I have five books out. Two have female leads, two others have female central characters, and one is two male leads.
A Child of Great Promise has a young woman, but the central issue isn't her gender, it's that she is half-elf and half-human, or at least has been told that's what she is. The matter of her identity is very much the point of the story.
Into the Second World has gender roles as an issue, though more as an undercurrent. There's an expedition to the center of the world and she's the only female in the group, and she wrangles her way into the team against the wishes of the others. The real focus of the story is adventure, but her gender does spin things a bit.
In Goblins at the Gates the main character is male, as are two other main characters, but they are joined by a female who wields a magic sword and who emerges as the leader of her people, just as the lead male emerges as leader of his troops. Even so, Julian definitely gets more screen time than does Inglena.
Finally, I'm currently writing a series that features a troupe of performers. The head is male, but a female elf shares leadership and is often a counterbalance.
I stay aware of gender, but my stories are all pre-modern, so current concerns about gender roles aren't really present. I'm more interested in how elves behave, how ogres behave, and so on. It strikes me that few fantasy writers are much concerned with gender roles in other peoples. For example, do an elf woman and a human woman have more in common due to shared gender, or is it the difference of species more significant? If I look at how female dwarves behave in my world of Altearth, are they doing things that would raise hackles among my readers (all ten of them) were I to portray human females that way? Is there something unique about being female orc, female elf, female dwarf, etc.?
I do tend to default to males in secondary and tertiary characters, though. A couple of guards at the door? Men. Innkeeper? A guy. I have to make a conscious effort to choose a female, and then I have to think about how that choice might change the dynamics of the scene. Which is odd and decidedly sexist because when it's just a spear-carrier sort of role, with just a few lines, it really shouldn't matter.
A Child of Great Promise has a young woman, but the central issue isn't her gender, it's that she is half-elf and half-human, or at least has been told that's what she is. The matter of her identity is very much the point of the story.
Into the Second World has gender roles as an issue, though more as an undercurrent. There's an expedition to the center of the world and she's the only female in the group, and she wrangles her way into the team against the wishes of the others. The real focus of the story is adventure, but her gender does spin things a bit.
In Goblins at the Gates the main character is male, as are two other main characters, but they are joined by a female who wields a magic sword and who emerges as the leader of her people, just as the lead male emerges as leader of his troops. Even so, Julian definitely gets more screen time than does Inglena.
Finally, I'm currently writing a series that features a troupe of performers. The head is male, but a female elf shares leadership and is often a counterbalance.
I stay aware of gender, but my stories are all pre-modern, so current concerns about gender roles aren't really present. I'm more interested in how elves behave, how ogres behave, and so on. It strikes me that few fantasy writers are much concerned with gender roles in other peoples. For example, do an elf woman and a human woman have more in common due to shared gender, or is it the difference of species more significant? If I look at how female dwarves behave in my world of Altearth, are they doing things that would raise hackles among my readers (all ten of them) were I to portray human females that way? Is there something unique about being female orc, female elf, female dwarf, etc.?
I do tend to default to males in secondary and tertiary characters, though. A couple of guards at the door? Men. Innkeeper? A guy. I have to make a conscious effort to choose a female, and then I have to think about how that choice might change the dynamics of the scene. Which is odd and decidedly sexist because when it's just a spear-carrier sort of role, with just a few lines, it really shouldn't matter.