My first fan-crush was Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman, whom I apparently referred to as Wondee Woman while spinning in front of the TV until I fell over. While Ms. Diana Prince’s supernatural qualities weren’t related to science, my love for all things fantastical then led me to be absolutely obsessed with Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars movie.

Yes, EverAfter friends, I’m one of those. Team Luke instead of Team Han. Had the 12 inch Luke Skywalker action figure, too, who was ALWAYS my doll’s boyfriend when we played Barbie Explores Lost Treasure Island or Captain Barbie Versus the Ravening Stuffed Animal Space Horde. Maybe it was that rope Luke used to swing himself and Princess Leia to safety in the Death Star—reminded me a bit of the golden lasso of truth. Not to mention the kiss that the princess gave Luke for luck right before the Big Swing was about as much sexuality as my 9 year old brain was equipped to contemplate.

Han was funny, sure, and did the right thing in the end, but I admired Luke for doing the right thing, or trying to, from the beginning. To me it spoke of his innate goodness. Also I admired how cute he was, and that 9 year old brain which couldn’t contemplate anything stronger than a peck on the cheek didn’t register Luke’s naiveté and teenaged angst as annoying.

If only Wondee Woman could have trained Luke instead of Obi-Wan! I bet she’d have managed to stay alive long enough to do the job properly. Then again, Wondee Woman would have used the lasso on Darth and straightened out the entire Skywalker family fiasco a lot sooner, which would have ruined the movies, pretty much. But wouldn’t it have been great to see her deflect lasers and light sabers with her bracelets? Laugh at Darth when he was being cryptically evil? And then kick him in the mask with her red leather boots?

 

Flash forward several years, and we discover Leia is Luke’s sister. My arguably romantic adoration for Luke Skywalker morphs into more of an adoration for proactive, badass female characters. In high school and college, I sought out fantasy and SF books with smart, capable female protagonists, since they were few and far between in other media. I could appreciate books with well-written male protagonists, but when they had well-written female protagonists? SO MUCH YAHOO. SO MUCH YES.

I loved the way paranormal and science fictional elements leveled the playing field between men and women, or I loved to pretend that it would. When you have magic powers, there’s no reason why the dude is always going to be the best while the lady is limited to love interest/damsel in distress. When you’re flying a space ship or operating a giant robot, ditto.

No reason I personally, or the character named Mary Sue Diana Leia Prince based on me, couldn’t be the one to save the day alongside—or instead of—some dude. I never wanted a white knight. I wanted to ride the dang horse and swing the…light saber…myself. I wanted to physically kick the evil asses of the bad guys instead of wringing my hands and anxiously watching the hero defend my honor, probably while I was chained up in a skimpy outfit. Perhaps it was typical teenage egoism, wanting to be the central figure in all the dramas—and perhaps it was something more.

 

Now that I’m an adult writing the books I used to search for myself, my earlier adorations definitely influence my writing. When I write m/f romances, the whole alpha male/beta male debate isn’t as important to me as what kind of female character is central to my story. Who is she? How much ass does she kick? Does she already kick the ass or does she need more training to kick the ass? Does she need to quick kicking so much ass and learn other methods or even learn to love? How does the hero fit into her life, and she into his? How do they work out their personality differences while probably saving the world from alien monsters and definitely saving themselves from inferior romantic relationships?

How is she going to be Wondee Woman? How is he going to be her lasso of truth, her co-conspirator, her friend? How are they going to team up and take on the bad guys? I love the notion that the hero and heroine become so powerful, together, that if either of them falters, the other one has got this. A true partnership and a true love.

Still Team Luke, though. He’s so adorkable.

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Who are your sci-fi heroes and crushes? What two characters from different worlds would you like to see team up—or take each other on? Who would win in a fight, Wondee Woman (totally) or Darth Vader?

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Jody Wallace writes sf/f romance, paranormal romance, and contemporary romance. Her Maelstrom series with Entangled Publishing (Angeli, Traitor, Prodigal) is post-apocalyptic science fiction romance about finding love during an alien invasion. After growing up in the South in a very rural area, she went to school a long time and ended up with a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing. Her resume includes college English instructor, technical documents editor, market analyst, web designer, and general, all around pain in the butt. She resides in Tennessee with one husband, one Grandma, two children, six cats, and a lot of junk.

Jody can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest and JodyWallace.com.