The Heroes Among Us

And the WINNER IS: Emily Mullaney!! She wins the special edition, box set of Guardians of the Word! Congrats Emily! I’ll be in touch today to find out what file you’d like (Nook or Kindle)

The headlines tell us every single day that the bad guys are winning. Innocent children are slaughtered. Bombs explode on a crowded street, turning a day of joy and happiness to one of fear and sorrow. We read, see and hear about terrible things happening, perpetrated by disturbed or just downright evil people.

courtesy of Salem-News.com

Heroes are all around us. Finding them isn’t so difficult, since with every act of evil comes acts of incredible heroism. I believe that willingness to step up when the situation is dire is more part of human nature than the bad things that people do. A little Google research shows that we are wired to be compassionate beings. I see this on the news when I watch a firefighter charging into someone’s home to save a cat, or battling a 5 alarm blaze that has swallowed a house.

Or while a man stands beneath a window where a mentally challenged child has strayed out onto a third story ledge and then catches her when she jumps.

Boston

Or a man on his knees beside a wounded and bleeding stranger, saving her life by acting and not standing by.

One of the themes of my series, Guardians of the Word, is persevering against acts of evil, and while the heroes I write about have fantastic powers to stop the bad guy, deep inside they are regular people willing to step up and take on the things that are wrong with the world.

I write about people who don’t stand by in the face of danger. One of the characters in my book, Chosen, the first book of the Guardians of the Word series, is the kind of man who takes action, helping a young stranger, even though that action puts him in the greatest danger of all – he could lose his soul. Polen Forb was an old warrior from a different time and he’s already dead. He swore an oath to protect his friends and paid for that oath with his life and his eternal soul. He’s caught in the Between with them, on the edge of Hell and won’t leave it because, even in death, he feels his oath binds him. He stays to continue protecting people he already died for, from the greater evils that survive in that realm. In the Between, there are creatures that if they touch you, can take your soul, so the danger he faces is tenfold of that in life. Here, eternity is at stake. That oath is his code. It’s the thing that guides his actions. His sense of duty is part of who he is. It’s a way of life. He battles through fear, and sets aside his own personal safety. He never gives up. He’s the firefighter who runs into the burning building…more than once.

I write fantasy, but the people in my stories are based, in many ways, on the real people who inhabit this earth, who yet outnumber those who would and do perpetrate evil against us. They are warriors. They are the people who put their lives at risk for others on a daily basis. They are also the man who donates his kidney to his brother. They are your neighbors, who volunteers to help at the local food pantry. Great and small. They are larger than life, yet they go about their heroic acts without glory, without notoriety, and they live right next door, or just down the street.

Do you know any heroes? I feel very privileged in my life to have met a few.

For the Heroes and Villains blog hop, I’m giving away one special edition copy of the entire Guardians of the Word series.

The eight book series is split into two sections of four books each, available in the digital format of your choice. This special edition box set is not on sale anywhere and exclusively available here on my website only. All you have to do is sign up for my email list, and comment on this post letting me know that you signed up! If you’ve already signed up before, then leave a comment here! Tell me about the heroes in your life.

The link to the email list is here: Email subscription

I send out announcements on new book releases, sales and specials and the occasional note to let folks know what I’m up to.

You should also check out the following blogs participating in the Heroes and Villains blog hop. There are some great prizes and awesome books up for grabs. If you like fantasy and science fiction, you’ll like every single one of these authors! Check them out!

1. Nyki Blatchley
2. Martin Bolton
3. Mike Cooley
4. Karin Cox
5. Jolea M Harrison
6. Tinney Sue Heath
7. Eleni Konstanine
8. “K. Scott Lewis
9. Paula Lofting
10. Liz Long
11. Peter Lukes
12. Mark McClelland
13. M. Edward McNally
14. Sue Millard
15. Rhiannon Douglas
16. Ginger Myrick
17. David Pilling
18. Kim Rendfeld
19. Terry L Smith
20. Tara West
21. Keith Yatsuhashi