Rest for the Wicked
Book One The Claire Wiche Chronicles
By Cate Dean
Claire Wiche is an ordinary woman, running her Wicca shop, The Wiche’s Broom, in an ordinary California beach town.Below is a fabulous guest post by the author of Rest For The Wicked, Cate Dean. She's got something to say to us about heroines, the perfect and the flawed. I am so thrilled that she "gets it". A lot of us agree with her, I know. We don't want some perfect image of a heroine, but rather someone we can identify with. And also - Cate is having a fabulous giveaway!! This is really neat! So be sure to read through and then enter with your comment. Readers, thank you for stopping by. Cate, thank you for a wonderful post and giveaway - and good luck with the rest of your tour!!
But Claire wasn’t always ordinary, and she isn’t quite human. She hides a secret, and a past she thought she had put behind her.
A past that is about to explode into her present.
When it does, and everyone she loves is in danger, Claire must face up to her past – and become what she left behind in order to save them.
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Looking for Redemption – the appeal of a flawed heroine
I don’t know about you, but I hate perfect people. They’re just so – bland. And when I pick up a book, I don’t want to read bland. I want adventure, escapism, a character I can relate to – a character who is real, a character with flaws, quirks, nervous tics.
And if that character is trying to overcome her flaws, or manages to triumph in spite of them, I am right there, cheering her on, wanting her to win. Perfect people simply don’t inspire that kind of emotion. Ever.
I love flaws in my heroines. It makes them approachable, appealing, real. Add some inner demons that must be wrestled with, and I am hooked.
If they have some deep, ugly secret in their past, and are looking for redemption – sign me up! Those are my favorite heroines, ever. Because they are interesting, unique, and often compassionate because of that secret. Compassionate gets me every time.
Books that take me on a journey, put my heart through a wringer, and leave me wanting more – those are the stories I search out, and the stories I do my best to write.
A word of warning for those of you taking notes – I want my heroines to have flaws that are part of them. Not a laundry list of quirks and tic piled on to make them look unique, but a real history, a back story that helped shape the character I meet on page one. And don’t haul out every flaw by the end of page one. Peel back, layer by layer. Give me time to get to know her, to fall for her, to care about her. Then, when she is sucked into whatever danger is coming at her, I will be ready to root for her.
As a reader, that’s all I ask for. As a writer, that’s a monumental task, but one I shoot for with every story I tell.
What are you favorite heroines? I am always on the lookout for a new favorite, so please feel free to share yours.
And as a thank you for hanging out with me today, I am going to share something from my own flawed heroine, Claire – one lucky person will become the proud owner of an amethyst pendant. Simply comment on your favorite heroine, and you will have a chance to win it for your very own.
Until next time – read on.
~Cate
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Giveaway is International, Ends at the End of Day on 5-16-12
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About The Author:
Cate Dean has been
writing since she could hold a pen and put more than two words together on
paper. She grew up losing herself in the wilds of fantasy worlds, and has had
some of her own adventures while tromping through the UK, and a few other parts
of the world. A lover of all things supernatural, she infuses that love into
her stories, giving them a unique edge. When she’s not writing, she loves
cooking, scaring herself silly in the local cemeteries, and reading pretty much
anything she can get her hands on.
Website: Cate Dean
Twitter: @catedeanwrites
Facebook Page: Cate Dean
Writes
