I always start with their name. I came up with my hero’s name for my second book, Escaping With Her Saxon Enemy, after visiting Sutton Hoo in Suffolk and seeing this sign for an Ash tree:
- Extremely tall
- Strong
- Resists the many attacks of men
- It has endurance, perseverance, and determination
- And finally, it provides protection
All elements to make a fine hero in my book. As for my heroine in Escaping With Her Saxon Enemy, the name Svea is of Scandinavian origin and means ‘spear’. This was apt, as my Viking shield maiden’s feisty personality smashes everyone’s ideas of how a woman should look and behave. Her non-conformity in terms of how she dresses and how she acts, in addition to her prowess on the battlefield, makes her a character to aspire to, and one who becomes more complex as the truth about her past unravels. To create Svea, I certainly took inspiration from some of the amazing women I know…