Let’s talk kick-ass, action romance heroines!!
Today fellow Aussie Sci-fi/Fantasy/Paranormal romance author, Erica Hayes is here to talk about those tough heroines we love to read about. Take it away Erica:
I love my fantasy stories with adventure! Sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, I don’t mind, so long as there’s lots of action. I like paranormal romance, but something had better happen alongside all that hot smexxin’, or that book hits the wall.
Still, the best fight scene in the world is dull without emotional conflict. A kick-ass heroine beating up the bad guys is awesome – but I like her to be more complicated than that. That’s one reason why Laurell K Hamilton’s Anita Blake has remained so popular, despite her, um, bedroom fixation – Anita oozes emotional tension. Will I or won’t I? Should I or shouldn’t I? What’s right and what’s wrong – and do I even care anymore?
That’s the kind of heroine I’ve tried to create in my superhero fantasy Scorched. Verity is a crime-fighter, from a family of famous crime-fighters – but what does it really mean to be a hero? She’s just suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of her archenemy, Razorfire, a fire-obsessed maniac with no conscience. He’ll do anything, kill anyone, destroy anything in his path to get what he wants.
To beat him, Verity needs to become like him. Keeping the moral high ground costs innocent lives – but how much of her ethics should she sacrifice? Is she willing to lose everything – including her heroic family’s respect – to win?
Oh, and then there’s romance. Her record isn’t good. But she’s finally met a mysterious man who makes her pulse race. A real hero with a heart of pure gold. Suddenly, those moral issues loom large. How can she impress him, and defeat the villains too?
But you’ll be pleased to hear that amid all this angst, Verity still kicks plenty of villainous butt. Action, suspense, a splash of romance. That’s what we want.
Right? So who’s your favourite tough heroine?
I love Gin Blanco from Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series. Also Zoe from Firefly – she’s cool, kick-ass and sexy too!
In a world where everyone wears a mask, you can’t trust anyone… not even yourself.
Verity Fortune was once Sapphire City’s top crime-fighter, wielding her powers of telekinesis to battle the city’s most despicable villains.
Now, she’s consumed by a single burning desire: revenge. Against those who took away her mask, her memory, and nearly her life.
Having escaped from the asylum they left her to rot in, Verity dons her mask once again and becomes the Seeker, a vigilante warrior for truth.
But when she unwittingly uncovers an evil conspiracy deep within her own family, she’s suddenly on the run, alone and hunted by those she thought were on her side…
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Connect with Erica:
Website http://www.ericahayes.net
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ericahayes.author
Twitter http://www.twitter.com/ericahayes