Tribute to inspiring female authors

This is a belated International Women's Day post.

I've been noticing a trend. There are so many inspiring female YA authors out there at the moment, so here's my top five.

1) Beth Revis. Her perseverance inspires me. She had a goal and never gave up, and it resulted in one of the most amazing YA books EVER. Her insights into society and humanities short-comings just astounded me. Then there's Ms Revis' social media presence. She's giving with her fans and takes a stance on topics she feels strongly about.

2) Veronica Roth. Being published at younger-than-most age and then taking everything that goes with that in her stride shows that she is all kinds of awesome. I also admire that she's not afraid to put her Christianity out there, without being preachy in her writing.

3) Tara Moss. Apart from the fact that I really love her writing, both her Mak series and Pandora English series, I admire how active she has been for women's rights. Her role as a Unicef Goodwill ambassador and breastfeeding advocate is inspirational.

4) Emily Rodda. What an amazing Australian author Ms Rodda is! Her Deltora Quest series has made an impact internationally AND has become a cartoon. But what I love about her the most is that she wrote stories that enticed my son to read when he was younger and struggling to find stories that captured his attention.

5) Julie Davies. Ms Davies is not a name that people will know readily. She's been published in a few anthologies in Australia and is working on her first novel. But she was my boss and mentor when I worked for the government. Neither of us knew that the other one wrote. We lost touch after she moved jobs and reconnected recently. She had only recently decided to pursue her writing and I admire her for following her dreams.

So that's my fave inspirational female authors. Who are yours?