Strong female characters

I'm particularly drawn to these types of characters. Mercy Thompson is probably one of my favorite protagonists in anything I've ever read. She's not carrying around a dominating power or ability that makes her inherently powerful. She is a woman with some abilities that often takes on significantly stronger enemies because it's the Right Thing to Do. Her motivations when she faces off against monsters, people or other antagonists are the no one else is willing to step up so it's on her to take on the antagonists. Her bravery is inspiring.

Yes, she is a fictional character--Patricia Briggs wrote her into existence. But that doesn't make the qualities that make her a hero any less real. There are plenty of examples in our history of women stepping up and taking great risks in order to do the right thing.

I also admire other minority characters that are strong and capable. Whether those minorities are racial, cultural, religious or sexual and gender identification--I find myself wanting to explore the dynamics of them and their relationship to the world around them.

As a result of my admiration for these types of characters, I find myself particularly interested in featuring them in my own stories--whether as a supporting character or the main protagonist of the story. Of course, this leads to what I see as my greatest challenge as a writer. Portraying female characters accurately. I'm not female (shocking, I know) so I don't have any practical experience. I only know what I observe or have been told by women I know, or women in history/popular media.

My new book features not only a female main character but two of the most important supporting characters are also female. The entire book is about Kate Stimson actually rescuing the most powerful person in the universe I've created. I found myself examining her motivations and her bravery. I fell in love with her a little bit. Hell, there were times I wanted to be her.

My next book after that features a lesbian protagonist, with her growing relationship with the main supporting character playing an important part in the progression of the story. Talk about stretching. Not only am I not a woman, I'm also not a lesbian. I have no clue how good a job I'm doing with that. I suppose at some point I'll have to find a lesbian reader to give me some feedback.

So I need to find a lesbian reader who is interested in science fiction and/or urban fantasy, I guess. I need to be idiot checked (featuring me as the possibly idiot, and the reader as the one doing the checking.)