October is a cosmic convergence of administrative paperwork and inspirational youth. With International Day of the Girl Child (Oct. 11) inspiring greatness and International Checklist Day (Oct. 30) demanding organization, galactic forces are clearly pressuring us to compile a definitive list (or two).
So, we've combed through countless enchanted scrolls and starship logs to present a celebration of the fiercest and finest fun-sized heroines who prove that being small doesn't mean having a small destiny. They're brilliant, bold, and (of course) accessorized for inter-dimensional success.
🤩Top Ten Galactic Girl Bosses
☑️ Lucy Pevensie (The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe)
Accessories: A legendary (but not imaginary) lion and a bottle of healing cordial Claim to Fame: Discovered a magic wardrobe one step at a time, inspired faith and united the broken one friend at a time, and healed an army one drop at a time. Star Quote: ✨ "I think – I don’t know – but I think I could be brave enough."
☑️ Matilda Wormwood (Matilda)
Accessories: A library card and books Claim to Fame: Out-read her teachers before lunch, out-smarted tyrants at their own game, and used her telekinetic powers all-out for justice. Star Quote: ✨ “Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog...”
☑️ Tiffany Aching (The Wee Free Men)
Accessories: The Nac Mac Feegle clan and an iron frying pan Claim to Fame: Out-negotiated pixies, defeated nightmares, and rescued her little brother from the Queen of the Elves. Proof that common sense and a good skillet are indispensable.
Star Quote: ✨ “There's me,” (in response to a toad telling her "There's no one to stop them [the monsters]").
☑️ Meg Murry (A Wrinkle in Time)
Accessories: The Mrs. W's, the Tesseract, and Mrs. Who’s spectacles Claim to Fame: Crossed time, space, and personal insecurities to save her dad and brother from cosmic darkness -- armed only with love, math, and the occasional awkward outburst. Star Quote: ✨ "Maybe I don't like being different... but I don't want to be like everybody else, either."
☑️ Hermione Granger (Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone)
Accessories: Books and her wand Claim to Fame: Solved puzzles no adult wizard could and saved her friends from death (and failure) multiple times by having done her homework -- and then some. Star Quote: ✨ “Honestly, don't you two read?”
☑️ Keladry of Mindelan (Protector of the Small)
Accessories: An entourage of sparrows and a rebellious warhorse named Peachblossom Claim to Fame: Became a Lady Knight, proving that patience, honor, and dogged persistence beat brute force -- whether the bullies are boys or bandits. Star Quote: ✨ “You can laugh and say I'm a silly girl -- but when I see anyone big pick on someone small, well, there's going to be a fight...”
☑️ Alanna of Trebond (Alanna: The First Adventure)
Accessory: Lightning (her magical sword) Claim to Fame: Disguised herself as a boy to become a knight; faced down magic, monarchs, and mortality -- and did it all without losing her spark or her sense of self. Star Quote: ✨ “I believe in deeds, not words.”
☑️ Lilo Pelekai (Lilo & Stitch)
Accessories: A camera, some Elvis music, and a blue alien permanently set to “chaos.” Claim to Fame: Taught an alien to hula, a sister to hope, and a galaxy what “o'hana” means. Star Quotes: ✨ "O'hana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or...[forgotten]," and “Oh good! My dog found the chainsaw.”
☑️ Eleven (Stranger Things)
Accessories: Eggo waffles and a bloody nose Claim to Fame: Escaped an evil lab, joined a D&D party, took care of some bullies with her telekinetic powers, and saved the town of Hawkins from the encroachment of the nightmarish Upside Down dimension -- learning that love and friendship can turn even the darkest world right-side up again. Star Quote: ✨ “Friends don't lie.”
☑️ Naomi Wildman (Star Trek: Voyager)
Accessories: A Flotter T. Water doll and a kadis-kot game Claim to Fame: Became 'Captain's Assistant,' taught a Borg about friendship and individuality, and taught a whole ship's crew about acceptance and loyalty. Star Quote: ✨ (After Seven addresses her formally as a Borg sub-unit) "I am not a sub-unit! I'm Naomi Wildman, and I'm a person!"
Nominate Your Own Galactic Girl Boss(es)!
Who would you put on the ultimate list? Hit reply and nominate your favorite young sci-fi or fantasy heroines—but keep in mind, they’ve got to check every box on the official...
🌟 Galactic Girl Boss Greatness Checklist
✅ Female who can eat off the kids' menu (12 and under, at least when they start out). ✅ Courage that opens doors to worlds both new and perilous. ✅ Brains quick enough to rewire destiny with a hairpin. ✅ Heart, faith, and integrity strong enough to turn monsters into allies. ✅ A signature accessory or two.
Bonus points if their accessories involve a suit (10/13), a dessert (10/14), a fossil (10/15), a cat (10/16), a playing card (10/17), or yarn (10/18), and so forth...because I'm now on a mission to get every socially awkward October holiday its own Smart Little Superfriend!
Note from Jen:This is a free prequel from a Christian dystopian steampunk series I have enjoyed! Be sure to check out the next two booksin the series as well, which you can find here on Amazon!
They murdered his family.
Stole his childhood--and even his innocence.
But when they demanded his soul . . .
The year is 2158. Civilization has collapsed, but from the ashes, the Order has emerged, not as a savior, but as the unseen power that has ruled all along. Once a subtle force lurking in the background of human history, the cataclysm has unveiled the Order’s dominion in full—an unchallenged, one-world religion that bends all to its will. Truth is a relic. Dissent is a death sentence.
An Epic Thriller of Deception, Faith, and the Fight for Truth
True Story Tech (& Science)
Throughout The Xianova Chronicles, Guardsmen and even some of the outlaws use weapons equipped with DNA-encoded locking systems that allow only the owner to fire the weapon.
Almost all of us have biometrically locked phones now, using fingerprints and/or face ID tech. How big of a leap would it be to use our actual DNA?
Well, we can already detect DNA in fingerprint oils...
Touch DNA: How to Detect Invisible Traces at Crime Scenes (Forensics Colleges, 2024). Touch DNA -- DNA from sloughed off skin cells found in fingerprint oils -- can be successfully recovered from a variety of surfaces, and analyzed with the help of Rapid DNA tests.
If we improve accuracy and translate this technology to an accurate biometric sensor, we can make DNA locks a reality!
Stillll working on The Erebi and The Blessed (Books 2-3 of The Xianova Chronicles)
Personal Life:
These two memes pretty much sum up the last month (year?, decade?).
I love my neighbors...but the extremely nice lady across the street toodles around her yard on her riding mower like every other day. It's golf-course short.
I know she feels the pressure worse than I do. If I start mowing to look at least decent by comparison, she will assume she missed the memo and immediately hop on the mower again. 😅
Lucky for her, I draw the line at push-mowing our 1/2 acre yard 1.5 times per week, no matter how tall the jungle gets...
But hey! I finally conquered 99% of Thistletopia just in time for fall garden cleanup, so I decided to cut my losses and at least be 'on time' for the rest of the gardening season. Feels good to let that go.
And by "let that go," I mean I'm currently shopping for a second set of shelves and grow lights so I can squeeze 9/10 of my back-deck seedling collection into my basement for the winter.😂
Darryl (5) & Shawnie (2): They're joining Chicken's accountability committee on behalf of all of my loyal Xianova Chronicles fans. Unless I'm feeding them, holding them, or playing with them, the only other acceptable location for me to be is in the office. No need for potty breaks or clean clothes or other stupid stuff.
Darryl's willing to be civil. Shawnie's waiting for me to start following directions... Chicken threatens violence and dishonor on me and my cow (see the YouTube short ➡️)!
The three of them staging their strike outside the open doorway of my office...
Chicken (14):
I attempted to buy off the Boss, but she noticed my cone was bigger than her pup cup...
As promised, here's more about Nick, my new intern.
I've known Nicholas for about ten years -- he's a former student of mine, from back when I was a middle school autism teacher. Nick is an incredibly intelligent guy with a ton of heart and integrity -- who loves advanced math, science and the periodic table, RPGs, history/trivia, and writing stories. Autism has its benefits as well as drawbacks for him, as it does for most -- and one of the drawbacks is limited career options. By interning with me, he hopes to learn to be a better writer, as well as gaining social and entrepreneurial skills to expand his career options.
Here's his first writing assignment (draft an author bio):
Nicholas Weaver writes superhero stories because he believes that even in the darkest of times, a just and happy ending is always worth fighting for. He can often be seen perusing the unusual articles section of Wikipedia and building the perfect deck in Balatro, but above all else, he is a devout Catholic.
If you know a young adult with autism (or another disability) who shares a vision similar to your own and has an applicable skillset, I'd encourage you to volunteer as a job coach/mentor/teacher! If you are able to arrange an internship, there are some programs out there (at least in Iowa) that may even provide reimbursement for paid ones.
Last time, Ainan was disconnected from her body and met Ellie in the Void -- where she found out it was possible to disconnect at will and take over other people's bodies. Meanwhile, Tucker visited Earth in hopes of stopping the Tjalian invasion.
You voted for "author's choice" again -- which puts you at my mercy! (Why do you keep doing this to yourselves?😂)
If you're behind the times on Time Jumper, you can catch up by scrolling up on the web page after clicking the button below. Don't forget to vote on which way to go for the next chapter!
Chapter 15: Grandpa
The glowing map on the woman’s arm was marked with several locations. She pinch-zoomed in on what appeared to be their current location on the street corner in Des Moines, and tapped another location marked nearby in a different color.
The frigid wind howled down the street and rushed between them like a quarterback. The sleet un-paused, nipping again at Ethan's left cheek and hand, pattering down on the street around them like scattered rice. The smell of exhaust seared his nose. Time had restarted.
The men from the forest were all too close when...
NOTE: Because the newsletter has extra segments this month, this section will likely be clipped short by your email client. Click here to go straight to the book deals on the web version!
Prequel to the fantasy novel Kalani: Shadows of Destiny by Jolene Fine.
Before Zach became the revered Soul-gazer in the immortal realm of Kalani, he was known as the Ornithican Hero in the mortal world of Therma. When an ethereal voice beckons him on a perilous quest, Zach risks his life in obedience... --READ MORE--
Note from Jen: This is a prequel short story to a complete, allegorical Christian fantasy series (a little like The Chronicles of Narnia). Check it out and let me know what you think!
Prologue to the Defiant Space books and the Infinite Void series
In this cosmic adventure, the Ambassador of a mysterious and ancient family must forge a path through chaos to overcome the terrible enemies that desire humanity’s destruction.
Her plan to avert galactic catastrophe will unite a band of survivors who have faced every imaginable danger and disaster. Note from Jen: Sounds a little like Dune, n'est-ce pas?
Note from Jen: This series is complete and comes from a prolific author.
Five ordinary lives. One extraordinary transformation. A world hanging in the balance.
Deep in an ancient mountain range, a mysterious power awakens within Benedict Tourus, transforming him into something beyond human. As four others join him, each sprouting wings and developing supernatural abilities, they discover they're part of an ancient order known as the Volcan Knights.
Under the guidance of the enigmatic Victor, they begin to master their newfound powers and uncover the weight of their sacred duty. But as visions of burning cities and shadowy threats plague their minds, the group must confront an impossible choice...
*Please use your own best judgment while perusing the book deals I provide. I choose them based on descriptions and/or previews, unless I indicate otherwise. They may contain objectionable content.
*FREE* Sci-Fi & Fantasy Reads with a $25 Gift Card Giveaway!
Escape into 30 fantastic and futuristic worlds with these FREE sci-fi and fantasy ebooks! Browse your next favorite reads and sign up to enter the gift card giveaway too! Time runs out on this promo 10/31/25 (Prize awarded 11/3/25).
46 *FREE* Christian books and short stories of various genres, including sci-fi, contemporary romance, historical fiction, and nonfiction/self-help -- available until 10/31/25.
Something a little different from the norm: Find Christian romances of many sub-genres (or as a sub-genre) here (sci-fi, fantasy, Westerns, cozy, etc.) -- from many of the same authors of the free books in the promo above -- including the Kalani series for which the prequel story is a featured selection this month. Available until 10/31/25. Grab whole series on sale!
Thanks for reading this episode of The Blessed Bulletin! Let's connect on socials if we haven't already (or if you prefer that to emails). See you next month!
