Susan Sands: What Makes a Villain?

I’m sitting at the beach contemplating my next villain. What makes a villain? Are they mostly evil, mentally damaged, or just want what they can’t have? How badly must they behave to be villainous enough? Can they change?

In my debut novel, AGAIN, ALABAMA, my hero and heroine were kept apart for ten or so years by many factors, not the least of which was a traitorous best friend, who is referred to as “crazy” several time throughout the book. I’d like to think there’s a fine line when writing that delineates our nutty characters from our mentally unbalanced ones. My gal was crazy mean and ended up going off the deep end, which got her killed eventually. I treated her as a villain, but also as a person who’d lost control. After her death, it dawned on the affected characters that she’d been sick, and they, in turn, demonstrated compassion and understanding for her because they finally realized that what she’d lived with had really been mental illness—even though her actions had destroyed lives, especially her own.

I tried to be careful how I portrayed my villainess. She became a mother, whose out-of-control emotions had negative lasting effects on her daughter, husband and everyone around her.

Believe it or not, my story would be considered a fun, Southern summer read!

Thanks to Lee for hosting me on her wonderful blog today! I love to connect with readers!!

She’s back in Alabama—again.

Scorned television chef, Cammie Laroux, is dragged back to small-town Alabama to help her mom recover from surgery, sort through family drama and rescue her family’s event planning business after a humiliating, very public career debacle. Her sneaky siblings have failed to mention that Grey Harrison, the love of her life and the reason she left town, is also back home. Now a widower with a young daughter, he is currently renovating her childhood home.

Grey has spent ten years dreaming of a reunion with Cammie, whom he’s never stopped loving even though he annihilated her heart in an unforgivable way with her best friend.  When they are finally face to face, the sparks and emotions are off the charts, but even a master architect and carpenter like Grey faces a near impossible challenge to rebuild his relationship with Cammie.

 As Cammie finds herself forgetting all the reasons she can’t trust Grey or love again, Grey is determined to use all his skills to persuade Cammie to stay with him in Alabama forever.

Susan Sands grew up in a real life Southern Footloose town in Northwest Louisiana, complete with her senior class hosting the first ever prom in the history of their tiny public school with half the town chaperoning. Is it any wonder she writes Southern small town stories full of porch swings, fun and romance?

Susan lives in Alpharetta, Georgia surrounded by her husband, three young adult kiddos and lots of material for her next book.

Find me at:

Facebook Author Page:  https://www.facebook.com/susannsandsauthor

Twitter:  @SusanNoelSands

Blog:  Sweet Home Alpharetta at susansands.com

Susan Sands