Last week I described the process for developing a series and the characters who come to inhabit it. My current series, Everyday Goddesses, speaks to the aspects of goddess that exists in all of us; nurturer, warrior, justice seeker, storyteller, creator of life, scientist, and empath. Our wounds might be our excuse to fall or what motivates us to rise and which ever way it goes, they are the badges we wear that prove our humanity. As I was choosing which goddesses to use as symbolic representations of the divine feminine, I wanted to pick across the mythical spectrum. Gwen is Celt, Minerva is Roman, Rhea is Greek, Cerridwen is Irish, Inanna is from the Sumerian pantheon of archetypal figures.

Hina seemed to be the logical choice to represent the Polynesian culture which meant she had to come from Hawaii, bringing with her the ancestral wisdom, the ancients were known for. As a water sign, she was tied closely to the moon, tides, ebbing and flowing, enlightenment and inner knowing, so it was natural for her to be an empath. She has a kinship with nature, horses in particular, so it was obvious she had to own a horse farm, and as a healer, she was fated to start a equine facilitation program. Some of the questions that had to be answered once these facts were established were how did she get to Eden? Was her childhood idyllic or had she been wounded in some way? And if so, how? What was her upbringing like? Where did she come from from and where was she going? What are her strengths? What are her flaws? Who would best complement her as a mate? (It is a romance after all)

That’s when research begins, my imagination kicks in, and my muse starts whispering in my ear.