Today I have the great pleasure of welcoming JE Hopkins to the site to speak about strength and weakness in characters, and how that relates to her male hero, Kaden. Thank you for stopping by JE, I wish you the best of luck with your release!
We Shall Rise
By J.E. Hopkins
War surrounds him, yet for vampire Kaden Gaspard, there is no greater battle than the one his mind has waged against his heart. He knows he should stay away from her. Reysa. The half-breed vampire warrior who had risked her life to prove his innocence for the seven murders for which he was accused, but had not committed. This stubbornly loyal woman who dedicated her life to her family of misfits - immortals shunned and abandoned by their clans for their impurity of blood and genetic mutations. This courageous and valiant African warrior who Kaden fears could never love the monster that he is destined to be.
As Kaden and Reysa struggle to accept the undeniable bond between them, they must come together to stop the emerging terror that threatens to destroy all immortals. The lesser immortals – witches, sages, shifters, demons, hybrids, charmers and foreseers – have declared war against the pureblood vampires and lycans who have used their purity of blood and greater strength to enslave the weaker races. No immortal is safe. This is a fight for freedom and a fight against genocide. There can be no true victor as death looms for them all.
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In Weakness There Can Be Strength
My blog tour journey continues and I am very happy to have the opportunity to guest post on your site.
What makes a character strong? There is of course physical strength which for immortals is a requirement, but there is another type of strength that often goes unnoticed, yet it is equally powerful. That strength comes from acknowledging and overcoming one’s weaknesses. There is strength in honesty, self-awareness and acceptance. There is strength is surviving when it is so much easier to surrender to the darkness.
In my novel, We Shall Rise, many of the characters possess flaws that may seem like weaknesses. Despite their immense physical capabilities, they are plagued with internal struggles that paralyze them—prevent them from finding happiness, finding love for themselves and for others. They use their physical gifts to hide their insecurities and they push away others who get too close to the truth of who they really are.
Kaden, the vampire hero of We Shall Rise, shields himself by using aggression to keep others away. He hurts those he loves in order to prevent himself from being hurt. He is blessed with strength and gifts unmatched yet his inability to accept himself is a prevailing weakness; however, it’s a weakness that later becomes his greatest strength when he learns to be honest about the secrets he has buried deep within and accept himself and forgive himself for past mistakes. Inspiring him to make this revelation is a hybrid vampire warrior, Reysa, who has battled a similar internal struggle, but overcame it long before by allowing friends and family to see the real her, flaws and all, and accepting their love. It’s her unrelenting faith in Kaden that gives him the strength to accept himself. Kaden is one of the strongest characters I have written because he found strength within his greatest weakness.
You don’t have to be a fictional character to turn a weakness into a strength.
I hope you enjoy We Shall Rise as much as I enjoyed writing it.
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Author Bio:
J.E. Hopkins is a practicing attorney in New York and an avid fiction writer. Hopkins holds a Juris Doctor from St. John's University and a Bachelor of Arts from New York University.
J.E. Hopkins published her first novel, The Broken, in 2007. She subsequently published her first paranormal romance of the Misfits of the Lore Series, Lover's Betrayal, in 2011.
For more information about this author and upcoming works, please visit www.jehopkinsauthor.com
