Thursday, March 8, 2012

Guest Post by Rachel Morgan & Giveaway

Kick-Ass Heroines

Source

Damsel: Oh, do save me!
Knight: Never fear, my lady, for your hero has arrived!
Damsel: Oh! [half faints] Oh look, my dress is falling off . . .









According to Wikipedia, the damsel in distress is usually “a beautiful young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or monster, and who requires a hero to achieve her rescue.” Now, as romantic as it is to be rescued by your “hero” (and it’s true that I’m currently in love with a certain I Need A Hero song ), you’ve got to admit that it’s way more fun to read about a girl who can kick the villain’s butt herself. And luckily for us, YA literature these days features some fantastic kick-ass heroines.

Here are just a few:



  • Hermione Granger: she started off bossy and nerdy (actually, she never entirely lost the bossiness/nerdiness!) but there was a reason the sorting hat put her into Gryffindor, the house that values courage and bravery. I mean, she fought Death Eaters! 
  • Isabelle Lightwood: this demon-stomping shadowhunter does not need a man to take care of her. 
  • Katniss Everdeen: like I need to expand on this one. Anyone who can survive the horrific Hunger Games—twice—deserves to be on this list.
  • Evie: with her trusty pick taser, Evie can handle just about any paranormal creature. 

I’m not saying these kick-ass heroines have to be strong all the time. They have their moments of vulnerability. It’s part of what makes them human, and I love them for it. But I also love that they don’t just wait around for someone else to rescue/take care of them.

The first novel I wrote had a heroine who had to be rescued a number of times. With Guardian, though, I got to write about a heroine who has the skills to rescue not only herself, but others as well. As a guardian of the faerie Guild, Violet has been trained to use her magic and fighting skills to protect unsuspecting humans from attack by dangerous fae creatures. She’s good at it, and she enjoys it. I’m sure one day she’ll have a damsel-in-semi-distress moment, just to show her that she isn’t quite as indestructible as she thinks she is, but for the most part she’s perfectly capable of dealing with the villains herself.

How do you feel about the kick-ass heroine vs the damsel in distress?

And wait! Before you go . . . there's a GIVEAWAY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~  ~  ~

Rachel Morgan is the author of Guardian, the first novelette in the Creepy Hollow series. She was born in South Africa and spent a large portion of her childhood living in a fantasy land of her own making. These days, in between teaching mathematics to high school children, she writes fiction for young adults.

Buy Guardian from

The Creepy Hollow Series

Author Info




Don't forget to come back again on 
March 14th for my Review & Interview

25 comments:

  1. GREAT and really interesting post! Thanks for the giveaway too :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. I totally agree with this:
    "I’m not saying these kick-ass heroines have to be strong all the time. They have their moments of vulnerability. It’s part of what makes them human, and I love them for it. But I also love that they don’t just wait around for someone else to rescue/take care of them."

    Thank you for the giveaway! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree too! It gets really tiresome when they are waiting around for someone to save them. Thanks for visiting!

      Delete
  3. Nicely put Rachel. I agree about kick ass heroines.Watching Logan's Run and other such 'classics'makes me glad that things have changed for women's roles in literature and film.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks goodness things have changed for women! If I had to wait around for a man I'd get nothing done! LOL Thanks for visiting!

      Delete
  4. THANK YOU for hosting me today, Jennifer :-)
    Petra and Madeleine, thank you for your comments. It's wonderful that we can have so many "well-rounded" heroines in literature today. They can stand up for themselves while still having a "softer" side.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the guest post! I got a good chuckle out of it.
      "Oh! [half faints] Oh look, my dress is falling off . . ."
      hehe

      Delete
  5. Oh yes, I whole-hearedly approve of this sentiment. Life is too short to wait around for some bloke to rescue you :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Life is too short to wait around for some bloke to rescue you.
      What an excellent way of putting it, Sarah!

      Delete
    2. Definitely a great way to put it. I have no time to wait for blokes!

      Delete
  6. I love this. I just have a problem with week women, yea for heroines these are some of my favorites. I love the line in The Night Circus about how the most the women who are worth rescuing don't need it!

    marissa
    http://raegunwear.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh, I haven't read THE NIGHT CIRCUS yet, but that quote is one more reason to get to it quickly. I LOVE that line!

      Since we're quoting about awesome heroines, this is one of my favorite lines from Cassandra Clare's CITY OF GLASS:
      “Is this the part where you say if I hurt her, you'll kill me?"
      "No" Simon said, "If you hurt Clary she's quite capable of killing you herself. Possibly with a variety of weapons.”

      Go Clary!

      Delete
    2. I haven't read The Night Circus yet either but I should!
      "If you hurt Clary she's quite capable of killing you herself. Possibly with a variety of weapons.”
      I like this quote too!

      Delete
  7. Enjoyable post, I love Hermione. Already have Guardian on my TBR, it sounds really good, I look forward to reading it soon.

    And I love that song too Jennifer!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope you enjoy Guardian when you get to it, Suzanne!

      Delete
  8. Great post! I love a great heroine who can take care of herself. I love her even more when she can accept help when she's in over her head.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same here! I love a strong girl but I also like it when she knows when it is time for help. I don't like when she keeps trying to handle things on her own to the point where she gets in big trouble and makes things worse. Thanks for visiting!

      Delete
  9. Great post! And I do prefer the kick-ass heroine. Of course, everyone needs their weak moments too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes be strong but sometimes we have our weak moments and they do make us human. Thanks for visiting!

      Delete
    2. Yeah, when there's romance you do need some scenes where the guy gets to be a hero - but he can't steal all the glory!

      Delete
  10. Hermione and Katniss are awesome! I wish I could be as fearless. Thanks for visiting!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Omg, when I read the name Rachel Morgan I was like "Holy cow, with that name, everything's gotta be Kick Ass." Yes, I'm a big fan of the Hollows by Kim Harrison. *g*

    I really love the post. I suppose that for authors it's hard to create a Kick-Ass character, who still is complex, and not a Mary Sue. Readers want strong characters - Willpower, talents etc. - but they also want them weak, and there is this fine line.. Thank God I'm not an author. *g*

    Anyway, great post! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah that is true there is a fine line between strong but not invincible and then to have flaws and be human but not whiny. There has to be the perfect combination of both. I haven't even read the Hollow series yet but I thought the same thing! hehe I actually just bought the first book in the Rachel Morgan Hollows series today because it was on sale on kindle for $0.99! A steal!

      Delete
    2. Patricia - *sigh* Readers really do want a lot in their characters, don't they?!

      Jennifer - Whaaaat? I totally missed that! I would definitely have bought that. I've been meaning to read the Hollows series for ages.

      Delete
    3. It's still $0.99! http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Witch-Walking-ebook/dp/B004UAVAE6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1331672893&sr=1-1

      Delete

Thanks so much for visiting and commenting! I read and love every single comment!