Susan asked Michael J. Sullivan:

Hi Michael. My favorite part about your series were your vibrant female characters. They were strong, capable and kind and in the world of fantasy were female characters are sometimes misrepresented or neglected I particularly appreciate it. They felt like real people and this may be a silly question, but I wonder if any of them were inspired by women you know in real life?

Michael J. Sullivan Hey Susan, thanks so much for that. When I wrote Riyria Revelations, I really considered there to be four main characters: Royce, Hadrian, Arista, and Modina/Thrace. I once counted it up and the women save the men's butts just as often as the other way around. Didn't realize that until after I was done writing - but it was good to see.

Gwen and Arista each have portions of their personality taken from my own wife, Robin. Arista most of all. She tends to be a polarizing character, which I never quite understand because I've always loved her. Ironically, our daughter, Sarah, who adores her mother, didn't initially warm to Arista. As the series went along she came around - but I thought it was funny given how highly she regards Robin.

Thanks for asking.

flag