Interviews

Greying, pudgy & menopausal: Laura E. Goodin on Strong Female Characters

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Black and white portrait of a mature woman smoking.

Laura E. Goodin is the author of After the Bloodwood Staff, an Australian fantasy about a quest that doesn’t go quite how it’s supposed to. BELINDA: Tell us about Sybil, one of the two main protagonists in After the Bloodwood Staff: what makes her strong? LAURA: In a way, it’s her weaknesses and pessimism that make … Read more

She Will Stand Her Ground: Annie McCann on Strong Female Characters

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In this interview, avid reader and blogger Annie McCann talks to me about Shazrad, the heroine of The Wrath and the Dawn, a modern retelling of 1001 Arabian Nights. BELINDA: Tell us about Shazrad, what makes her strong? ANNIE: In The Wrath and The Dawn, Shazrad is a woman living in a man’s world under a tyrant boy … Read more

Brave, Vulnerable & Scared: Felicity Banks on Strong Female Characters

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Felicity Banks is the author of Heart of Brass a steampunk novel about a young women with a brass heart and a family obligation that’s interupted by a criminal conviction.

BELINDA: Tell us about Emmeline, what makes her strong?

FELICITY: Emmeline has been taught that her duty is to marry well, giving her family the financial security that they need—and saving her younger siblings from poverty in the process. No-one finds it easy to think outside of the box society puts us in, but Emmeline is eventually able to find another way to fulfil her duty as well as acknowledging what she really loves. . . SCIENCE!!

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Strange and peculiar things: An interview with Amie Irene Winters

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A young woman in a red dress crouching in a dark forest.

Amie Irene Winters is the author of Strange Luck, a fantasy series about a girl named Daisy and a secret realm that built on stolen memories. BELINDA: You’ve just released the second book in your Strange Luck series, The Nightmare Birds, tell us a little about the heroine, Daisy. AMIE: Daisy is one strong and cynical chick, … Read more

Wild, Tough and Cheeky: Carolyn Gilpin on Antiheroines

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Lego Wildstyle

Carolyn is the author of Facing Up a story about a girl trying to pick up the pieces of her life after a car crash ruins her life.

BELINDA: Tell us about Carly, what makes her an antiheroine?

CAROLYN: Carly is an antiheroine because she is cynical, prickly, quick-tempered, stubborn, impatient with her family and pretty much most of society. She is rebellious and smokes and tends to stir trouble rather than smooth things over. But she is also tough, fiercely loyal to her friends, and suffers from inner guilt about the innocent person killed in the car accident which she and her friends caused while joyriding. This is one of the main causes of her issues, and she eventually finds a way to atone for this.

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Worldbuilding and Game Design: an interview with Diana Pinguicha

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Lego Shakespeare standing in front of Lego Globe Theatre

Diana Pinguicha is a woman of many talents not least of which include designing games and writing books. BELINDA: Tell us about your book. What’s it about and what kind of audience would it appeal to? DIANA: The Fantasy novel I currently have on submission is called A Trace of Madness (I call it ATOM, … Read more

Going Her Own Way: LG Surgeson on Antiheroines

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The Black River Chronicles by LG Surgeson

LG Surgeson is the author of the fantasy adventure series The Black River Chronicles, including the short story Clara’s Buttons.

BELINDA: Tell us about Clara, what makes her an antiheroine?

LG: Clara grew up on the dirty streets of Aberddu (pronounced Aber-thee) city. She was orphaned during the Summer of Fire, and left picking over the rubble of destroyed temple. She was found by Iona Pringle, a local adventurer, who took a certain amount of pity on the young Clara. She hosed her down, fed her and handed her over to the Guild Below–an organisation famous for its skills in thievery, among other things.

The Guild took her in and trained her in some of their trade mark skills; pick-pocketing, appraising items, forgery, and general thievery. It was in the guild that she met Min, Luce & Angel the other members of her gang and between the four of them they set about making a living by mugging rich people.

Irrepressible is the best way to describe Clara, nothing keeps her down for long. She’s had knock after knock, but she always bounces back. She doesn’t take anything or anyone seriously and she’s not afraid of breaking the law. Clara is a petty criminal who will lie and cheat to keep her head above water. She is loyal to handful of people, but she would still push them out of the way to get the last crumbs in the pie-tray.

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On fighting, YA and sci-fi: An interview with Fonda Lee

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Fonda Lee knows kung fu, so when she writes a fight scene you know it’s going to be awesome. Which is fortunate, since her debut novel, Zeroboxer, is all about boxing (plus you know, intrigue,  planet-spanning criminal enterprises and a smattering of romance). Find out how you can win a copy of Zeroboxer at the bottom of … Read more

Straying from the norm: Sophia Madison on antiheroines

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Sophia Madison is the author of Blue Ruin, a gothic fantasy about a woman named Maura and the vampire who intends to use her to end the world (as we know it).

BELINDA: Tell us about Maura, what makes her an antiheroine?

SOPHIA: Everything. Maura does things a normal (sane) person wouldn’t do. But she makes the choices we can’t–choices that are too difficult. She wasn’t always an antiheroine. In fact, her character started off as a bratty teenager…and then mutated into this ass-kicking, whiskey drinking, cigarette smoking, bad-ass, cold-blooded, immortal killer. She was the easiest character to write, but the hardest to edit. She’d become such an antiheroine that she became hard to like and relate to. Her actions early in the novel turned readers off. I never thought I’d have to tone down a protagonist before.

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The faintest glimmer of light: Traci Loudin on antiheroines

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Lego Catwoman standing on an oversized leaf.

Traci Loudin is the author of The Last of the Ageless, a post-apocalyptic adventure featuring the shapeshifting Nyr.

BELINDA: Tell us about Nyr, what makes her an antiheroine?

TRACI: Nyr lives in a morally gray, post-apocalyptic world. She can partially shapeshift to gain the claws, fangs, and fur of a tigress, as well as some of the big cat’s less friendly personality traits. Growing up in the Hellsworth Tribe, she learned that compassion is for the weak, and that the only way to survive in this world is to fight, take what you can, and leave nothing for others to use against you.

She’s a member of a smaller clan that scavenges for booty along the perimeter of the Hellsworth Tribe territory, until her lust for bounty lands her with a mysterious artifact that separates her from her clan before the novel begins. From there she begins her transition from more of a villainous character to more of an antihero.

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