His serene yet wild face appeared nearly frozen despite the strong wind dancing into him.
She felt cautious of his presence. Why was he here? Though she had lived most of her life in solitude, she learned to rely on her instincts and insight. She had been gifted with perceptiveness, something she had always been grateful for.
The talking from the other passengers became a distant hum behind her, darkness surrounded them as if they were the only two on the boat.
“Hello, Vilven” He said with some humor, a slight smile coming to his darkly striking face. That smile she had seen a few times in his bookstore that always seemed unexpected.
There was something else, Vilven could tell beneath his disarming introduction. For the first time, she was coming into an awareness she must be more careful. She loved bringing new comrades with her, even with the limited…
For me it all started with my character ‘Jade’, in a story about a Knight I wrote when I was 10 or 11… She was engaged to marry this great knight, but was a very independent spirit
In fact, her fiancé’ would secretly teach her in the ways of archery
She would sneak off and practice in the wood, sometimes with him, sometimes not
MY MOM
Beyond being who I am, who I was when I was born, I suspect that my draw to strong female characters may stem from my Mom, and growing up with a single mother
She’s actually been with her boyfriend for 43 years, but she made it very clear from the beginning whenever she’d date someone, that they weren’t to interfere with her kids
Namely my brother and I, mainly, as my two older sisters were hardly ever home, and moved out when they were young
Art by Del Borovic
NAYOKO
In 1999, I stepped away from Corporate America to finally pursue my dream of being a Filmmaker…
I was 30 at the time, and though I’d always wanted to be a Director, I quickly realized I was also a Writer
In 2002 (I was 33), my third year of pursuing Filmmaking, I wrote a Feature Length Screenplay called ‘White Jade’…
…it was about a young Japanese girl (Maybe 22 or 23) named NAYOKO who was raised by her father who was a Monk of ‘The White Jade Order’
She quickly came to realize her father also had a second, secret life as an Assassin for a righteous underground group called ‘The Red Crane’…
…while following him on one of his missions, she saw her father commit a murder in the name of better good
She then turned herself in to the New Tokyo Police Department, and confessed to the crime as if she had done it herself…
…in order to protect her father
Nayoko, for me, was, and is a very powerful female character… Though young, she grows exponentially through this story
MADY
The next strong female I wrote about, was MADY MONROE…
I started this Writing Blog late 2011 (I was 42), and in the Winter that year I started writing a story that took on a life of it’s own within this Blog
Then early/mid 2012, I Self Published it as a Novella called, ‘I Died Once’
Looking at the definition of a ‘Novella’, you could almost call ‘I Died Once’ a ‘Short Story’… But for me, it definitely wasn’t
‘I Died Once’ is a story about a 15 year girl in the middle of an existential crisis
‘To Be… Or Not To Be’
Mady was a strong young girl, set in the middle of an unhealthy, compassionateless life
Her character just came to life for me, and lead to a Second Novella…
‘Mady’s Storm’
This one I wrote one year after the first, in late 2012, but wasn’t Edited & Self Published until 2015
It takes place 8 years later, and has more to do with becoming a woman, set is some very, once again, challenging situations
AGATHA
Somewhere around the time I was writing the original Mady Novella, I also started writing a Fantasy Novel called ‘Chess With Agatha’…
This one was about a 17 year old girl named AGATHA, whose adoptive parents had both died in a terrible car crash, and now she was under the care of a legal guardian named AGAMEMNON…
Not your typical name, and not your typical guy
Without giving too much away, in one form or another Agatha ends up transporting to another world… A parallel universe if you will, where things like dragons and vampires exist
This book was very much a book about coming into who you are as you try to unravel a mystery surrounding your real parents, set in a fantasy world
DAISY ARAM
Next in 2012 came ‘Allure’, a story about a young 17 year old girl, who’s also a vampire slayer… But there is more to the story, as her Mother’s acclaimed vampire novels may be more than just stories
High within a darkened tower, within the Ohr’Dra Peaks, scrambling his way through scrolls and items of importance, the Shadow Mage (Sorcerer) Minotaur, Magnanus, gathers his things and any proof he can get his hands on…
…but proof of what?
Magnanus stands 7′ tall, with dark brown fur, and though his form is large, his power lays within his blood more than his body
His form covered in a light purple glow with black smoke as he moves through the hallways, and makes his way out of his Master’s Tower
With one look back, he then heads north through the peaks towards the Great Woods
In the ‘Kandria Woods’, south of the ‘Two Cities’, there lay a Rabbitfolk in the middle of a sun shiney field…
His arms behind his head, he gazes at the sun in the sky above…
…blue skies, and billowy clouds
‘What a perfect day,’ he spoke in a knightly manner, his soft yellow eyes filled with the wonders of nature… including a coolish warmish breeze that made its’ way through his light grey and white fur
‘Oh Ander, must you leave?’ came a voice from a nearby cluster of yellow and purple flowers where a brownish furred Rabbitfolk girl by the name of ROSAIA picks a grouping of flowers, and makes her way back to her male companion
‘Oz Ryder, Rosaia… I told you, I’m not taking my father’s name into my new profession… My…
The Written Word 
