The Lost Boys Blog Tour: Lilian Carmine on Thundercats & Character Inspiration.

The Lost Boys by Lilian Carmine || Release date: October 24th 2013.

Fate has brought them together. But will it also keep them apart?

Having moved to a strange town, seventeen-year-old Joey Gray is feeling a little lost, until she meets a cute, mysterious boy near her new home.

But there's a very good reason why Tristan Halloway is always to be found roaming in the local graveyard...

Perfect for fans of Stephenie Meyer and Lauren Kate, The Lost Boys is a magical, romantic tale of girl meets ghost

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Guest Post: Lilian Carmine on Thundercats & Character Inspiration.

Lilian Carmine

I grew up in the middle of a slew of boys, having two brothers and a pack of cousins to run around and play with during all my Spring breaks, Christmas and holidays.

As I followed my brothers and cousins around, I realized boys have much more interesting and active games than girls. Their toys are much more fun to play with as well. I tried hard not to be left out in their play dates. I joined in their games of hide and seek and bike rides, and asked for Legos and Thundercats action figures rather than plastic cooking pans and Barbie dolls to play with.

The dolls my mother loved to give me were left behind, forgotten in the corner of the room. I never thought it was fun playing with them anyway – they did nothing interesting or fun. But Cheetara on the other hand, she was so incredibly cool! She fought dangerous enemies, she jumped and ran and knew how to defend herself. She was not a helpless thing. She was active - a heroine.

When the idea of writing about a female main character first appeared in my head, I thought about what was going to be her core, the most important part of her character. I wanted her to be active not passive. That was the main thing, the fuel to ignite all the other aspects of her personality.

Joey is not the type of girl who sits and waits to be rescued. She’s going to be doing the rescuing instead. She’s going to be the Knight in shining armor and the heroine of the story. There are already too many books about heroes; I thought it was time for a girl to be the warrior now.

Joe Gray is fair, loyal and has a hero’s heart and spirit in her. She’s bold, brave and fierce. These are all very active attributes, but having this kind of energy doesn’t mean she has to stop being feminine; she is after all, still a girl.

She can also be lovely when she wants, and most people are drawn to her strength, beauty and grace.

I didn’t want to stereotype Joey in any way, though. She isn’t just a tomboy. She can be a kick-ass fighter, but she can also be kind hearted, gentle, seductive, goofy, insecure and shy. She can falter and be scared sometimes, as we all are at some point in our lives. She can be blindly reckless and impulsive and be ruled by anger. BUT she doesn’t sit sulking or just whine and do nothing to solve her problems. She will always fight with all her might for the things she believes and the ones she loves.

She has flaws and makes mistakes, but she has truly beautiful qualities.

Joey is a myriad of many qualities, as all human beings are. In the end, all these things are not destined only for males or females, they are human traits and I think that is why everyone will be able to relate and connect with Joe Gray, and that she might even inspire and be a good role model for all readers out there, be they boys or girls.

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To find out more Follow Lilian on Twitter @LilyCarmine and check out the rest of the tour stops!