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!
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.
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.)
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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.
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
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1/22/2024 |
Interview/IG Post |
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1/23/2024 |
Guest Post/IG Post |
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1/24/2024 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
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1/25/2024 |
Interview/IG Post |
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1/26/2024 |
IG Post |
Week Two:
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1/29/2024 |
Blog Spotlight/IG Post |
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1/30/2024 |
Guest Post |
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1/31/2024 |
Guest Post/IG Post |
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2/1/2024 |
IG Review |
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2/2/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
Week Three:
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2/5/2024 |
IG Review |
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2/6/2024 |
IG Review |
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2/7/2024 |
IG Review |
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2/8/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
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2/9/2024 |
IG Review/TikTok Post |
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2/10/2024 |
IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post |
Week Four:
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2/11/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
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2/12/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
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2/13/2024 |
IG Review |
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2/14/2024 |
IG Review |
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2/15/2024 |
IG Review |
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2/16/2024 |
Review |
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