When you close your eyes and imagine a female heroine what do you see? A CEO in a tailored suit at the head of a glossy conference table? Lara Croft leaping through ruins and eluding her enemies? A woman in firefighter gear? What about a mom cleaning a scraped knee?
Alpha females and heroines come in all shapes and sizes and perform all degrees of heroics from the simple to the profound.
The heroine of Justice Incarnate book 1 in the Shadows of Justice series is a physical dynamo. She knows how to kill people without doing much more than looking at them. Jaden prefers to tackle a problem straight on and moves unerringly toward the goal, consequences be damned.
Her sister, Petra, the heroine of book 2, Invasion of Justice, is much different. She’s a quieter sort of person and her empathic powers are both blessing and curse. She can solve problems with her skills by seeing what others do not, but the price is steep as her gift is a terrible obstacle to personal relationships.
Both are capable of heroic deeds and both of them are kick butt alpha females in their own, individual ways.
The endlessly varied ways women excel through trials and unthinkable challenges is the critical aspect that keeps me writing strong female heroines in my paranormal romance and urban fantasy novels. You might blame that tendency on my own life experiences or my wild imagination, but the specific cause doesn’t really matter. (it’s likely a combination anyway)
Sure, my female characters and their heroics are fictional, but the reality is I believe women are built to overcome and persevere and I want to always celebrate the inherent strength of women and the men who love them in the novels I write.
Live the adventure!
