My Feminine Fantasy Heroes

When I sat down to write 'Waves of a Tempest,' I wanted to explore a kind of strength I had once dismissed. As a young girl, I saw femininity as weakness. I measured myself against the boys, believing that true strength meant being physically tough, and not needing anyone else. I rejected what I saw as 'weak' feminine qualities in favor of what I perceived as ‘strong’ masculine traits.

It was becoming a mother that changed my perspective. As I had my children, I began to understand that there was power in those traditionally feminine qualities I had once scorned. The ability to serve, to nurture, to build connections and communities - these weren't weaknesses at all, but different forms of strength that could be just as impactful as any sword.

This revelation shaped how I approached my protagonist, Roshin. She's a healer, not a warrior. She can be physically overpowered, and often, she is. She needs help pulling herself into a boat or hauling in a fishing net. But that doesn't make her weak or helpless. Her strength lies in her resilience, her ability to adapt, and her skill in building connections with others. She uses her intelligence, her healing abilities, and yes, even her beauty, as tools to navigate a harsh world.

Alongside Roshin, I also created Ashlyn. Ashlyn is young, naïve, and lacking Roshin's natural advantages, and yet she too shows this power of resilience, optimism, hope, and service. Through these two women, I wanted to show different facets of feminine strength than I so often see in fantasy stories.

Neither of them fights darkness with martial powers, instead, they resist through acts of healing, through maintaining faith, through choosing to care in a world that seems determined to stamp out compassion.

In writing their story, I found myself exploring the very qualities I had once rejected in myself. Through Roshin and Ashlyn, I wanted to show that there's power in traditionally feminine traits. Being nurturing isn't weakness, needing help doesn't negate strength, and having hands that serve can be just as heroic as hands that wield a sword.

This is a story about women being heroes while remaining women. They are heroes not by becoming honorary men, or by rejecting their feminine nature, but by embracing it and finding power within it. There are many kinds of strength; compassion, faith, and service are powers all their own.

In a way I feel like writing this story was taking a risk, after all my first book in this series tells a masculine tale with sword fights, and militaries, and dragon fire. All the same I hope it resonates with readers as the counterbalance to that, showing another side to the resistance.

I believe my world is made richer by exploring both the positive masculine and feminine, and in the end I hope you agree!