Who are Scar, Fiona, and Susan?

Oct 01, 2021 9:06 pm

And what are their stories?

You may have noticed in the last newsletter that I created footers with links to all my works. Mostly I promote the Kit Melbourne series because it’s the longest and the one I’m currently working on. But I do have other novels!

Today, instead of an essay, I’m going to tell you a little about my other heroines and why I wrote about them. I’m including trigger warnings for people who can’t abide reading about animals getting hurt.

Alternate Susan Series

Alternate Susan

I started this series because I wanted to stretch myself creatively. Could I create an urban fantasy series without relying on any of the major tropes of werewolves, vampires, fairies, or angels/demons?

Susan’s strength is that she is undaunted by obstacles. Her weakness is that she’s very bad at setting boundaries with her family. She was parentified as a child, which makes her both mature for her age and gives her issues which are fun to exploit. (Completely mentally healthy protagonists aren’t much fun to write about.)

Susan is the second-best mage in the Phoenix metropolitan area (you meet the best mage in book two). People who are from Arizona, especially people who are from Tempe, might really get a kick out of the setting. A cat dies in the first book, but the event happens off screen, like a cozy murder mystery victim.

Fun fact about this series: I originally based this character off a person I knew, but the real-life person irritated me so much that I steered Susan in a different direction.

Parasitic Souls

Many fantasy novels feature teenagers, and many fantasy novels feature adult women, but I wanted to write a novel featuring someone who was sort of in-between. When I was a teen, I was most interested in the after high school period when you weren’t a child but you didn’t quite have independence yet.

Sophia and Fiona are both young enough that their parental relationships eclipse many others, but old enough that establishing independence is a major goal. Sophia loves her parents, but also doesn’t want to live the life they’ve planned for her. Fiona hasn’t got her life figured out yet, but she doesn’t hesitate to take risks for her chosen family. This book has a sort of Black Mirror dystopia vibe, but it ends well and there’s some cute romance. Some dogs are euthanized (essential to the plot) and I cry every time I read it.

Fun fact about this novel: I deliberately wrote it without swearing or sex scenes so that my niece would be allowed to read it.

Animal Magic

This book is quite autobiographical except that I never did achieve my childhood dream of becoming a werewolf (perhaps there’s still time …) Brady is a lot like one of my brothers, my childhood partner-in-crime and best friend. Scar is quite bright but also hopelessly dorky. The plot about a missing child would be horrifying from the parents’ point of view, but since we see it from Scar’s point of view, readers fear not, knowing that everything is in her capable, weird, middle-school hands.

This is a chapter book specifically meant for a younger audience. I read it to a five-year-old (who enjoyed it) and I read it to my 10 and 12 year old children. No humans get hurt, but some fish die, some lizards lose their tails, and a few hurt birds end up in a shoebox infirmary. For what it’s worth, I think the book is hilarious.

Fun fact about this novel: I couldn’t afford a good illustrator so I spent a year painting watercolor until I felt I had skill enough to do the chapter paintings on my own. The original interior illustrations are all in color, but are reprinted in black and white for the book.

Scroll down to the bottom for links to any books you may have missed. In the mean time, here are some promos for other books you may enjoy.

The Ghost Junkies

Can Mel discover the truth of her abilities before the ghosts claim her as their own? (Amazon)

Wings of Fire

They call me a thief like it's a bad thing. Once upon a time, I was simply Veronica Neill. Daughter, sister, phoenix. But now I’m all alone, and life as an avian shifter and "acquirer of fantastical things" is dangerously sexy and fun. (Amazon)