Connie Neiland as Mythical Heroine

I'm reading a book called The Key by James N. Frey. It's about using "the power of myth" in story telling.

It starts in with describing the mythical hero, or heroine. It lists and describes the attributes that make a hero, or heroine mythical.

I wrote The Seven Second Kiss before I found out about this but when I went through the essential attributes of a mythical heroine I was pleased to find out that Connie Neiland fills the bill.

Let me just go through the attributes of a mythical heroine and show how Connie fits them. This may be a bit of a spoiler for the book. You might like to read it first.

"The Heroine Has Courage (Or Finds It in the Course of the Story)"
I suppose the case could be made that her leaving her home to avoid the nasty consequences of an unexpected pregnancy is an act of cowardice, and that a person with courage would have stayed and taken on the pressures of an unforgiving society. That would have been a different story. Connie wanted a better life for herself and demonstrated her courage by leaving home with a desire to take control over her life in a new environment.

"The Heroine Is Clever And Resourceful"
Connie demonstrates many small instances of being clever and resourceful throughout her story, but she really shows it when she digs deep in the finale.

"The Heroine Has a "Special Talent.""
Connie has an amazing singing voice, a very good ear for music and a natural talent for interpreting music and lyrics with her voice. She very quickly picks up on and incorporates African American styling in her singing. As her friend Mae says, "She don't sing like no white girl."

"The Heroine is an "Outlaw," Living by Her Own Rules"
Connie has yet to really manifest this to any great extent. Nevertheless she did have a detective with the New York Police Department come looking for her, and she did mastermind the caper . . . well, you'll have to read the story for that because I'm not going to spoil it here.

"The Heroine is Good at What She Does for a Living"
Connie washes dishes for a living. It's hard work and it doesn't pay well. On her first night doing it she pitched right in and proved her worth to her boss and the others she worked with. They all looked on her as an asset.

"The Heroine Is a Protagonist (Takes the Lead in a Cause or Action at Some Point in the Story)"
Connie does this several times in The Seven Second Kiss. When faced with giving in to an unhappy future she takes risks and directs a great many people to change her fate and theirs as well.

"The Heroine Has Been "Wounded" (Maimed, Disgraced, Grieving for a Lost Loved One, Etc.) or is Wounded in the Course of the Story"
Just before the beginning of the story, Connie realizes that she is unexpectedly pregnant and has seen that the father of her child has been acting toward her as though she were his property. In 1935 an unmarried seventeen year old high school student with an unexpected pregnancy was indeed wounded.

"The Heroine is Motivated by Idealism--at Least at Some Point in the Story"
Connie left her home and school to get away from what she saw as an oppressive future for her. Eventually she decided for the good of her child that she was prepared to go back into that situation. There are other smaller instances where she demonstrated that.

The Heroine is Sexually Potent
Connie didn't exactly go around flaunting it. She spends the story pregnant and she does attract the attention of saxophone player, Jordan Cropper. Not to spoil it but this characteristic is again proved at the story's end.

Those are the attributes required for a character to be mythical. As you can see, Connie Neiland has them all.