Proud of My Protags

Of what am I most proud in regards to my writing?

I am most proud of the protagonists I write. They're strong women who are flawed but not TDTL. They're decision makers who own their mistakes. They're brave without realizing anything less is an option. They're supportive even when they have nothing to gain. They are relatable...including the one who eats rocks and bleeds fire.

Yes, a lot of female protagonists have those traits these days, which is marvelous and inspirational because it shows the bar for female characters is being raised above the "usefulness to men" standard. More than the maid-mother-whore boxes they used to rattle around in, contemporary character-driven plots with women leading the story aren't about being worthy of dick. (Hell, there's an upsurge of protags who don't even like dick.) It's not to say that romance isn't important or of interest to these modern story-drivers; quite the contrary. Relationships and connections of all kinds are crucial. However, female protagonists are no longer servile lumps of moist clay; they're reaching through the pages to demand more. They're saying, "appreciate my awesomeness or GTFO."

When we're living in a real world where the leadership of the patriarchy is reducing women to the categories of beautiful, disgusting, or animal, it's good to have women leading stories who DNGAF.

If you want to know what makes my writing unique...well, I have a female protagonist who eats rocks. The weird just goes from there.