A Determined Woman

We all know the kind of heroines we like. Here's mine.

My heroine is intelligent, independent, and somewhat unconventional. Life may do its best to defeat her, but she survives because of iron determination and sheer hard work. She’s a decent woman, nice, but not too nice. No doormats or martyrs need apply

I write Regencies, and many Regency heroines are very young. Not mine. Her few extra years have thrown some troubles her way, but she’s survived on her own terms. She and the hero may disagree, but she doesn’t cave in to unreasonable demands.

And last, but not least, she’s beautiful. She has to match the gorgeous hero. As for a picture, I think the image on the cover of Lady of the Stars is a good representation.

In many ways, my heroine is a lot like my hero (see A Nice Guy). The same standards apply to them both.

Since I like independent women, why do I write Regencies? In the modern world, we take independence for granted. In an historical, the independence has to show up in more subtle ways.

I faked it a little in my first book. Lady of the Stars is a time travel, and the heroine, Caroline, is a twenty-first century woman. But, even for a modern woman, time traveling back to 1817 is a shock. In any event, heroine that she is, she adjusts and thrives, with a little help from the hero.

My other stories are set entirely in the past. What do I do now?

In Pumpkinnapper, the heroine, Emily, married at seventeen. Now twenty-four and a widow, she takes care of herself when the pumpkinnapper tries to steal her pumpkins. The hero, Hank, in true hero style, offers to help her, but she refuses. Hank, again in true hero style, still tries to protect her, but she almost shoots him when she mistakes him for the prowler.

In Mistletoe Everywhere, the poor heroine is living at the behest of her rich aunt. Rather than letting her aunt force her into marriage with a man she fears, she decides to earn money with her embroidery. Gracious, working! What a scandalous thing for a lady to do!

In my upcoming Gifts Gone Astray, the heroine is a poor widow who now works as a teacher. Some people look askance at her because a proper woman did not work.

In one of my WIPs, the heroine is married off at eighteen. She uses her pin money and widow’s jointure to make a fortune. Another WIP has a mathematician heroine, who creates a code which the enemy can't crack.

I haven’t yet written a story where the heroine goes mano a mano with the villain. But who knows? I like adventure stories, so maybe someday I’ll write one.

Thank you all,

Linda