Category Archives: Women of Power

Melanippe

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There are several mythological characters named Melanippe, but Stella’s mother is the sister of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons.  She has an on-again/off-again relationship with Theseus (Yes, that Theseus) and has setteled into a life of hedonism on Mount Olympus, much to Stella’s shame.  “And my mother is an Amazon, which I used to think meant she was a warrior woman, but apparently just means she’s some kind of immortal hoe-bag.”  Of course this means that if you were to mix the continuity of my little story with that of DC Comics, then Stella and Wonder Woman would be cousins, which is cool, because WW has always been one of my personal faves.


Hipparion

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In Women of Power, I wanted real mythological figures for Stella’s parents, but I didn’t want them to be major mythological figures that everyone knows.  Her father is the demigod Hipparion, who is mentioned once or twice in the mythology texts but has no surviving stories about him.  His name means “pony” in greek, so he must have had something to do with the being a lord of horses or something.
I had fun playing with the idea that nobody on Earth remembers him, even though he thinks he is a major figure in history.  Like most mythological fathers, Hipparion has only a passing interest in his offspring, and expects to be called on for magical armor or weapons, but not emotional support.

Linda Ford AKA Skygirl

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Linda Ford, also known as Skygirl, is the second character (title character if you will) of Women of Power.  She is the daughter of Earth’s greatest hero, Skyman, who was killed defending the Earth from an alien invasion.  Her mother was the evil Madame Mesmer, who seduced Skyman, but Linda was raised by her step-mother Doris Drake-Ford.  She has all the powers of her father (though perhaps not as strong as him in any area).  She has super strength, invulnerability, supersonic flight, super breath, x-ray vision, heat vision, and several other kinds of super vision.  She is vulnerable to disease and poison and to Polarite, the fragmented remains of her father’s home planet.
Linda lives her life seemingly unaware that the world knows who she is.  She wears a brown wig and sensible clothes as a disguise, even though anyone can find her name at the top of the Skygirl Wikipedia page.  She tends to be naive and silly, much to the annoyance of All American Girl.
Linda was a very fun character to write.  She makes a great foil for Stella (AG).  She is of course a parody and tribute to super characters like Supergirl, though personality wise, she’s more Mary Marvel.  My favorite little detail was that when Skygirl and All American Girl play rock, paper, scissors, All American Girl always wins.  She knows that Skygirl will always pick rock, because anyone who has to worry about a rock that can kill them all the time will always pick rock.

Stella O’Clare AKA All American Girl

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Stella O’Clare AKA All American Girl, is the main character of my book Women of Power.  Stella is the daughter of an immortal Amazon and a Greek demigod.  As a child, she was exiled from Mount Olympus for being unable to get along with the other children, landing on Earth in Chicago’s O’Clare Blvd.  She’s intelligent, sarcastic, and quick to anger.

All American Girl has super strength, invulnerability, and the ability to fly.  She is immune to poison, disease, and any form of magic.  Like all superheroes, she want to help mankind, but being a hero is also a business.  She wants to be the star of her own superhero magazine and to reach the top ten of the New York Times Superhero list.

As the story begins, Stella is having a particularly rough time as she has recently broken up with her boyfriend, the super superhero Perihelion.  To make matters worse, while Stella has been moping around after the breakup, Perry has immediately taken up with Omega Girl.

I loved writing All American Girl.  She is both a parody and an homage to my favorite heroes from the comics.

Women of Power: Chapter 9 Excerpt

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Southside Office Building;
Conference Room;
“The last of the warheads are armed, Boss,” said Steve.
“Very good,” replied Professor Destruction.  “If only those super-powered morons were half as efficient at killing All American Girl…”
“Let me do it.”
“You, Steve?  You?  You don’t have superpowers and you don’t have my intellect.  She’d use your bones to pick her teeth.
“I can do it.  It’s not about superpowers.  It’s about applying the force necessary, where it’s needed.  I know what to do.”
“Interesting,” replied Destruction.  “It seems that some of me may have rubbed off on you.”
“Have I ever let you down, Boss?”
“You’re still alive, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Steve answered.
“Then, no.  No, you haven’t let me down.”  Destruction peeled off his sports jacket, letting Steve catch it and hang it up.  Then he began climbing into his personal battle gear.  “Very well, Steve.  She’s all yours.  Don’t fail me.”

Two Years One Month Anniversary

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Wow!  With the beginning of school and working on three books, I completely forgot the anniversary of this blog.  On August 12th, it was three years of daily blog posts here at City of Amathar Blog.  I wanted to have something exciting to celebrate the event, but I guess I’ll have to settle for a 3 Years 1 Month Anniversary Celebration.

Today and Today Only, you can go to Smashwords by following this link and get any of these ebooks FREE with the coupon code.

Princess of Amathar, Free with coupon code JL94K.

Voyage of the Minotaur, Free with coupon code VG65A.

Women of Power, Free with coupon code SE28F.

Blood Trade, FREE with coupon code JL94K.

Pick up one or all four, and thanks for visiting City of Amathar Blog.

Women of Power: Chapter 8 Excerpt

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Skygirl, carrying two secretaries rescued from atop the Aon Center, dropped to the pavement in front of the command post.  Professional EMS and volunteers from all over the city were setting up a network of first aid tents, shelters and information stations.  She started to take off again, but a police captain came running toward her.

“Skygirl!”

“Yes, Captain?”

“I have a message for you from the Pentagon.  They left a number for you to call.  You can use the satellite phone in there.”

He pointed toward a large green tent next to the white first aid station.

“Thanks.”  She let him guide her.  “Have you heard where All American Girl is?”

“No.”

“Behemoth?”

He shook his head.

“Dynagirl?”

“I’m sorry.  The Atomic Twins are on the East Side.  The boy is injured.  Other than that, I don’t have any information on any of the supers.”

“Alright, thanks.”  They stepped inside and Linda dialed the number given to her.

“Hello,” she said when the other end of the line was picked up.  “This is Skygirl.”

“Skygirl honey, it’s good to hear you.  This is the Secretary a’ Defence.”

“Yes sir.  What can I do for you?”

“Girl, the Justice Brigade is goin’ on a mission, and they’re a little undermanned.  Captain Hero said you might be willin’ to join on.”

“Yes sir,” replied Linda. 

“How fast can ya’ll get down to Cape Kennedy?”

“Forty-nine minutes, sir.  I’ll leave right now.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear.”

Women of Power: Chapter 7 Excerpt

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Stella’s cell phone rang again.  She picked it up from the night stand, slid it open, and held it to her face.
“Yeah?”
“Stella?  It’s Dynagirl.”
“Hey, Dina.  Perry’s not here.”
“I know he’s not there.  This is an EAS call.  We have a situation.  We’re being invaded.”
“From Canada or Mexico?”
“From space.”
“What, again?”
“Yes.  Get ready and keep your phone with you.  I’ll call again.”
Stella got out of bed and took a quick look out the window.  A massive mother ship was moving into position over the city.   She hopped into the shower.  There was no way she was going to fight aliens without first washing her hair.  After brushing her teeth and throwing on a little hair gel, she squeezed into a fresh All American Girl costume.   A glance in the other bedroom told her that Linda was still not home—not the best time for Skygirl to go AWOL.  Stepping out onto the balcony, Stella sat down in the patio chair and waited.
The gigantic ship stopped at a point where it was almost exactly centered over the Sears Tower, or Willis Tower as they were trying to get everyone to call it.  Stella estimated it at five miles in diameter and about a quarter mile thick.  Around it were buzzing dozens of small craft, more every minute, though it was unclear to her from what point on the great craft they were launching. 
After several minutes, Stella went back inside and sat down in the living room, turning on the TV.  Tanya Everson appeared on the screen.
“Word comes to us this morning from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that the spaceships we see above us arrived on a trajectory that seems to indicate they are from 61 Cygni, a double star system that is approximately 11.4 light years from our sun.  What else can you tell us, Bill?”
The picture changed to newsman Bill Drake standing in Lincoln Park.  In the background, Stella could see that the statue of Johnny Liberty was back in place.  He was still missing his cape.
“Viewers will remember that it was just three years ago when the Earth faced invasion from Epsilon Eridani.  Ironically, scientists tell us that the two space fleets were actually flying through the vastness of interstellar vacuum for much of the same time…”
“That’s not ironic, Bill,” said Stella to the TV.  “It’s just coincidental.”
“…also that the earlier invasion was only stopped at a great cost, including the loss of arguably Earth’s greatest hero, Skyman.”
Stella’s cell phone rang again.
“Linda?”
“No, it’s Dynagirl again.  Do you know where Skygirl is?”
“No.”
“Well, if you find her, keep in contact.  I’m on my way over.”
“Really?”
“Yes.  There are no ships attacking Detroit.”
“I guess that’s one good thing about the population shift,” said Stella.
“I suppose so,” replied Dynagirl.  “I’ll see you soon.”
“That’s enough waiting around,” said Stella, and with a leap flew out the balcony door and into the sky.


Women of Power: Now available on the Nook.

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Women of Power is now available as an ebook at Barnes and Noble for the nook and nook applications.  You can find it by following this link.  Women of Power is the story of two superheroes who cross paths in their fight for truth, justice, and recognition.  It’s still just 99 cents for the ebook.

It’s also availabe at Smashwords, Amazon’s Kindle Store, and iBooks.