I love creating real-world characters and dropping them into a world of imagined chaos. I also love to read stories based on women with strong, unique voices. I guess that’s why it was only natural for me to work on my own book based on the very women who inspire me to be better and creating a world that would test the limits of that character. For the last several years, I’ve been obsessively working on a series with a protagonist that holds the best (and maybe some not so best) qualities of two women I know. These women aren’t famous and have never received any recognition, nor do they want to. They are survivors of war, illness and abuse.
It wasn’t easy creating a character with the same fire that these women possess, so I’ve had more sleepless nights than I want to admit, but in the end I’m happy with the character. The protagonist, Bailey, is fierce, strong emotionally, mentally and physically, but she’s also deeply flawed and I think that’s once of the biggest reasons I like her. In a world where perfection is not only expected, but demanded, I love the idea of a young woman whose flaws are what make her special.
Death’s Daughter
When Bailey Lazarro was born, there were no happy parents to witness her first breath, only her mother’s lifeless body and the man that ripped her from it. Rejected by her father and feared as an omen by the members of her tribe, Bailey was taken in by Owen MacKenna, the man whose family was responsible for bringing peace to the three lands. Raising Bailey to be a fierce warrior, Owen unknowingly pushed her closer to the comforts of death. As Bailey’s eighteenth birthday nears, she wonders if she can be more than just the harbinger of death. But when tensions build amongst the lands of Fire and Ice, Bailey is called upon to be the tribe’s weapon and she can’t help but see the body count rise. With her people needing her and yet ostracizing her for wielding the blades, the acts of war tear at her soul. Can Bailey resist death’s call or will she prove to be what her people have prophesized, a child belonging to death.
Snow Covered Writer 