The goal is not to have surprising, strong female leads. The goal is for it to not be a surprise that a female lead is strong.

I have such mixed feelings about the phrase “strong female lead.” She’s the lead. She should be strong. She’d better be strong! Girls need their leads to be strong. I like a lot of books with “strong female leads.” But the fact is, I just like a lot of books with strong characters. Often if the female lead is strong, the rest of the book is also strong. The male leads in the book are also strong. These things aren’t a surprise, so no one comments on them. So keep the strong female leads coming. Keep them coming until it’s something that’s expected.