature as well as working as a story editor for other writers. She often takes her interactive Imaginary Worlds Tour events on the road, performing and teaching world-building & creative writing at schools, conferences, and festivals across North America. She has delivered her quirky and innovative curriculum to thousands of young writers.

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(1) winner will receive a finished copy of the omnibus FAERIE TALES FROM THE WHITE FOREST SERIES - US Only.

(1) winner will receive an eBook of the omnibus FAERIE TALES FROM THE WHITE FOREST SERIES - International.

Ends February 20th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

1/22/2024	Two Chicks on Books	Interview/IG Post
1/23/2024	Kountry Girl Bookaholic	Guest Post/IG Post
1/24/2024	Lady Hawkeye	Excerpt/IG Post
1/25/2024	YA Books Central	Interview/IG Post
1/26/2024	@darkfantasyreviews	IG Post

Week Two:

1/29/2024	#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog	Blog Spotlight/IG Post
1/30/2024	A Dream Within A Dream	Guest Post
1/31/2024	Little Red Reads	Guest Post/IG Post
2/1/2024	@anitralovesbooksanddogs	IG Review
2/2/2024	Rajiv's Reviews	Review/IG Post

Week Three:

2/5/2024	GryffindorBookishnerd	IG Review
2/6/2024	@enjoyingbooksagain	IG Review
2/7/2024	Callisto’s calling	IG Review
2/8/2024	Country Mamas With Kids	Review/IG Post
2/9/2024	jlreadstoperpetuity	IG Review/TikTok Post
2/10/2024	A Blue Box Full of Books	IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post

Week Four:

2/11/2024	Kim's Book Reviews and Writing Aha's	Review/IG Post
2/12/2024	Confessions of the Perfect Mom	Review/IG Post
2/13/2024	@evergirl200	IG Review
2/14/2024	Books and Zebras	IG Review
2/15/2024	@bookish_aly_cat	IG Review
2/16/2024	The Momma Spot	Review