Now that All Bets Are Off (Apocalyptic Women, Snug Haven #1) is done and released, I was thinking about how much my novels have been a precursor to the types of books I’m focused on writing at the moment (in my solo endeavors.) I’ve been calling them FemFic, hoping this moniker will take off as a hashtag and as a legit category in popular fiction. (I wrote another blog about this here.)

Don’t get me started on my views about our current political landscape, and the need for women-empowerment. Fiction is a staunch ally in social change, and I intend to do my part for equality, if not for an all-out matriarchy.

Deep breath.

Anyway, I’ve always had a prominent element of action/adventure in all my novels, and that characteristic has continued to evolve in my writing. I think maybe I was headed toward this apocalyptic genre all along. While Juvie is a prequel about one of the characters in All Bets Are Off–and in the YA genre, no less– it’s also about a strong young woman pitted against formidable odds.

With a bit more contemplation, I realized that most of my previous work reflected many of the themes in apocalyptic/dystopian fiction; perhaps not the end of the world in the macro-sense, but the end of a person’s word in the micro-sense. These are women in desperate situations, compelled to plumb the depths of their courage and strength to survive.

The first story that came to mind was my novella, Cache La Poudre. The situation and setting in this book is not very far removed from an apocalyptic scenario. Women, without any resources, trapped in the wilderness with men who would do them harm. That’s fairly apocalyptic, on a personal level. The only difference is, if they survive, they get to return to their normal life.

Likewise, my New Harbor Witches books (Keepers and Ravens) have an under-girding of apocalyptic possibilities, since those characters are trying to thwart the dark powers that want to bring on the demise of humankind. And the main characters, except for a few, are women. They are strong, resilient, decent people who are faced with daunting obstacles in their quest for the ultimate good.

Then there’s the Minocqua Duology , wherein two authors (again, women) have to use their plotting skills to outsmart those who wish them harm.

The list goes on. It is almost the entirety of my writing. So, even when I’m not writing apocalyptic, per se, I am always writing about strong women, beating the odds.