Too often, women are portrayed in two ways as prizes to be won by men or as damsels in distress.
My process seems to be unusual in the sense that I don't create worlds before characters. With me, character is king.
Since becoming aware of the need to be inclusive, I've tried to make my stories broader and more representative of our world.
People need to believe they can make a difference - that one person standing strong can turn the tide.
The people I write are real to me, and basically, they tell me about their environments on a need-to-know basis.
I am a woman. I write SF. And it's not acceptable to treat me as anything less than an equal. I won't stand for it.
I had a respected SF writer call me 'girlie' and demand that I get him a coffee, before the panel we were on together.