Happy May the 4th Be with You Day! I wore a Star Wars shirt yesterday and was called a nerd. He’s a friend so I didn’t mind him sharing an unsolicited opinion, but I corrected him and said, “That’s book nerd to you, and I prefer to be called a book warrior”. Today Star Wars fans love to use the play on words with the date, and if I have to explain that ‘May the Fourth’ sounds like ‘May the Force’, then you won’t get any of my Star Wars references. One of the things that is spectacular about Star Wars is the strong female characters and how they don’t mind doing the scary stuff to help their people. I found the picture of a Princess Leia mermaid and I decided that is a perfect way to describe my mermaid Triana in my Travelers Duology. She’s not like Princess Ariel – though I loved Disney’s Little Mermaid – she’s like Princess Leia. Ariel was motivated by love for Eric, but Leia was motivated by keeping others safe. Let’s be honest, Leia was less selfish than Ariel. My mermaid, Triana, also puts her peoples’ needs first despite her fears. She is brave and scared all at the same time. We know that Leia was also scared despite her courage - just like the other females in the Star Wars films: Rey, Padmé, Jyn, Maz, and many more. Why Do You Like Star Wars? Leia inspires girls and women. She and the other Star Wars women-warriors are probably the reason why females love to follow the stories. Don’t we all want to be heroes of our own stories? If you have another reason for liking the female characters in Star Wars, let me know, but I suspect the majority of you like that they can be totally female, but totally tough too. Let’s leave the world of science-fiction and enter the one we live in on Earth. Yes, Star Wars geeks love the world built through the movies and books, but we know we could never be an actual Princess Leia or Rey in outer space. We also can’t be a Princess Triana. It’s true, I tell everyone I’m secretly a mermaid, but we all know that’s for fun – well, maybe. In the history of our world, there were women like our favorite fantasy characters, who had done brave but scary things. We don’t have to look beyond reality for examples on how to be the type of people we admire. My time traveling mermaid gets to meet a few of these women and though my books are more for entertainment, I throw in a little history to show you some great real-life women who did valuable things. If you ever get the chance to read my books, you’ll meet historical women like Cornelia Fort, Sacagawea, Margaret Brown, and Elizabeth Burgin. If you don't know anything about these remarkable females, here are links to their real life stories and how they helped make this world a better place:
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Ramblings on life, travels, & books
Carla Reighard Archives
December 2023
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