The Ladies in my Life.


I was prompted to write this post by a comment I recently received.


In it, the person asked me how I could possibly justify writing female characters, as I was male. The tone made it seem almost as if they considered I was breaking some sort of unwritten rule.

As it happens, I really enjoy writing about all my character’s adventures and consider that each of them is as important as any other, irrespective of any physical characteristics or personality traits they might possess.

Or which gender they identify as.

For the ability to get inside a female mind, I have to thank the ladies in my life.

By that, I mean my wife and my three daughters. After all, I named my imprint, 4Star Scifi, after them.


Yvonne, XXX.

My wonderful daughters, Georgina (L), Amy-Rose and Naomi.

Living with them all and watching them as time has passed, witnessing my daughter’s antics and behaviour as they grew into incredible women, has been the source of so much happiness in my life. These ladies have inspired and underpinned my female lead characters.


Characters like Andorra Pett or Kalyn Deere. Or Suzan Halford in my soon-to-be-released novel, I Remember Everything.

Then there are the supporting cast members, women such as Grace and Jessamine from my Steampunk novels.

Dave Travise’s love interest, the ill-fated Myra.

Fliss, Lydia and Hester, who are all women living on the planets Gallix and Fallop in my adventure The Hitman and the Thief.

Or Layla Balcom.

And, with the ones I haven’t written yet, I suspect that the list is endless.


When I think about it, I suppose I probably write more female than male characters.

This hasn’t been deliberate, it’s just the way it’s worked out. I seem to be able to channel the female mind at least as well as the male one.

Apart from the comment that prompted this post, I’ve had a few negative reactions, where I’ve been called out for various alleged offences against the sisterhood. However, the majority of my readers are supportive and enjoy reading about the exploits of the females I’ve written about.


I’m not seeking anyone’s approval.

Nor do I want to cause any offence. Although that seems easier to do these days.

I write what I enjoy writing, what I see in my head. If it involves men or women, it makes no difference to me. It’s their story that I concentrate on.

The fact is, I love writing about people. I especially enjoy it when my characters discover things about themselves, like how strong they are or that they can do what they never imagined they could.

As far as I’m concerned, however they see themselves, they all deserve equal billing.



I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free novella and more news by clicking this link.


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4 Responses

    • Richard Dee

      Thanks for commenting, it annoyed me at the time but I thought that a post would use its energy in a positive way.

  1. Kate R

    I write from male and female pov as I have been inside the heads of both. I also once got attacked regarding defending writing from the POV of a person of colour (if it was main character). Too complicated to elaborate here but I shall be doing my own blog on this at some point when I can summon up enough energy. I strongly defend any fiction author to write from any pov as it’s surely good writing and characterization which is the job of an author.

    • Richard Dee

      Thank you. I’ll look forward to reading that. My characters are who they are. I’m just the conduit, telling their tale.

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