Hera: Kingdom of Lies blog tour is through WOW: Women on Writing and includes an author guest post. Get into the author’s mind, share, comment, follow. Check out the original tour stop to enter the giveaway.
About the Book:
Key Details:
Title: Hera: Kingdom of Lies
Author: Betsy Ellor
Genre: Fiction: women’s/historical/ fantasy
Publish Date: January 20, 2026
ISBN: 9798274299466
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Before Olympus, Hera ruled – until Zeus claimed the throne and trapped Hera in a marriage designed to silence her power. Instead, she built a new order, raised a son, and refused to break.
This origin story of Greek mythology told from the perspective of its chief ‘villain,’ weaves gods, nymphs,
dragons, sex, lies, and strategy into a fierce new legend.
Hera: Kingdom of Lies combines the social and political maneuvers of Scandal with the mythic, villain-redemption of Circe.
Author Bio:
Betsy Ellor lives in a house filled with color and chaos. When not at her desk, she’s
hiking, gardening, or annoying her teenage son. She’s the editor of the anthology
Heroic Care, author of the picture book, My Dog is NOT A Scientist, from Yeehoo
Press, and scribbler of articles and stories for various outlets including Spine
Magazine, 5 Minute Lit, and The Creative Collective.
Connect with Me:
Linktr.ee: linktr.ee/betsyellor
Instagram: betsyellor
Facebook: betsy.ellor
Substack: betsyellor.substack.com
Threads: Betsyellor
Guest Post
Divine and Exhausted
What an Ancient Goddess Taught Me About Being a Mom
By Betsy Ellor
Hera is no one’s favorite goddess. In Greek mythology, she’s cast as the petty, vengeful wife of
Zeus – not exactly a maternal role model. So when my son entered his Percy Jackson phase, and I
found myself rereading the old myths, I didn’t expect to find myself relating to her.
And yet there she was: Queen of the Gods. Goddess of Marriage. Goddess of Motherhood.
Expected to embody perfection in all three roles while parenting the literal God of War. Ares, her
firstborn, was the embodiment of rage, chaos, and destruction. I began to wonder: what must he
have been like as an infant? A toddler? A teenager? The more I read the old stories, the more I
wondered if there was another side to Hera’s myth.
I knew a little about parenting a child whose behaviors don’t always fit neatly into other people’s
expectations. My son is neurodiverse. He has ADHD, anxiety, and challenges with emotional
regulation. He is nothing like Ares, but when he was younger, before he and I really understood
his unique needs, his behaviors were often misunderstood. And as any parent of a neurodiverse
child knows, misunderstanding invites commentary. Strangers. Teachers. Other parents.
Everyone has an opinion, and many of those opinions imply poor parenting.
Readers who are parenting neurodiverse children will understand the complex expectation of
being endlessly tender while also fiercely protective. To comply with institutions — schools,
doctors, systems — while remaining ready to push back the moment those systems fail your
child. The exhaustion of setting boundaries consistently, day in and day out, sometimes with
almost imperceptible progress. The anxious balance of providing consistency while also
constantly learning and adapting your techniques. And the isolation of trying to focus on
supporting a child’s unique and valid developmental journey, while others focus only on their
behaviors that need fixing.
Now imagine going through all that while also the entire universe of immortals and mortals
critiques your every move.
And this wasn’t all Hera was doing. Hera: Kingdom of Lies is the origin story of the Greek gods,
so it captures a time of political upheaval where Hera is working to define herself as a leader, a
wife, and a goddess as a new world order is being built. She was expected to balance all that
perfectly and smile while doing it. Seen in that light, it’s easy to understand why I found her
relatable.
Writing about this ancient mom, reframe my own journey. Exploring her and Ares helped me
redefine parenting success not as producing a child who meets every conventional milestone on
schedule, but as raising a child who feels safe, understood, and trusted in their own skin.
Anyone juggling the conflicting demands of parenting complicated children is already doing
something close to divine. Maybe Hera’s imperfections make her exactly the goddess we need.
