Christine & Ethan Rose – Guest Blog & Contest

 Today I have Christine & Ethan Rose, authors of the Rowan Of The Wood YA Fantasy series here guest blogging to celebrate the release of the second novel, Witch On The Water. There’s also a contest for some pretty awesome prizes (she says enviously ;)), so be sure to read through till the end and I’ll pass the keyboard over to Ethan…

 

 

The Lonely Hero (by Ethan Rose)

It is no accident that most of my central characters are solitary figures. The lonely soul adrift in a world that defies understanding is one of the most pervasive archetypal characters in human storytelling. It is a character easy to identify with since we all feel that way to some degree.

I believe that one of the strongest longings for humans is companionship, not to feel alone in a hostile and confusing world. This longing can be well employed to create an undercurrent to any adventure.

The classic hero’s quest is primarily a quest for the hero to find himself and how he or she fits into his or her world. It is a right of passage that begins alone and ends with a community.

The corollary characters to the lonely hero are the wise teacher and the lover. The wise teacher is typically grand-parental in aspect though not a real relative. They are often imbued with mystical type of knowledge. Merlin to Arthur and Obi Wan to Luke Skywalker are both good examples. They are there to help and guide the hero.

The lover is someone on the hero’s basic level, searching for their own answers and joining forces with the hero for mutual benefit. Taran and Princess Eilonwy from Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles are great examples of this kind of partnership.

I admit that I am heavily influenced by my own life. I grew up without any real community or even a family. As a result I have always been a solitary person myself. But I have spent a good deal of my life searching for both a community and answers. This is why I can identify with my characters so well. There is a little bit of me in all of them.

————————————————————————————————————————–

Thanks Ethan! I can relate to the solitary figure myself, seeing as I’m somewhat of a hermit as well. I’m always fascinated by an authors insight into the inner workings of their character motivations and characteristics. Now on to the contest… 

CONTEST Details:

Christine & Ethan have generously offered one lucky commenter signed copies of both books as well as an absolutely gorgeous handmade Green Man Journal or you can choose a pewter book mark along with your signed books!

      OR 

Contest open to USA only. (Sorry to my international readers)

How To Enter

Leave a comment telling us what your favorite kind of hero is. Do you love the reluctant hero? The reformed bad-boy/girl hero? The totally alpha hero? The unintentional hero?  

For An Extra Entry: 

-Subscribe to my blog and be sure to verify the subscription through your email. Leave a comment to let me know you’ve subscribed. If you’re already subscribed and you enter, you’ll have an extra entry.

The contest will run until 11:59pm on Sunday, October 25th and the winner will be posted at some point on the 26th. Please leave an email address in your comment if you’d like an email to let you know if you’ve won. If I can’t contact the winner and I don’t hear back from the posted winner after 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.

Thanks again to Christine & Ethan Rose and good luck! 🙂

Send Witch to the top on October 15th!