Veronica Forand | The School of Hard Knocks: Making a Kick-Ass Heroine 101

September 16, 2015

I love kick ass heroines. The ones who take control of a situation and never let anyone get the best of them. This year’s best examples? The women who graduated from the Army Ranger school. Real life warriors who energized a whole generation of women about what females can and cannot achieve in life and earned the respect of the men they work beside.

Many women show their strength and determination in their commitment to family, a stable job, and roots with the local community. They have no desire to be thrown in the middle of a battlefield.

Sarah Connor from the Terminator series is pulled out of that category and thrust into a war that hasn’t begun yet. A timid college student and waitress who is forced into a situation where she must evolve into a warrior or watch the Earth fall apart in an apocalypse she could have prevented.

She clearly wasn’t bad ass at the beginning of the movie, but circumstances force her transformation. There’s nothing like a killer cyborg who wants to terminate your existence to help kick your fight or flight instincts into action. And change she does.

If you watch Terminator 2 without seeing the first film, would you really understand the extent of her transformation? Doubtful.

In my new novel TRUE DECEPTIONS, I took a person with no heroic aspirations and yanked her away from her simple office job and into a violent and dangerous field role. Cassie Watson is brilliant and beautiful. A computer analyst for MI6 with expertise in drone software, she prefers non-violence to violence. She’s reassigned and trained to be a field operative in the bloody world of arms deals. Her partner Simon Dunn would rather go alone than be saddled with her incompetence.

By the end of the book, she needs to be one of the best field agents out there. If she doesn’t evolve, the result could be another world war. Yet, an introvert pacifist isn’t going to turn into a fearless operative without something huge shifting her paradigm to a new dimension.

And so I put her through trials. Trials that could break a person or make them stronger. She becomes stronger. And then I throw a few more hardships at her. And she falters, but ultimately gains more confidence and skills. Through it all, however, she’s hoping to return to her old life. First though, she needs to live through this assignment.

GIVEAWAY

Have you ever been in a situation where you’re pushed to the limit and forced in a direction that went against your core personality? Leave a comment below and be entered for a chance to win a $5 Gift Certificate to Amazon.

About Veronica Forand

A Bostonian by birth, Veronica Forand regrettably lost her Boston accent while moving from state to state and country to country. Cleveland probably had the most profound effect on her ability to pronounce the "r" in the word "park."

She does try to return now and then to visit family and eat long neck clams and lobster. Summers on Cape Cod are also high on the priority list.

Her experience in crime involves time as a court appointed attorney. Eventually, she switched fields to where bigger crimes take place, corporate tax. The allure of spending mornings in her pajamas homeschooling her children and writing fascinating fiction caused her to change careers again. Now that the kids are out of the house (in school), she writes romantic thrillers by day and is the perfect wife and mother at night.

Her experience in romance is limited to one man. Luckily, he's still finding ways to charm her by taking her on vacations to the south of France, Fiji, and the Green Mountains when time is short. Avid travelers, they love to roam with their kids across continents in pursuit of skiing, scuba diving, and the perfect piece of chocolate.

She's lived in London, Paris, Geneva, Washington D.C., and the accent destroying city of Cleveland. She currently resides near Philadelphia.

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About TRUE DECEPTIONS

Temptation. Seduction. Pleasure. It's all part of the game...

After his partner was murdered, Simon Dunn was done with MI6. But the cold, violent world of British intelligence never lets anyone go free. Now Simon has been blackmailed into a new job...with a beautiful new partner who's going to get them both killed.

Robotics expert Cassie Watson is a newbie field agent with as much sophistication as...well, a pacifist, vegan computer nerd. Now she's abruptly thrust into the cutthroat world of espionage with a partner who is as cold as he is brutally- and brutishly-handsome.

But when their mission is betrayed from the inside, Cassie will be forced to place her life in the hands of the one man who's anything but trustworthy...

Comments

23 comments posted.

Re: Veronica Forand | The School of Hard Knocks: Making a Kick-Ass Heroine 101

Not really.
(Marissa Yip-Young 9:59am September 16, 2015)

I'll try to make my answer short. A few years ago, my
Husband lost his job. We held onto our house of 13 years
for as long as we could, but lost that as well. My
Family gave me grief over it, which didn't help things.
I have health issues, and was always there for them. We
packed up our pop-up camper, and small pick-up truck with
whatever items we could, grabbed our dog, and headed away
from them, to a campground far enough away, which was to
be our new home. This continued until we found a new
place to live, which was over 200 miles away from my
source of grief, to teach them a lesson. I dropped
contact with them as well. From what I found out later,
they had to pick up the pace, because my Sisters, one in
particular, had to do the things that I had to do while I
was in the area, and she didn't like it. By that I mean
she had to cater to my Dad, who was up in age. I did it
out of love, and didn't mind. I'm looking forward to
reading your book. It sounds like a real page-turner,
and I love the way the book was spelled out!!
Congratulations on your latest book. I'm sure it will do
well, and it's going to make for great Fall reading!!
It's already on my TBR list!!
(Peggy Roberson 10:07am September 16, 2015)

I continue to push my limits but I never go against my core personality. That is who I am.
(Pam Howell 10:27am September 16, 2015)

Not that I can recall... I have surprised myself with how I handled a few emergencies in my life... had a strength I did not realized I had.
(Colleen Conklin 1:05pm September 16, 2015)

When I was 16 (and 5'10" tall and skinny), my parents were away so I walked uptown on a Saturday night in my cords (I didn't own jeans) and my baby doll pajama top tucked in as my blouse. Thought I looked hot, LOL. I found an acquaintance, for lack of a better term (as I didn't know her, but I DID know her name), huddled down low behind a store. I knelt down to ask what was wrong and she said her boyfriend hit her. Just then, her boyfriend came up behind me and threatened me. I stood slowly, rising to my full height a few inches taller than his, and held my ground, telling him to leave. However, the girlfriend told me to leave (in retrospect, probably so I wouldn't get hurt) and wouldn't take no for an answer. So I left. Now, exactly 40 years later, she is (still) married to the guy, had three kids with him, and, from what I've heard, he is still a jerk.
(Elaine Seymour 2:19pm September 16, 2015)

Taking care of my mother's cousin (who didn't have any
close relatives) when she had Alzheimers. My father made
the commitment for me, and taking care of the situation
while working full time and taking care of my family
pushed me to the limit, and just about finished me. I had
to learn to accept help from some wonderful people, when
my core personality kept urging me to suck it up and go
it alone.
(Deb Philippon 2:48pm September 16, 2015)

It's sometimes amazing the strengths we don't know we have!
(Richard Burr 3:58pm September 16, 2015)

I love these stories. I love how you can rise up and do things you've
never thought possible. And to the people you all helped, your
presence was priceless whether they realize it or not.
(Veronica Forand 4:41pm September 16, 2015)

I was just thinking about a situation like that today: my supervisor at work wanted me to try using a new floor cleaner that all the rest of his accounts were using. The new cleaner took me to lunch (a bribe I guess) and under duress I signed with the new one even though I liked the old one better because I was afraid of crossing my boss. I sold out and was even more unhappy with myself when I realized that the supervisor was only interested in a kickback.
(Renee Rousseau 6:51pm September 16, 2015)

I was when my boss was having an affair and I got stuck in
between
(Maria Smith 9:05am September 17, 2015)

Life has put many "Bumps" in the road for me. I've overcome them and have went on down the road . My sisters and I keep telling each other that we are a stronger person now .Memories are still with us, but it does get easier as time goes on .
(Joan Thrasher 10:17am September 17, 2015)

I completely agree. It's the trials that one goes through that makes them
stronger and able to push through difficult things. It's always inspiring to
see people doing just that!
(Lauren James 11:26am September 17, 2015)

Happy to say no. Hope ever will be
(Emily Stemp 2:19pm September 17, 2015)

No, but went from a stay at home mom to working to help pay the
bills.Did that for over 20 years.
(Nancy Luebke 5:27pm September 17, 2015)

Thank you for the opportunity to win this
(Kathy Church 7:49pm September 17, 2015)

Yes, at times by choice and sometimes not, I have to push my own limits in order to overcome fear or just because it needs to get done. Scary at times, but knowing that I can do more is rewarding.
(Gloria Shaw 10:30pm September 17, 2015)

I had worked in banking for over 13 years when holding
companies started buying out independent banks. My family's
health insurance came through my work so I was very
concerned about the possibility that I would lose my job in
the downsizing. I began applying for jobs online and managed
to land one with the Department of the Army. This was, of
course, quite a change in environment and culture and also
entailed a 2 hour commute everyday. I was an older worker
so I was pleased to get the job and take on the challenges
involved! I was quite happy with my decision that led to a
job with more security.
(Betty Woodrum 11:59pm September 17, 2015)

When I lost my job, I had to take a retail job that paid minimum wage & work 10-12 hours a day. I was on my feet the entire time working with the public when I was used to being behind a desk on a computer. I actually found that I enjoyed it but I was also happy to get a new job in my regular career.
(Kristine Murphy 11:01am September 18, 2015)

I have pushed my limits many times in many emergencies,
but never actually gone against my core personality.
(Irene Menge 4:03pm September 18, 2015)

YES I HAD TO have a major surgery and it was very serious but thank heavens
recovered and after therapy got better
(Debbi Shaw 10:45pm September 18, 2015)

I have and I have always just been positive and gotten through
it!
(Denise Austin 4:14pm September 19, 2015)

I'm sure I have been , but I can't remember when.
(Deb Pelletier 9:33pm September 19, 2015)

I've never crossed my moral boundaries, but I have grown stronger in
my darkest moments.
(Veronica Forand 7:21pm September 20, 2015)

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