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Tuesday, January 14, 2025

FIGHTER, NOT VICTIM

I like writing strong women. I’ve written women who are CIA snipers, underground fighters, and lots of things in between. At a glance, Dangerous Beauty may seem like a departure from that. Liliana was captured and torn from her home. Her family was murdered in front of her. She’s in a foreign country with a limited understanding of the language, no understanding of her legal rights, no money, no transportation, no great skills, and no contacts (literally no one left in the world). She’s seen death. She’s been battered and molested.

But Liliana is not weak. She refuses to see herself as a victim. She understands that as soon as she does that, she’s given up her power and her enemies have won. She’s a fighter, not a victim.

Along the way, she helps others whenever she can. She helps the girlfriend of an enemy, she helps women trapped in the clutches of evil human traffickers, and she helps Meric overcome his past, his origins. Meric is certainly a hero, but Liliana is not a damsel in distress. She’s just as much the hero of the story as he is.

And she does this all while keeping her faith. Not just keep it but live it.

I really wanted to write a different kind of strong woman. Someone soft. Someone without some great talent or skill. Someone poor with little knowledge of the world. She has nothing, literally nothing but the dress on her back (not even shoes), and she frees four women from slavery and one man from his self-induced cage.

Watching Liliana unfold on the page makes me want to be a better person.

She makes me think of what I can do to help others. Not even in some great way. We have opportunities to help others every day.

That clerk at the grocery store who is always in a bad mood, smile at her. Ask her about her unique name on her name badge. Complement her hair or her nails.

Take the neighbors some cookies when they move in. Make an extra loaf of pumpkin bread at Thanksgiving. Give them a tin of goodies at Christmas. (You may notice a theme of sweets with me!)

That HVAC tech or plumber or electrician who went the extra mile for you, reach out to his boss and tell them how great he is, specifically what he does that’s so helpful. Write a great review online.

Just smiling and being kind in every day interactions can have a wonderful effect on the world. What if everyone did that? What if we all set aside our stress and anxiety and put others first, even just for a few moments? Everyone is going through something. You and I are not the only ones struggling. We should never assume our load is heavier than anyone else’s. A lot of people hide how much stress they’re under, how they’re at the end of their ropes. Just be kind to everyone. Maybe the kindness we share with others will help that person hold on just a little longer.



Melissa Koslin is a fourth-degree black belt in and certified instructor of Songahm Taekwondo. In her day job as a commercial property manager, she secretly notes personal quirks and funny situations, ready to tweak them into colorful additions for her books. She and Corey, her husband of twenty years, live in Florida, where they do their best not to melt in the sun.

6 comments:

  1. And another one hits the TBR list. Thanks for the introduction. Becca12901 at yahoo

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  2. Sounds like a fascinating book; can't wait to check it out. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. It sounds like an interesting book.

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  4. Sounds like a good read. New to me author. Lela W.

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