These Boots Were Made For Ass Kicking

Welcome back for my third and final day in the DIK Blog takeover!

Today, we’re going to talk about a subject very near and dear to my heart: boots.

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you know that I have a mild—okay, huge—obsession with boots. Tall boots, specifically. The more buckles and straps, the happier I am. Boots make me feel like a badass, ready to take on any adventure or danger.

So you can bet that when it came time for me to write my sci-fi heroine, the scavenger Mara Skiren, I made sure to put her in boots. Mara is, as the kids say, a BAMF (bad-ass mother f****r), and I wanted her footwear to reflect that aspect of her. When Mara’s on her ship, trolling the galaxy for merch to scavenge, she wears boots that are pure utility, like these:

Practical, yet seriously kick-butt.

But when Mara has to visit the thieves’ den known as the planet Ryge in the infamous Smoke Quadrant, she wears different boots with a lot more flash. Why?

The scavengers and smugglers on Ryge liked to dress flamboyantly. Calling cards for how successful they were. A drab scavenger clearly wasn’t doing well, and they were a collection of braggarts. Nobody respected the soft-spoken, the humble. Reputation wasn’t everything, but it counted for a lot.

Mara’s reputation gleamed, and everybody in the Smoke knew if they wanted merch moved, or prime scrap, she was the one to see. So she dressed the part.

I imagine her flashy Ryge boots look something like this:

I could have gone with a stiletto-heeled boot, but, honestly, who can run and kick ass in pointy, tottering heels? No, Mara might want to look sexy and showy, but she also knows that Ryge is a dangerous place, and she needs to be ready for anything.

Of course, the most dangerous thing she faces on Ryge is the explosive sexual chemistry between her and the man with whom she’s forced to partner, Commander Kell Frayne of the 8th Wing. And let’s just say that when neither of them can control their desire any longer…certain articles of clothing are lost, but Mara’s boots stay on.

And on that very naughty note, I bid you all a fond farewell. It’s been tons of fun hosting my takeover of the DIK Blog, and I hope you had a good time, too! Please visit me at my website, and on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. And you can find links to buy COLLISION COURSE here.

(Please note: this post was merely an excuse to look at pictures of boots online and call it “work.”)