Guest Post: Who is Kezia King? by Kate Sermon

Hello, I’m Kate Sermon, author of the Dark Flows the River Trilogy the first of which, Dark Sleepers, is  released on 14th August 2016.

I thought you might like to know a little bit about my main character the feisty and determined Kezia King. It was very important for me to create a strong and willful female protagonist, it’s a particular bugbear of mine that there are not enough of them in young adult fiction. I wanted her to be mistress of her own life, to make her own decisions and be the kind of young woman who can exact change in her world and the world of others. I think I got there. Here are a few facts relating to her: 

Age: 14
Style: Emo, hippy, wears all her clothes like she just doesn’t care what she looks like. She has long blonde messy hair, and prefers wearing wellies or being barefoot most of the time.
Home: Barrowcombe, Dartmoor, UK. She lives with her mum, and until recently her dad in a small idyllic cottage isolated and a mile from the village. The house has been in her family for at least 100 years. She is an only child and is homeschooled. 
Friends: Just the one: Ben. A loner as well, he lives in the village but is away most of the time at boarding school. He’s very good looking but incredibly insecure. His facade of bravado wears thin around Kezia. 
Mum: an reclusive artist.
Dad: a writer.
Personality: Kind beyond anything else. A classic empath, she soaks up everyone’s feelings and makes them her own. She’s naturally introverted and shy but her love of people brings her out of herself. Her desire to help others is her most enduring personality trait, and is the vehicle that takes her on her adventure. 
Music: She’ll listen to anything really through spotify. But her most played playlists are those that feature her dad’s favourites. Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Simon and Garfunkel. 
Ambition: She harbours a secret ambition, secret because she has told no one, that she might end up a writer like her dad one day.
What she doesn’t know about herself: She has no idea that she has healing capabilities. There are more things but if I told you if would spoil your reading of Dark Sleepers and the sequels. 

I’d love to hear your views on the importance of strong female role models in literature, for young women. Who are your favourites?? One of mine if definitely Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games Trilogy. A tremendous force to be reckoned with. 

Find out more about the book here