Look at the river that is above and slightly-to-the-right of the of the body of water called 'The Bite'. I see nothing there but a river that sorta looks like it is flowing inward.
On other maps the river flows out of the mountains and becomes a fork. This river looks like it is flowing from the ocean and becoming a fork inland.
Am I just misunderstanding this?

From what I know about rivers flow out of the mountains and down into the lake or ocean;
Mountain Water/Snow --> Gullies --> Streams --> Rivers --> Lake or Ocean.

But it seems in many fantasy series that all rivers start at the ocean and flow into the land. For example, George R. R. Martin's novel 'Game of Thrones' has a map in it. The map shows the rivers starting from the ocean. I have noticed this in a few other books as well.

Perhaps I am misreading the map but It looks this way to me.
Am I just missing something?

Sounds like skin trade. Anita Blake. She impressed some SWAT guys in Vegas by benching twice her weight. This is fine though because she is this living vampire, werebeast, necromancer hybrid. Simply put, she has super powers.

Any ways, it sounds to me like the main problem is not so much gender roles but the reason why a character acts the way he or she does. A female character can have all of the stereotypical masculine traits but it is unbelievable if there isn't a reason for it.

Does it make much of a difference? I figured that if it is a good story then the characters gender doesn't matter much but I have heard that most people prefer female characters.
What are your thoughts on this?
Btw, I am talking about the supernatural sci-fi genre.