WICKED WEDNESDAY
Please join me in welcoming F.M. Meredith as my guest on Wicked Wednesday.
As a mystery writer I’ve created my share of
villains. However, sometimes the guilty party in a story isn’t really villain,
but rather someone who reacted in a violent way to circumstances.
Most writers have been told that a hero or heroine
shouldn’t be all good and a villain shouldn’t be all bad. I suppose that’s true
in many cases, but if you’re writing about a sociopath or a psychopath it might
be difficult to come up with a “good” trait to give them.
Most readers, myself included, seem to favor
characters who have a bit of wickedness in them. And it’s also fun to really
hate a bad character.
One of the worst characters I ever wrote about—and I
had fun doing it—was a really bad police officer. He was nothing like the
police officers who get in trouble today; this guy had no redeeming qualities.
And yes, I based him on a police officer I knew many years ago, but made the
character far worse.
Of course there have been other true villains in
many of my mysteries, but in others, the person who committed the crime didn’t
fit the definition of a villain.
In my latest book, I have two villains. One is a
convicted criminal, Omar Padweitz, set
upon getting revenge, and the other is Elford Lemus, the leader of an odd
religious sect. I had fun writing about both of them and
giving them what I felt were appropriate names.
F. M. Meredith who is also known as Marilyn Meredith
Blurb for A Crushing Death:
A pile of rocks is found on a dead body
beneath the condemned pier, a teacher is accused of molesting a student, the
new police chief is threatened by someone she once arrested for attacking
women, and Detective Milligan’s teenage daughter has a big problem.
Marilyn Meredith aka F.M. Meredith
Latest Books: Not as it Seems and Violent Departures
Visit me at http://fictionforyou.com/
Blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/
Thank you so much for hosting me today, Brenda. This was a fun topic.
ReplyDeleteIt's great having you on Wicked Wednesday, Marilyn!
DeleteAnd A Crushing Death is on my to read list :)
ReplyDeleteGreat, I hope you enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteLove it Marilyn, exactly the type of character I've been creating for my next book...Thanks. Marcia Rosen (M.Glenda Rosen)
ReplyDeleteI had fun writing this post as well as writing my bad guys (and gals.)
DeleteLike you, Marilyn, I have fun creating bad guys and gals in my stories. It's even more fun, however, seeing they get what's coming to them at the end.
ReplyDeleteYep, in our imaginary worlds we can make sure the bad guy gets what he/she deserves by the end.
DeleteI love my bad guys almost more than I love my good ones! So far, I seem to find that sisters make great villains... at least in two of my books. For the new series I'm working on, I have some really bad bad guys... those psychopaths you talked about seem to single out my heroine, Skylark. You're right, it is hard to find redeeming qualities in them, but I'm working on it... Thanks for a great post, Marilyn!
ReplyDeleteLet's face it, Susan, writing bad guys is just fun!
ReplyDeleteMarilyn, would you consider making me an Irish terrorist. I know bad guys or gals can be fun to create, but you know you either have to kill them off, send them to jail or possibly let them escape to reappear in another story in your series. I know when I first watched TRAINING DAY, I thought not another cop bashing movie, but then he was turned into a real bad guy and eventually offed. That made it okay.
ReplyDeleteI don't think an Irish terrorist would turn up in a small beach town--I've already got you pegged.
ReplyDelete