Our Favorite Women Authors

March is National Women’s History Month, and today is International Women’s Day. ​That means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. For us, it means talking about our favorite women authors!

We’re a company founded by women, and (currently) most of our authors happen to be female. We adore strong female protagonists—and we’ve got a lot of those in our books. Today in our blog, Sarah talks about some of her absolute favorite women authors.

Take it away, Sarah. . . .

Madeleine L’Engle
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I’m a big fan not only of her Time Quintet (A Wrinkle in Time and sequels) but also of her non-fantasy fiction like the Austin family series. L’Engle has a style that at times can be very gentle; I figure she was a highly sensitive* person like I am. Her protagonist Vicky Austin is too, and as I read about teenage Vicky’s struggles growing into an adult, it helped me reframe my childhood and process the grief, now that I understand it much better from the perspective of my 30s. Finding that L’Engle had written about someone who’s a whole lot like me (and probably was a lot like me, herself) helped me feel not so alone, not so unworthy or misunderstood.
 
Shannon Hale

The books of hers I’ve read (and loved): the Books of Bayern series, the Princess Academy trilogy, and Book of a Thousand Days. Each one of these fantasy novels features strong female characters that are worthy of emulating. Yes, there are princesses and princes and they sometimes fall in love and marry, but that’s not the point: the point is the girls developing their own character, learning their strengths and how they can uniquely help others. Being their own person whether they have a love interest or not. I highly recommend these books, especially to any teen girl.

Oh, and Hale’s also got a really fun series for kids, the Princess in Black books. I bought a few for my nieces when they were little, and enjoyed the books myself! (I know Hale has other books for younger readers out now, too, and I’m definitely interested!)
 
Tosca Lee
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Lee has a couple of different styles of book, both of which I have read some of—and all her books that I haven’t gotten to yet are on my to-be-read list. There’s her biblical fiction (I’ve read Havah, The Legend of Sheba, and Iscariot) and then there are her modern-day action-packed thrillers (I’ve read The Line Between and its sequel, A Single Light). The novels in the first category are written with a lush, beautiful style not unlike that of Anne Rice—although, truth be told, I prefer Lee to Rice. The thriller books are not only about the action but also feature memorable characters, poignant scenes, and dashes of humor. Despite my ADHD, I kept turning those pages a lot faster than I did with some other books. Any book by Lee is a rich experience that you should not miss out on.

I also read/loved the trilogy she co-wrote with Ted Dekker: the Books of Mortals, which I’d describe as gripping epic-fantasy thrillers. Lee also writes articles for Rogue Women Writers.
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*Not the same thing as “snowflake”! Read this article by Dr. Elaine N. Aron for what it actually is.

​P.S. - If you enjoyed this list of recommendations, why not sign up for our newsletter? Twice a month, we'll send you a themed list of fantasy and/or sci-fi book recommendations, and sometimes music or movies too!

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Sarah Awa

Sarah writes about werewolves and lives with two hairy guys. Her debut novel is Hunter’s Moon, hailed as "emotionally strong and suspenseful" (Eric Wilson, New York Times bestselling author). Check out her author website at www.sarahmawa.com.