Required Immediately: Kick-Ass Heroine For Starring Role in Urban Fantasy Fiction

(This post originally appeared on Fade Into Fantasy)

Job Description:

Taking the lead female role in urban fantasy novels as required, you will provide critical opposition to various dark forces including but not limited to: werewolves, demons, vampires, fae, shapeshifters and other paranormal/supernatural types. This exciting position is directly responsible for ensuring that the good guys prevail over the brilliant but nefarious masterminds of destruction and their evil sidekicks. As Kick-Ass Heroine, you will also lead the way in upholding honor and compassion, and in standing up for the underdog.

Responsibilities:

• Threat assessment
• Maintain a working arsenal of your preferred weaponry
• Maintain good physical fighting condition and necessary skills
• Believe in the fundamental truth that good must and will prevail
• Build or work within a team setting as required (diva behavior is frowned upon)
• Rise above personal issues to face and overcome your fears
• Promote and uphold honor and compassion through helping those in need
• Collaborate with others who are fighting against the same bad guys as you are (note previous comment about diva behavior)
• Fight, to the death if necessary, whatever  evil supernatural type the novelist throws your way (fortunately, few such encounters result in permanent death, but the warning is necessary)

Essential Qualifications:

• Flaws: these can be physical, temperamental, emotional, or psychological, but the key point is that we do not want perfection of the Mary Sue variety; you must be real and relatable
• Toughness and determination, but not to the point of being hardened by life: readers still want compassion and vulnerability
• Humanness: even if you’re a supernatural/otherwordly being yourself, you need to have an innate human quality that will allow readers to relate to you
• Adaptability: you need to be able to adjust quickly to a situation and then move on
• Intelligence: you have to be smart enough to outthink the villain –and to know when to ask for help
• Common sense: venturing into dark cellars/attics/abandoned buildings by yourself when the above-noted help is available is just stupid and won’t be tolerated.
• Physically fit: able to kick physical butt when necessary – or at least willing to fight back
• Sense of humor: readers appreciate snark!

Preferred qualities:

• Personal baggage that will provide you with torturous inner conflict while you simultaneously strive to safeguard the world: readers want to see you overcome your issues and grow as a character
• Ability to cry: remember, readers want to relate to you and sometimes tears are what keep you human (or human-like)

Think you possess the necessary qualifications? Seek out the nearest writer to you and offer your services. We always on the lookout for new talent!