My favorite character by far in the Abnormals Series is Ariadne Harris.
When I think of strong female characters I think of Nancy Drew of the Nancy Drew Mystery Series, Princess Leia of Star Wars, The Bride (aka Beatrice of Kill Bill fame), and, of course Katniss E. from Hunger Games, or Hermoine Granger of Harry Potter fame, among others.
Trying to write a strong female character that follows in their footsteps is a tough feat. But Ariadne has all the qualities to make a good role model for little girls that aren’t too sure of themselves: she’s strong, opinionated, has her own agenda, and isn’t just a meaningless love interest. Plus she’s extremely relatable, funny, and has one of the more interesting background stories. That’s probably why I had a lot of fun writing whenever she was involved.
Note: I know that my book probably wouldn’t pass the Bechdel test but I want it to be known that I don’t think sexism can be measured by such an inaccurate test.
For those that don’t know, the Bechdel-Wallace test was devised to expose and bring attention to stories that display gender inequality in works of fiction. From what I hear, the only requirements are that two women in the story have a conversation that has nothing to do with a man.
I love seeing women become empowered and have fair representation, but even I can tell that the Bechdel test doesn’t make any sense, and this can be proven by how many stories have passed it, despite containing blatant sexism throughout.
With that said, Ariadne is amaze-balls, and I have some game-changing plans for her story in future. I want her to leave her mark on the world like the strong female characters that came before her.
Photo courtesy of Williams and Hirakawa for Vanity Fair. Ariadne Harris stylized after Kierenan Shipka. Retrieved from http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5119412
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