Celebrate the Small Things- June 14th

As always, thanks to our host Vic over at Scribblings of an Aspiring Author. 

It's been a rough week for me, on several fronts.  And in all honesty, the best thing about this is that it forces me to identify, call out and give thanks for the great things in my life rather than complain about chaos and drama.  Cause lordy knows I could complain- and, as I've learned from experience, that would only make me feel worse.

So, as cheesy at it sounds, I'm grateful for this blog hop.  Cause in a little while I'll hop along and read a post from a mom caring for a sick child who's still keeping a smile on her face and an author who just got a heart-breaking rejection letter but is still motivated to keep on writing or a husband who just got laid off but is jumping on the opportunity to learn a more frugal lifestyle.  Not just because these issues would make me seem like a whiny cry baby for complaining about my drama, but because their strength and positive attitude in the face of much bigger life problems reminds me that there is a better way to face life.

We rise (or sink, as the case may be) to the company we keep and these people are GOOD company.  They are strong, they are passionate, they are driven.  They are caretakers and lovers and heads of family.  They are creative and brilliant and intelligent.  And they are all grateful for the things in their life that keep them going.  And today I am grateful for them.

So hop along, and see what they're doing.

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1. Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh	2. Suzanne Furness The Word is. . .	3. Julie Flanders
4. tara tyler	5. J. A. Ward Writes	6. Lara Lacombe - Romance With an Edge
7. Life, yoga and other adventures	8. Charity Pence	9. Ink in the Book
10. My Baffling Brain	11. Scribbles From Jenn	12. Tyreans Writing Spot
13. Writing Off the Edge	14. Father Dragon Writes	15. Lexa Cain
16. Michelle @ Writer~In~Transit	17. The Write Game	18. Writers Mark
19. Entertaining Interests	20. Reading, Writing and Everything in Between	21. Effectively Human
22. Jen Naumann Author	23. Mary Pax	24. Diana Wilder - About myself, by myself. . .
25. Pasha, From Animal Shelter to A Sheltered Life	26. S. K. Anthony	27. Agenthood and Submissionville
28. Defending The Pen	29. Queendsheena	30. Bouquet of Books
31. Kidbits	32. A Good One	33. Black Coffee and Cigarettes
34. Mark Noce Stories	35. Putting Pen to Paper	36. Writers Block
37. Rebeccah Writes	38. Sisu Diaries	39. Debs Writing Room
40. Melanies Blog	41. Espirational	42. Heather Marshall -- writing, yoga, nature
43. melanie schulz	44. The Prosers	45. Shah Wharton's WordsinSync
46. Intentional Insights by S. Kelley Harrell	47. Creating Wordlenik	48. Cathy Keaton Writes, or Tries To
49. Simply Sarah	50. Today, I think. . .	51. Felicity Burnett (WR)
52. Writing's Not For Weenies	53. Janice Heck, My Time to Write	54. Inside The Artist's Mind
55. The Sock Zone	56. Brandy's Bustlings	57. M. J. Fifield
58. dreaming of publication	59. KenMaursCorner	60. Constantine
61. Nana Prah's Blog	62. BaMes Live	63. The Journey South
64. The Reluctant Author	65. Thoughts and Ideas from Deanie Humphrys-Dunne	66. Laugh Quotes
67. Shayla's TeaGarden	68. The Beveled Edge	69. Rossandra White
70. Writing's Not For Weenies	71. Vidya Sury, Going A-Musing, Collecting Smiles

The Blogger Book Fair is Coming Soon!

Exciting news!  I'm participating in the Blogger Book Fair by reviewing a novel for an up and coming author!  So today I'm hijacking the blog to tell you all about this awesome event and all the bloggers participating.  There's still time to sign up so check out the info below and get ready for awesome events next month! 

 

Check in to the Blogger Book Fair, and book your trip to far away places!

July 22-26, 2013

Authors and Book Bloggers, Sign ups for the July 2013 Blogger Book Fair will close on June 15 at midnight central time, so get your registrations in to participate!

As of 6/4/2013, we have:

Authors: 89
Books: 233
Bloggers: 14

 If you haven't yet registered, you can find all of the information on the Blogger Book Fair page.

1. Check out the Code of Conduct
2. Fill out either the Author Sign Up form or the Blogger Sign Up form (Deadline June 15)
3. Kayla will match everyone with hosts and send out this information to you after sign-ups close
4. Check out the events--all authors are eligible to participate in the events, and if you have an event you'd like to host, just fill out the simple Event Sign Up Form--all of this information can be found on the Events! page (Deadline July 8).
5. If you're interested in hosting a giveaway to drive traffic to your site, sign up via the Giveaway Sign Up form (Deadline July 15).
6. And if your book will be FREE or $0.99 for the duration of the Fair, you can sign up on the Free and $.99 Book Sign Up Forms (Deadline July 15).

Events:

Art Fiction Gala hosted by Lucie Smoker

Does your fiction promote the visual arts--through featuring an artist, painting, sculpture, performance art, etc? Then, consider entering Lucie's Art Fiction Gala. The Art Fiction Gala is a virtual celebration of fiction that highlights the visual arts. Dress up in your finest, pick up some friends--a bottle of wine--and sample mind-blowing fiction that crosses the line between literary and visual art. Plus a gallery of art featuring reading. More information & entry instructions

Three Wishes hosted by Kirstin Pulioff

Introduce your characters to the world. Kirstin Pulioff invites you to ask your main character, "If you found a magic genie lamp, what would be your three choices?" More information & entry instructions

Flash Fiction Challenge II hosted by Thomas Winship

Get ready to exercise your flash fiction muscles. For the Flash Fiction Challenge II, Thomas Winship will provide an opening line. From there, entrants will craft a flash fiction piece of approx 500 words. Entries will be displayed on Thomas' blog Vaempires during the BBF, spread out evenly across the five days, in order of receipt. More information & entry instructions
 

Snapshot Synopsis Contest hosted by Fel at The Peasants Revolt

Challenge: chisel your synopsis down to 50 words or less. Voting will be open throughout the fair for visitors to vote on their favorite Snapshot Synopsis. More information & entry instructions

Reader's Choice Awards hosted by Sherri at Shut Up & Read

All books registered for the Blogger Book Fair are automatically entered into the running for the Reader's Choice Awards. Voting will be open from July 22 to July 25. More information

Indie Soap Box Files hosted by Shah Wharton

Take a turn on the Soap Box. Shah invites speculative fiction writers to write a guest post about being an indie (or hybrid) writer. More information & entry instructions Restrictions: Speculative fiction writers only

Monster Menagerie hosted by Noree at Trip the Eclipse

What's your favorite monster or supernatural creature? Feature your creature in a flash fiction piece (500-800) words to be featured on Trip the Eclipse. Visitors will vote on their favorite piece. More information & entry instructions

What's Your Theme Song? Hosted by Maghon Thomas

Maghon Thomas is a fan of music, so she's turning it into a competition, hosted on her blog, Happy Tails and Tales. Tell Maghon what the theme song of your book(s) is or match a song to your favorite scene and her followers will vote on their favorites. More information & entry instructions

Office Romances: Character Job Interviews hosted by Lily Bishop

Lily Bishop at Don't Call Me Sugar, wants to know: Do the jobs that your characters have impact their relationship, or is your characters' job incidental to the story? This event is tailored for romantic fiction, but all are welcome. More information & entry instructions

Ways to Help:

Donate to the Blogger Book Fair via the BBF Donation Fund. To help get the word out about BBF, we would like to place ads on Facebook, Goodreads and other places, but to do, so we need a little help. We'd also like to have some BBF sponsored giveaways, so money donated would also go toward prizes. NO MONEY WILL BE KEPT BY ANY ORGANIZER OR PARTICIPANT.

Spread the word! Share the Fair on your social media accounts and show off the Blogger Book Fair logo in your blog's sidebar.

Join us on:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Goodreads
• Google +

And My Next Read Is...

So, a couple of weeks ago I was browsing the blogs, as I often do, and I came across one of those raffle-copter giveaway thingies for a new book release.  I read on and discovered that the amazing Charmaine Clancy was not only giving away copies of her book over at her website dream... write... publish  but also a chance to win a Kindle Fire for those who entered the drawing by downloading her book.  Intrigued, I read on and learned that although I could not download the book (as I do not own a Kindle) I could still enter the drawing by blogging about the book.  The book, for those who don't know, is the story of 12 year old sleuth and her trusty sidekick Spade, the miniature schnauzer, investigating a dognapping at a dog show.  Sounds adorable, right?  I certainly think so.

Now, as you all know, I love writing book reviews.  (See yesterday's post for evidence of how much.)  And I've seen countless bloggers who regularly post reviews, author interviews, cover reveals, giveaway blog hops and all sorts of other helpful things for the lovely authors they're in contact with.  And I figured "What the heck?"  So I went ahead and e-mailed Charmaine to see how I could get involved.

Shockingly enough (and yes, that's sarcasm), Charmaine was incredibly sweet in her reply and offered to get me her book in whatever format worked for me.  At which point I thought "Boy, that was easy!" and kicked myself for not doing this sooner.

So my next read, obviously enough, will be Dognapped? A Dog Show Detective Mystery by the wonderful Charmaine Clancy which you can go download for your kindle here.  (And once you've done that, it'd be really silly not to enter the drawing for a Kindle Fire by going to Charmiane's site and entering in your order number by July 7th.)  I will be posting my review and a kick-ass interview with Charmaine (as soon as I come up with some kick-ass interview questions) telling us all about how the book came to be here on this blog.  So stay tuned!

Book Review: The Pleasure of My Company

Before I begin this review, I have to take a minute to draw your attention to the absurd level of talent contained within the one Steve Martin.  He is widely considered the funniest stand-up comic of all time (quite the label for a trade so unforgiving and harsh).  Every movie I’ve ever seen of him I have absolutely adored.  Every time he’s been on SNL (which is quite a lot) he’s been hysterical.  His writing is entirely too good for someone who should’ve been  otherwise occupied with a bustling film career.  And as if all that weren’t enough, he’s now making quite a name for himself as a skilled banjo player.  Is there anything this man can’t do?  It’s just absurd.

Ah-hem, sorry- just had to get that out of my system.  On to the review!

The Pleasure of My Company was my first exposure to Steve Martin’s serious feature-length works.  Though I knew he had the ability to create beautiful character studies as I’ve seen Shopgirl I didn’t read the book it was based on so this is the first time.  I was, to put it mildly, blown away.

I’m going to start by critiquing the main character himself since that is the focus of the story.  Daniel Pecan Cambridge is a genius and, like many geniuses, his brain’s excess intelligence has limited the man himself.  His particular form of limitation comes in the form of a rather extreme case of OCD.  He counts, performs mathematical equations, lays out grids upon the world he sees, breaks down time into smaller, more sensible fractions.  And he has used all of these abilities to impose a set of constrictions on himself so severe that he can barely stand to leave his apartment.

He has rules he uses to keep his mind- which would otherwise become so transfixed on the irrational nature of existence- occupied.  He avoids curbs as their “illogical elevation” confounds him so the only places he can get to are ones that a circuitous walking route with scooped-out opposing driveways will lead him to.  He keeps the bulb wattage in his apartment at a stable 1125 watts which requires a constant dance of turning on and off certain bulbs as he enters and exists rooms.  He finds solace in creating magic squares- which are sort-of like a geniuses’ version of sudoku where instead of each row of three equaling 15 there are 16 rows adding up to 491,384.   (Yeah, my brain hurt just looking at the thing.)  But, as he points out, “my salvation, the making of the square, was so pointless; there was no person attached to it, no person to shut me out or take me in.”

Which enlightens us to the largest, most devastating consequence of his illness: a sense of loneliness so deep that you, the reader, feel it in your heart, as if it were your own.  The words Martin uses to describe his melancholy are so soulful that I found myself often taking a breath as I read, trying to separate myself from the mind of this character who I so connected to.  His thesis: "There are few takers for the quiet heart."  Words so simple that I ached for young Daniel, praying that he would find a way to release himself from his prison.

There is one passage that sums up his fears, his beliefs and his realty perfectly that I just have to share with you:  “I guessed that one day the restrictions I imposed on myself would end.  But first, it seemed that my range of possible activities would have to iris down to zero before I could turn myself around.  Then, when I was finally stoic and immobile, I could weigh and measure every exterior force and, slowly and incrementally, once again allow the outside in.  And that would be my life.” 

Coming from a place that dark it's amazing that Daniel is able to emerge but he does, and in the only way one can: human connection.  He forms his relationships almost by accident, instinctually picking up on cues people give him, reading them and responding to them like a reflex.  And because of the people he is surrounded by he is drawn into them, the messy quality of their lives, the idiosyncrasies of them.  His neighbor who leads him to take his first few triumphant steps over a curb simply by addressing them as the inconsequential things he views them to be.  His case manager who inadvertently creates the opportunity for him to instinctively rescue a child.  And the one person who has the biggest impact on him- Teddy, a 2 year old too innocent, Dan concluded, to be corrupted by his craziness.  "If, as the books say, my habits exist to keep demons at bay, what was the point of demonstrating them in front of someone who was so clearly not a demon?  Who, in fact, was so clearly a demon's opposite?"

This is where all of those reviews labeling this book as gentle start to make sense.  Because his resolution is anticlimactic, quiet.  Found in the small moments where an immeasurable connection occurs.  The tiny triumphs that seem so inconsequential in "real life".  The space that exists between two people when they are just being.  There's no grand epiphanies, no life-changing cataclysms- just the quiet existence of a man living life which is made striking by the lack of life we've seen him trapped in.  It's a conclusion that many authors, filmmakers and creators fail to grasp and it struck me more deeply than most of the grand tales I've ever read.

Before I end, and I apologize for the length here, but I just have to say a couple of things about the writing itself.  I found the narrative fascinating.  This story could not possibly told in anything other than first person and while Daniel is clearly a reliable narrator he is not always telling the story linearly.  There are the memories of the past which we need to make sense of the present, of course.  But there are also the statements about future events which have not yet happened, dropped into the moment because of his hindsight about what the moment means, pointing out the transitions for us before they have actually started.  It's not foreshadowing in the classic sense I'm used to.  It’s something I haven't seen done in this particular manner and it’s definitely going to stick in my memory the next time I find myself writing in first person.

But the most striking quality about this book is that it’s written almost like a poem.  It's incredibly short because each word was so painstakingly chosen that there is no excess, no unnecessary descriptors, nothing that doesn't convey exactly what was meant to be conveyed.  Because of this, the number of passages that take on a lyrical, alliterative quality are almost overwhelming.  You can scarcely flip through more than two pages of my now deeply loved book without finding a sentence, a passage or a paragraph that I highlighted because of its beauty.  I want to memorize these lines and recite them.  I want to sear them into my brain so I can be lifted by them when life becomes just too much.

In conclusion, I loved this book.  And I can now say with certainty that Daniel Pecan Cambridge is one of my favorite characters of all time and I will hold him in my heart along with Wemmick, Bilbo and so many other greats forever.

Followers Blog Hop

Hello all!  Every new blog hop I do I pick up a few more followers.  This, needless to say, makes me very, very happy.  It isn't seeing the number over my side bar increasing (though, if I'm being perfectly honest, I do get a kick out of that as well) it's connecting with all these other cool peeps.  Other rabid fangirls and boys, other writers, other introspective-type peeps that feel the need to write down their observations on life, other people who like to use the word "peeps" a lot.  Writing, as we all know, can be a lonely gig and having other people put their thoughts out there allows camaraderie, group support and that so-necessary reminder that we are not actually alone in all this.

So when Melissa Chesley over at Writing, Musing & Other Such Nonsense announced that she was hosting a followers blog hop I figured 'what the heck?'  Now, I must admit, I feel a little silly participating in a blog hop with no other purpose than just to gain followers so even though it's not part of the rules I'm gonna give you all a lil' sumthin' sumthin' to say thanks for stopping by.

Did you come here to see a freakishly adorable little puppy chewing on someone's shoelace?  No, I don't imagine you did.  But are you sad that this little surprise happened to be waiting for you here?  No, no I can't imagine you would be.  Right?  Right.

At any rate, since this is a followers blog hop I'm going to invite you to follow me on twitter by clicking here.  Follow the blog by clicking on the button (or buttons, if you're so inclined) on the right.  And connect with me on Goodreads here.

And when you're done with all that, hop along and follow more cool peeps, since that is the name of the game.

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1. Cursed Armada Fantasy Blog	2. And then. . .	3. Charity Bradford
4. Author Isaiyan Morrison	5. Come Selahaway With Me	6. Embracing Dawn
7. K Cross Writing	8. Shayla's TeaGarden	9. N is for Nails
10. DAILY DRAMA OF AN ASPIRING WRITER	11. Master of My Dark Twisted Make-Believe	12. Crystal Collier
13. Random Scribblings	14. Thoughts and Views That Matter	15. The Wise Serpent
16. Reflection on things fantastic	17. Sandy Sanderella's Musings Blogging and Writing	18. Fictionburns
19. ClareDugmoreWrites	20. Seeking	21. The Red Angel Blog
22. The Beveled Edge	23. Vanessa Morgan	24. Sydney Aaliyah Michelle
25. Avalon

And Now For Something Completely Different

So, yeah.... I had planned to write the review of the book I just finished, and was all excited about it.  But then last night whilst driving back from karate I realized I left it at work (cause I finished reading on my lunch break.)  Now, I could try to wing-it and go without but there are a couple of passages in there that I just cannot live without including in my description so I figure I'd delay till Monday and hope you all don't notice.

In the meantime, I've come up with something totally different for your reading pleasure.  It's still sort-of a work in progress, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless:

How is it that even memories can collect dust?
Tucked away in my mind, but as filthy as old toys
that haven't been touched in years.
Every corner cluttered with fragments and visions.

That big jar of pennies dad kept behind the door
it never moved.
That old chandalier that shorted out
one blub at a time
but we never took down.

Every unique object.
Every stain and spill.
The light that illuminated our lives.

Now sitting, dulled and faded
but not vanished.

Celebrate the Small Things- June 7

As always, hosted by Viklit!  Click here to sign up!

I'm gonna keep this short and sweet this week since I know we've all got a lot of blogs to visit.

100 Followers!  Woo-hoo!  *Snoopy Dance*

Nerd Love  I participated in the heros and villains blogfest yesterday and had an absolute ball!  All my favorite superheroes, literary characters and movie bad-guys got shout-outs from fans like me and I got to connect with more awesome bloggers around the web.  It was super fun.

Good Reading  I finished the heart-warming and brillant book I've been reading and absolutely LOVED IT!  I will be posting my review tomorrow both here and on Goodreads. 

That's it!  Happy Friday all!  And now, of course, hop along to another celebration!

First Friday

“Where are you?” he asked as he weaved through the crowd.

“Near the statue of Gansha,” she said, tiptoed and trying to see his tall frame over the heads of the tourists and connoisseurs.

“What statue of Ganesha?” he asked, immediately aggravated with his inability to spot the tell-tale deity.

“Over by the um… what’s-we-call-it?” she hesitated, not knowing how to describe the large mixed media object in the window.

“Never mind,” he said, spotting her.  “I see you.”

She waved to him as he made his way over and they both smiled.  Her genuinely, him sarcastically.

“Ok, first off- that is not a Ganesha,” he said, pointing at the elephant head made of recycled plastic bottles and aluminum cans.

“It isn’t?” She looked up at it.  “Well, one of the Hindu deities, anyway.”

“No, that is another man’s garbage that some oversensitive schmuck mashed into a random collection of shapes that bears very little resemblance to Ganehsa,” he explained, then laughed at his own insult.

She simply rolled her eyes at him and started walking.  Sensing her coolness he fell into step beside her but immediately launched another attack on her funnybone by picking up a large glass tube filled with what looked like ashes and a piece of a burnt map which he held up to his lips and wiggled, doing his best Groucho Marx eye brows.  She looked at him and laughed weakly, then walked on.

He placed the object carefully down on the table lest the vender try to charge him for breaking it and ran to catch up with her.  “What’s with you tonight?”

“Nothing,” she snapped.

He twitched at her but stayed quiet, knowing he had injured her and wondering how that was possible given the two minutes they’d been together.  She looked over at him, than shrank in on herself.

“It’s just," she began, fragile and soft, “don’t you ever get tired of it?”

“Of what?” he asked.  He was bent over nearly double with his neck craned at an unnatural angle to hear.

“It’s just, I mean- these are people’s creations.”

“Yeah!” he laughed.  It was a loud, harsh sound.  “Crazy people’s creations.  Hey, I made a ‘creation’ before I came here- think I could sell that too?”  

“No- really.  They pour their hearts into them!  And we come here like the hecklers from the Muppets to make fun of them…”  She had a distant look in her eyes, which would have served as a warning if he’d noticed it.

He grabbed her arm, stopping her, and turned her to face him.  “Seriously, what is up with you?  I’m five minutes late and it’s like you’ve turned into the philosophy student on the real world all of a sudden.”  

“I’m fine, I’m just…”  She looked up at his face and that same, stupid quizzical expression she’d seen a thousand times before.  

They stood there for a moment, considering each other.  The air between them was thick with the music from a nearby guitar quartet, the scent of wine and artisan crackers, and heavy emotions.  It was one of those instances where you realize that the person you’ve known for years is about as familiar to you as the crowd swelling around you.  And then she blinked.

“I just think I’m outgrowing this,” she said, and her shoulders sagged as she started walking again.

He followed her, afraid to speak, and fiddled with his phone in his pocket.  The shadow of the bridge fell over them as they walked and the air grew a little colder.

Heroes and Villains Blogfest

Huge thanks to our fantastic hosts Jackie and Dani for creating this super fun blogfest.  Make sure you stop by if you haven't already!

Now, trying to come up with my absolute favorite heroes and villains of all time- ever is just an impossible task.  There's waaaaaaayy too many to list.  So for the purposes of this blogfest I've selected the best from books, tv and movies of recent memory rather than the best of all time.  Maybe this blogfest will happen again and I'll get the chance to name more.  But for now, hopefully you'll enjoy these selections.

Best Hero- Bilbo Baggins

 

Bilbo is a hobbit which means that he is biologically designed to live in a hobbit hole eating many meals a day and being about as laid back as one can be.  Action and adventure are to hobbits what warm and fuzzy are to documentaries about genocide.  I.E. NOT.  And yet this humble hobbit, already well-up in age, is pulled into one of the greatest adventures of all time.  He survives a devastating pantry-raiding by a horde of hungry dwarves, manages to outrun a goblin army, outwits a hungry and sinister Gollum, single-handedly rescues the dwarves from a contingent of giant man-eating spiders (not that much smaller than Shelob- and there's a whole freakin' forest of them!),  plans and executes a dungeon escape from a group of dwarf-hating wood elves, finds the fatal kink in a dragon's armor thus enabling its slaying, and very nearly prevents a war. And, as if all that isn't enough, he manages to safe-guard the single most coveted object in all of middle earth for 60 freakin' years when pretty much every one else who encounters it goes mad with power-hunger within about an hour!  Two words: BAD ASS.  'Nough said.

Best Villain- The Trinity Killer

 

I'm a big fan of Dexter, a Showtime creation about a serial killer doing a self-serving form of vigilante justice by targeting murders, rapists and other scum of the underworld.  He is the quintessential hunter hunting hunters but much like Batman and Superman he has a public face to hide his secret identity: the every man.  Full-time lab rat and dad he tries desperately to make the relationships in his life as real as the rush he gets from killing.  His greatest adversary, and subsequently the greatest season of the show, was the Trinity Killer aka Arthur Miller played by an astonishingly talented John Lithgow.  The Trinity Killer gets his name from his murders: he kills in threes.  First a young woman bled to death in a bathtub (whom he holds a mirror up to so she can watch the life slip out of her own eyes- so creepy!), next a mother forced to jump from a large height, followed by a father who he bludgeons to death with a hammer.  Later in the series it's discovered that he's actually a quadruple killer as his fourth victim is a ten year old boy buried alive in cement.  He has repeated these murders several times in several states for many, many years and never been caught.  

Like Dexter, he has an identity he uses to hide in plain site: husband, father and (the most screwed-up thing of all) church deacon.  But that's not all!  He's also a mad man holding his family hostage in a prison made of their fear of him, a manipulator able to charm almost everyone he encounters and a deeply, deeply traumatized little boy reliving the horrific deaths of his family of origin by repeating their deaths (his own symbolic in the form of the little boys he buries alive in order to preserve their innocence) over and over again.  It's hard-core evil and yet psychologically sound.  And it made for the best season finale I think a show has ever had.

Bonus! Best Hero AND Villain: Severus Snape

Yes, I know he's not technically a villain but he fakes evil better than most true villains so he earns both titles in my book.  Plus, when it comes down to it, a lot of the unimaginably heroic things he does are, ultimately, selfish.  He loves Lily Potter so damned much that he will go to the ends of the earth and his own life in order to protect her son whom he really can't stand.  It's because he loves Lily- not because he wants to save Harry and, by proxy, all witches and warlocks who would otherwise suffer Voldemort's wrath.  Granted, that kind of devotion in the face of unrequited love seems pretty damned heroic not to mention the countless times he does actually save Harry's life, or his staggering loyalty to Dumbledore, or his sparing of Draco's soul from the unerasable mark of murder.  Plus he is, as Harry points out, "the bravest man I ever knew."  Yeah, hero.  And one who will forever live in my heart.

Well, that's it!  I hope you enjoyed my selections.  Now please check out the list to see more great heroes and villains.