They are the characters everyone usually hates in a book.
I often use them as a catalyst for the conflict. They are my seedy characters and tend to make your skin crawl (or at least I think and hope so).
In The Surrender of a Lady, my villain is actually an all around nice kind of guy. Yes, he has a harem full of slaves, and he keeps his pretty birds leashed inside their palace prison, but he cares for them in his own way. Still, he is a villain.
Before I went into my rewrite for The Seduction of his Wife (actually long before that), I knew I needed to feature my villain more than I previously had. I was avoiding writing more scenes with him. I dreaded thinking about him. Gooseflesh prickles on my arms whenever I conjure him up in my head (probably because I know him better than everyone else).
When writing, I like to get right into my characters head and portray them as I see them through their eyes (hey, I’m a writer, I’m allowed to be strange). I did NOT want to do this with Waverly. Pardon my French but, he scared the shit out of me.
You want to know why? Simple answer really. He was crazy! His mind so far gone from his abuse of drugs that he’s stark raving mad. Crazy as a cat strung out on a bag full of catnip. The devil in sheepskin is Waverly to a tee.
One of my crit partners suggested I do some scenes from his point-of-view when I was stuck on how to up the ante in the conflict department. I was quick to scream… ARE YOU CRAZY? Waverly is a lunatic, I am NOT going into his head. He scares me. I know he’s not real, but when you are writing a book the characters kind of come to life. Hell, I dream about my characters! I couldn’t imagine dreaming about Waverly. I get the shivers just thinking about him.
I don’t know how some writers go into the bad guys point of view. I envy them their ability (on second thought, maybe not). There was no way I could tell a scene from Waverly’s POV. I liked keeping him out of my head. I like to think it was safer and easier to stay sane that way.
For writers and readers–what are some of the creepiest villains you’ve read in romance? What made them creepy? For the other writers out there–how do you deal with villains in your writing? Do you dive right into their head? See them from a safe distance (in another character’s pov), or avoid them altogether?
