You Know You've Created a Good Villain When...

Got a call the other day from a lady who is interested in doing the final proof-reading for my latest novel, The Reunion.  She wanted to see a sample, so I sent the first three chapters to her.  When she called to go over it with me, one of the first things she said was, "That Ryan is a real S.O.B."

The Ryan she's referring to is a character named Ryan Knight.  Ryan is the first of many villains who appear throughout the story.  I'll admit, I had fun when I created Ryan.  He was inspired by an old boyfriend who was extremely moody, along with my ex-husband, a good friend's ex-husband, and every bad date I ever had.  With a cocktail like that you know you're going to have a good villain. 

So my soon-to-be proofreader tells me that she printed out the pages, and was going over them in the laundry room at her apartment complex.  She says she actually started yelling and cursing at Ryan, and then she laughed when she said she noticed some of the other neighbors in the laundry room were giving her strange looks.  I had to laugh as well.  This tells me that the character I created is three-dimensional, believable, and, most importantly, makes an emotional impact on the reader.  Hopefully, the rest of the cast will have turned out as well.

In the meantime, remember that a good villain is essential to create the conflict that drives your plot lines, and real people in your life whom you have had conflicts with can be good inspirations.  Just be sure not to make any of your characters, good or bad, a clone of any real person.  Be creative.  Give your villains a unique look and personality, and, most importantly, have fun while you're creating them.


I will keep you posted on updates for The Reunion.  I hope to have it available on Kindle by Christmas, and the printed version is scheduled for release sometime in March.

Enjoy.

GM

aka Marina Martindale