A Hero at Heart

By Steven L Higgins

Really!?—a rock troll? Of all the creatures Hespur could have made friends with...Crystabell is not thrilled. But her irritation is soon directed at an obnoxious centaur who claims to be a hero that fights monsters. And to his regret, has just tried to kill Hespur. When a lost child is found, Hespur must convince them to cooperate and rescue the child's parents. Crystabell has announced she is only going to look after her friend. Still, it gives Hespur butterflies in his stomach to watch Crystabell and the centaur, and wonder how far can they get with two leaders and so few followers?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steven L Higgins
• Release date: Dec 3, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311734716

Steven L Higgins

I have found that this is the hardest, most challenging, most creative fun I have ever had. Constantly I am surprised as I'm typing along and the story is going smoothly, when all of a sudden the bottom drops out. Usually it is Crystabell's fault. I loosely map out Hespur and Crystabell's story but inevitably, somewhere along the way, they will hijack it and take off a different direction than what I was prepared for. Still, I have learned to roll with it as it has always been a better way than what I had imagined. This is one example. I was typing a conversation between Hespur and Crystabell when out of the blue she said, “That's part of the Faerie Rules.” I actually typed two or three more sentences before I realize what she had said. I went back and read it, over and over. What is she talking about? The story had to sit for weeks as I tried to pry out of her a handful of them, which I have added to a list. She still comes up with a new one or two every story. I write fantasy adventure for the 9 to 13 year old age group. But I write what I would like to read. So although I write to that age group, there is another level that adults would like. Similar to an animated movie that appeals to children on one level, and adults on another. My writing began as the result of my son joining the Air Force. I remember being in the service, being so far from home, and how comforting it was to receive mail. So, I purposed to write him every week. My first letter was three pages long. Unfortunately, my second was only three paragraphs long. I lead such a pedestrian life that not much changes week to week. To fill up the letters I began to make up stories involving his sisters, mom, and me. They were amateurish stories about us ending up on space ships, in jungles, magical places, and just plain weird spots. Bless my family, they thought the stories were creative so they suggested I take a creative writing course. Why not? I enjoyed making up the stories. I chose children's books, middle school, because my youngest was that age and I thought I had a built in audience. Silly me. She was the most social of my children so that didn't work at all. But I enjoyed writing so much, it didn't matter. I hope you enjoy these books as much as I loved writing them.

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