Author Guest Post with K. M. Warfield: Scales and Stingers

Thia Bransdottir is shunned for being half Fallen, a race feared by many.

Welcome to the March 27th stop on the blog tour for Scales and Stingers by K. M. Warfield with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more author guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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Author Guest Post

Sympathetic Antagonists are fun

In every story, good or bad, there’s an antagonist. Someone who opposes your protagonist in some way. The trick, in my opinion, is to make them relatable in some way. That’s what separates the baddie from being just a baddie to someone you love to hate.

To make that kind of villain, you have to figure out their history. Were they bullied in school? Have a parent that never praised them? What if their family was torn from them suddenly and another was given the chance to rescue them?

What if that failed? What if there was a fire that devastated a community and they blamed themselves because they failed to notice one piece of coal was still glowing?

Think about your own life. What’s your breaking point? What’s the one situation where you would do whatever it took to fix a wrong?

The thing with a good antagonist isn’t necessarily that they’re evil. It’s how they go about getting what it is they want or need.

Is murder wrong? Absolutely. Would you be okay with it if the person who was killed had harmed someone you love? Possibly.

What about stealing? Morally, it’s wrong. Most will agree with that. What if it involved a single loaf of bread to keep your child alive? Most of us would look the other way.

If you want to write a truly memorable antagonist. The person that readers will love to hate. Don’t focus solely on how many terrible things they’ve done. Figure out what set them on the path they walk. Discover the root cause. Make it something that is relatable.

Make it something that readers can see in themselves that would lead them down the same path.

About the Book

Scales and Stingers
by K. M. Warfield

Published 19 March 2023
Creative James Media

Genre: Fantasy
Page Count: 364
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Thia Bransdottir is shunned for being half Fallen, a race feared by many. She tries to disguise her lineage, but her lilac eyes make it impossible. When her Father is killed, she is taken to the cloister to be a servant of her faith. Jinaari Althir is sworn to protect Thia from the disgraced half of her heritage. Under his holy vows, he must keep others from killing her for their prejudice and using her for her power. He must succeed, there is no room for failure. Trust for someone like Thia is difficult. Jinaari may say he is there to protect her, but can he truly do his best when he knows she is of the Fallen? Will Thia stay safe in order to fulfill her purpose or is she fated to die for her origins?

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Excerpt

“Are you sure about her?” Adam’s voice was low, but she could hear him easily.

“Garret and Keroys both are. The priest said she was the best they had. She healed me at one point.”

“What happened?”

“Alesso got a cheap shot.”

“I don’t know, Jinaari. She’s Fallen. They’re not known for holding to laws or vows.”

“She’s also human, Adam. On our way here, we got jumped by a pack of Dangreth. She turned them into ash faster than I could blink.” There was admiration in his voice. “I only took out two . . . she took out ten. Keroys instilled his hatred of the undead in her. She asked if we’d be encountering more in Tanisal. I think she’s looking forward to wiping the city clean of anything evil.”

“Where’s she from? Humans and the Fallen rarely interact, let alone mate.”

“Ask her.”

“Don’t you know?” Adam asked.

“I do,” Jinaari paused, “and she trusted me enough to give me an answer. I’m not going to betray that. I don’t think she told me everything, not yet. Her life this far hasn’t been easy, even at the cloister. Trust isn’t something that she blindly gives. You gotta earn it. Garret said I had to keep her safe. From what, I don’t know. But I made a vow to him and Keroys to do that.” He paused. “She’s not like what Alesso and his kind think, Adam. She takes after her human side. As long as you show you’re okay with her heritage, trust her, she’ll come around. And she’s damn good at magic.”

About the Author

Born in the late 1960’s, K. M. has lived most of her live in the Pacific NW. While she’s always been creative, she didn’t turn towards writing until 2008. Writing under the pen name of KateMarie Collins, she released several titles. In 2019, the decision was made to forge a new path with her books. The Heroes of Avoch series, along with a new pen name, is the end result. When she’s not writing, she loves playing Dungeons & Dragons with friends, watching movies, and cuddling up with her cat. K. M. resides with her family in what she likes to refer to as ‘Seattle Suburbia’.

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Giveaway Alert!

K. M. Warfield will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B&N gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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