A Note:

6/2/13

I once told myself: IF I am accepted into grad school, this blog would no longer be updated. As it turns out, in April, I received news of my acceptance for the Fall 2013 semester, where I will attain a Master's degree of Science in Nutrition.

Running a blog, as many of you may already know, is a demanding side job once the excitement wears off. And once I fell out of the blogging community's loop (have you SEEN how many blogs there are now? Wow!), it was like the kiss of death. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get into a blogging routine once this happened due to the disconnect I felt from the community.

So I took a break. I struggled with the loss and with missing my blog. And then I realized I didn't have to run Book Faery to still be a book reviewer; I could read my books and post reviews online. I'm still a book review blogger, just not in the traditional sense.

I'll still be online. You can chat with me on Twitter, where I'll be posting links to my reviews and talking books. I'll also be posting links to nutrition articles. And if you'd like to connect with me where I guarantee I will post reviews, just add me as a friend on Goodreads.

So that's all, folks! It's been a fun and amazing journey, and I thank you all for listening to my thoughts about books. I hope we all can keep in touch elsewhere :)

Tori

Friday, August 13, 2010

(Day 13) Guest Post: Sharon Ashwood

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Click on the image to check out all other available/upcoming giveaways/events.


Are you a paranormal romance junkie?  Well if you are, then you're going to love Sharon's Dark Forgotten series.  You'll also love that series if you enjoy a bit of world building. 


"Sharon Ashwood is a free-lance journalist, novelist, desk jockey and enthusiast for the weird and spooky. She has an English literature degree but works as a finance geek. Interests include growing her to-be-read pile and playing with the toy graveyard on her desk. As a vegetarian, she freely admits the whole vampire/werewolf lifestyle fantasy would never work out, so she writes paranormal romances instead.
 

Sharon lives in the Pacific Northwest and is owned by the Demon Lord of Kitty Badness."

Bio courtesy of Sharon's website.


Connect with Sharon:
Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads



Warrior queens

I would consider Ashe Carver, the heroine of my new release, Unchained, to be an alpha heroine.  Of course, that looks a bit different in a woman than a man, mostly because women don’t have the luxury of merely grunting and retreating to the cave once the rampaging buffalo is dead. If it’s the female alpha who has slain the mighty beast, she still has to skin it, cook it, feed the kids, and wash up.

In most ways, Ashe isn’t all that different from your typical PNR hero. She’s a monster-slayer, extremely physically fit, a maverick, and isn’t afraid to take what she wants. She sets a high standard for herself and others. She leads by example. She’d rather do than talk. She doesn’t flinch from life and death challenges. In short, she kicks ass.

But she’s also a mother, and that adds an entire dimension of responsibility. She can be boss of the world, but she’ll do it gently. Children need patience. As much as one would like to make things happen in a fast, orderly, tidy manner for the good of all, it doesn’t always happen that way. Of course mom knows what’s best, but they also know that binding and gagging the children is not a good long-term strategy.

And, since even (or especially) world-saving slayers find being a single mom a stretch, Ashe needs and wants her family around.  No lofty solitary brooding for her. She has a grandmother and a sister, co-workers and other parents to call on because you can’t work all day and chase vampires all night without a babysitter. The whole nonverbal-alpha-as-a-solitary-island routine falls flat in the face of parental scheduling. What about soccer?  What about the bake sale? What if they conflict with that night’s slayage? Whether they like it or not, women have to network to make things happen.

Nope, the alpha woman might be queen, but she’s also the caretaker. She has to pack lunches before she can sit around polishing her sword, but she’ll make those PBJ sandwiches with a glad heart because—male or female—those alphas are loyal and always put the good of others first.  

Here’s the book video that describes just what Ashe is up against:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbExjMvR8-0

Ashe stands ready to help you rid yourself of any monster infestations in your life ... check out her do-it-yourself monster removal advice.

As a little girl, I wanted to be Red Sonja or Boudicca, the warrior queen of England. What alpha females inspired you?  Leave a comment and I’ll give away a copy of one of my books (excerpts at www.SharonAshwood.com





 One lucky winner will receive a book of their choice courtesy of Sharon.
(Read my review: Ravenous | Unchained)

Giveaway Guidelines:
  1. Open to everyone!
  2. Leave a comment answering Sharon's question.  No answer, no entry
  3. Provide your email address.
  4. Giveaway ends 9/4.  Be sure to check back after that and see if you've won!  I will not be emailing winners after they are announced on the blog.  Winners will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is picked.
Extra Entries:
  • [+1] Tweeting about this giveaway.  Provide a link in your comment.

Being a blog follower is not required, yet is extremely appreciated!

62 comments:

  1. I was such an outdoor loving child that I did not read or watch much TV. We also lived in the country. I did idolize my babysitter. I really cannot remeber if there were other inspirational women. I fell in love with VC Andrews very young. Later I was mighty disappointed to learn a man took over the writing. I did however keep reading the books until I grew out of them around 25 years old, LOL!

    Tweeted: https://twitter.com/IntenseWhisper/status/21036122454

    robin at intensewhisper dot com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'd have to say Wonder Woman was the Alpha female that inspired me, and The Bionic Woman was pretty cool too.

    Barbed1951(at)aol(dot)com

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  3. The first few to come to mind are Rachel Morgan from The Hollows series by Kim Harrison and Faythe Sanders from the Shifters series by Rachel Vincent!

    Tweet: http://twitter.com/SmashAttackAsh/statuses/21054513854

    SmashAttackReads at gmail dot com
    Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am a follower. I would have to say Wonder Woman. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com

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  5. Hmmm, you didn't say they had to be literary. I think Margaret Thatcher and Madeleine Albright are mega alpha females, that all little girls should aspire to be like! But Wonder Woman's pretty alpha too. Bookwise, I'd say Jocelynn Drake's Mira is super alpha!
    follower and tweeted- http://twitter.com/bcardoo79/status/21062715119
    b(dot)cardone(at)hotmail

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think Buffy is quite the inspirational alpha female :)

    I'm a follower. juliecookies(at)gmail.com

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  7. I really can't remember many books with female main characters when I was growing up.

    sgiden AT verizon.net

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  8. Hi, all! Thanks for commenting!

    The answer certainly doesn't have to identify literary characters. Robin, your babysitter absolutely qualifies! I adored my second grade teacher ...

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  9. Well in real life the alpha female that inspires me is my Mom:)

    In literary terms one of the latest alpha females that I find inspiring is Celia Graves from Blood Song by Cat Adams.

    geckyboz@gmail.com

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  10. If we're going when I was younger, it would have to be the Bionic Woman--loved that show and the Six Million Dollar Man, too. If I was picking a character now--I really like the Lara Croft character. Angelina Jolie sure makes it look easy to kick some bad arse. lol

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  11. I guess I shoul leave my email, too.
    kmnbooks@yahoo.com

    Thanks. :)

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  12. I would say Ivory from Dark Slayer...Christine Feehan book. She was left for dead and fought to come back and she handles her own and protects her own. I also like Rachel Morgan from Kim Harrison's hollows. She is always putting her life on the line to protect her loved ones.
    Tanyah1224@yahoo.com
    Twittered on twitter.com/Tanya1224

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love Anita Blake (Laurell K. Hamilton) and I just finished reading the Moonlight series by Nancy Gideon, and I love Charlotte.
    Like Smash says, Faythe is always amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is going to sound a little funny, but I grew up listening to Madonna, a true alpha female if there ever was one. Now, it wasn't about her blatant sexuality that inspired me, but it was how she wasn't afraid to BE WHO SHE WAS! She never pretended, or made things "pretty" just for society's sake. She had a story to tell and she was going to tell it her way!

    Tweeted: http://twitter.com/AmysSimpleLove/status/21081429610

    ReplyDelete
  15. I´ll chose Kate Daniels from Ilona Andrew´s books and Mercy Thompson. They are both very different but I´ve fallen fro them from the very forst moment!

    tine_86@hotmail.de

    ReplyDelete
  16. The first time I remember looking up to another female was when my 10 year-old friend told her mother to shut-up and her mom did. I'da tried that, I'd have been killed - on the spot. It took me a while to find out she wasn't brave just a brat! And I would've probably lived if I'da tried it - but with a sore fanny.

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  17. I would say Zena. She is strong and has great defensive skills.

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  18. I was inspired by watching Cagney and Lacey, Wonder Woman, and Charlie's Angels when I was growing up.


    caity_mack at yahoo dot com

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  19. My Alpha Female when I was younger was She-Ra - she schooled all the bad guys!

    http://twitter.com/booksake/status/21105605339

    booksake(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wonder Woman
    chey127 at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  21. I was a huge history buff when I was growing up and I absolutely adored Queen Elizabeth I - talk about an alpha female!

    jen at delux dot com

    ReplyDelete
  22. I loved Rogue from X-Men while growing up, she was awesome! As for my favorite alpha female in books...Mira from the Dark Days series by Jocelynn Drake.

    linaramz at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  23. I was a big Xena fan when I was a kid, always loved anything that had to do with Greek mythology. c:

    vesipisaroita [at] gmail [dot] com

    ReplyDelete
  24. I like the women in Lara Adrian's books! They all have their own special talent and make good partners to their men.

    meredithfl at gmail dot com

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  25. I really wanted to be Nancy Drew.

    bacchus76 at myself dot com

    ReplyDelete
  26. Sorry forgot to leave the link to my tweet - http://twitter.com/DonnaS1/statuses/21124536854

    ReplyDelete
  27. Definitely Kate Daniels from Ilona Andrews's books!

    jax1204[at]gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  28. I somehow missed this post earlier in the muddle of so many blogs that I follow. I actually like "alpha" females much more than the alpha males. Though, I'm not sure of the novels I have read, which would qualify as an alpha but I'm going to guess.

    I say my favorite from my teenage years is Alanna from Tamora Pierce's books. She is the first female knight in the realm, strong, stubborn and still has feminine qualities even if she's not comfortable wearing dresses. lol

    DawnEmbers(at)ymail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  29. Nancy Drew has so many interesting things in her life. i would really like 'to be like her' :)

    http://twitter.com/becunique/status/21138494436

    uniquas at ymail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  30. Interesting that you should mention Nancy Drew, mariska, because that's who my heroine read as a girl! I was in the bookstore last night and saw that all the covers have been updated. You have to hand it to Nancy, she is an enduring character.

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  31. I would pick Xena the warrior princess.

    Skk25@aol.com

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  32. I would have to say Buffy. I used to watch the movie over and over.

    bjhopper(at)me(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  33. Scarlett O'Hara is an alpha female I first fell in love with at the age of 10. She's a bitch, but strong.

    lovemybabysquid@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  34. I was (and still am!) a huge scifi and fantasy reader. Some of the characters that've inspired me over the years are girls like Paksennarion in The Sheepherder's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon, Kethry and Tarma from Mercedes Lackey's Oathbound trilogy, Livak the thief from Juliet E McKenna's Enarrion series, Alanna/Daine/Keladry/Aly/etc. from Tamora Pierce's Tortall universe, the female wolfriders in Wendy & Richard Pini's Elfquest series... strong women who take charge, kick ass, and take names. They all influenced me into a violent little tomboy who played tomb raider, zombie apocolypse, and amazon warrior rather than play with barbies (unless it was to cut their heads off to make shrunken heads to attach to her 'trophy belt'...)

    ReplyDelete
  35. arg, forgot my email- Ellaanabeth@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  36. I absolutely love Mercy Thompson and Kate Daniels as alpha women. They are strong take-charge women and they rock for it!
    minnchica(dot)bookpusher(at)gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  37. Q: What alpha females inspired you?

    A: My childhood female protagonists were fairy tale ones rather than kick-ass girls. I grew up with sleeping beauty, little mermaid, cinderella and the like. The best I could think up right now is Mulan. She is the toughest chick in my list ;)

    Thank you for the chance to win Ravenous!

    Re-posted your contest at: http://contests-freebies.blogspot.com/2010/08/win-sharon-ashwood-book-at-book-faery.html

    Twitted: http://twitter.com/cherrymischivus/status/21252789359

    I'm an old follower :)

    Cherry Mischievous
    mischivus101-warrior [at] yahoo [dot] com

    ReplyDelete
  38. What alpha females inspired you?

    Me thinks along the line of Nancy Drew, which is probably not v. orginal, but she's the classic sleuth who can always handle a case. Even though she has the help of her best friends and boyfriend, who wouldn't need them? She's still a kick-ass while not using words like that and can make any mystery interesting, or at least she's more sensable than Holmes :-p
    Who needs men?

    tweeted: http://twitter.com/VamPoet/status/21283688385

    & me being a follower. I say thank you for a chance in the contest!


    legally_write[at]hotmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  39. Wonder Woman inspired me. I read her comic books and watched the tv series.

    ReplyDelete
  40. My fave book alpha's are Mercy Thompson and Calla from Nightshade. My ultimate kick ass woman is BUFFY. She fights, she slays and she does it while looking good and getting the guy. What more could you want. (oh and she has superpowers)

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  41. I was a reader and didn't watch much TV. I went from Bobbsey twins to Nancy Drew. We didn't have a bookstore in our small town. When went to Pensacola, we shopped for books. I bought most of the Nancy Drew books.
    I'm just commenting as I have all three of the books. I bought Unchained at the RWA Literacy signing.

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  42. I grew up on The X-Men, so I was inspired by the strong, but flawed characters from the series, Storm, Jean Grey, Rogue, and Psylocke (to name a few).

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  43. I do love Red Sonja...great choice, but I'd have to go with Xena & Buffy.

    heatwave96(at)hotmail.com

    tweeted - http://twitter.com/Heatwave316/status/21359252415

    ReplyDelete
  44. Chloe from Smallville, I love her!

    texas_gal45(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  45. Anita Blake from the series by L.K.H.

    yadkny@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  46. Buffy and Xena!
    throuthehaze at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  47. It was Xena all the way, and then Tamora Pierce's characters when I was in Jr. High

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  48. I'm always inspired by Kate Daniels. She always just seems like a bruiser and a fighter from the outside, but she truly is this intelligently smart and capable woman. I love her to pieces.

    Also, Alanna from Tamora Peirce's books. She is one girl who isn't afraid of getting what she wants!

    ReplyDelete
  49. Eleanor Roosevelt, my mom and my maternal grandmother are the alpha females who most inspired me. Thanks for visiting.

    ReplyDelete
  50. When I was a kid I guess it would have to be Xena and Buffy :)

    Ladytink_534(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  51. xena, for sure!


    Littopandaxpress(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  52. Buffy! :)

    Thanks so much for making this international and you can reach me at luvpinkpanther@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  53. Buffy the vampire slayer!

    http://twitter.com/aikchien/status/21911771081

    aikychien at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  54. Emma Peel from "The Avengers". Inspector Jane Tennison from "Prime Suspect". "Catwoman" played by Julie Newmar. "Cagney and Lacey"--both of them! TINA TURNER : )

    I'd love to win a copy of "Ravenous"!

    gcwhiskas at aol dot com

    ReplyDelete
  55. I grew up watching all the older movies my Mom loved and would have to say that the actress Maureen O'Hara was one tough cookie. Took crap from no man. loved her attitude.Then there is Eve Dallas from JD Robb's In Death series.
    Carol L.
    Lucky4750@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  56. get giveaway and i love all her books
    elizabethcerna2011@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  57. I think Xena is probably the first one that comes to mine, Wonder Woman too.

    seriousreader at live dot com

    ReplyDelete
  58. I loved watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Xena:Warrior Princess. They always kicked butt and took names. They didn't take crap from anyone and they each had their own style of doing it. I think it helped empowered woman to feel more confident with who they are.

    I tweeted about this giveaway on Twitter (@skyla11377).
    http://twitter.com/skyla11377/status/22331388234

    skyla11377(At)AOL(Dot)Com

    ReplyDelete
  59. My inspiration was Xena.

    spamscape [at] gmail [dot] com

    ReplyDelete
  60. I always loved strong, independent and brave heroines! My favourite ones who inspired me were Buffy (the Sailor Moon cartoon girls even before that) and Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane. Loved how they took charge and were fearless :-D

    Thank you for the giveaway!

    +1 tweeted: http://twitter.com/Stella_ExLibris/status/22623960770

    stella.exlibris (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  61. I love Karen Marie Moning's MacKayla Lane. Honestly, Buffy is my least favorite character on Buffy.

    thejoyofthejoyofcooking at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete