Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Wednesday Guest- Kathy Lane

ATTENTION READERS: Join me on my July Blog Tour and play my Scavenger Blog Game. Visit each of my blog/interview sites for the month of July and leave a comment. At the end of July, one lucky winner will receive a prize package which includes a copy of Bloodsworn I and II, a $25 Amazon gift card, and more! Happy July!

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that a villain is just another character in a story. Villains, or antagonists, serve a two-fold purpose. One, they act as the adversary who throws up obstacles the hero/heroine must struggle to overcome. And two, they provide readers with a diametrically opposed set of characteristics that make it easy for us to identify and love the protagonist. Quite often, it’s the villain who turns a good story into an exceptional story.

Whether in movies or books, we all love to hate the scoundrel who’s trying to ruin the lives of our hero and heroine. Villains, however, need not be hand-rubbing, mustache-twirling, monsters to do their job. Nor are they always male. Some of the most nasty villains in literature are female. Who didn’t hide their eyes from the Wicked Witch of the West the first time they saw the Wizard of Oz as a child? And did anyone really empathize with the Ice Queen of Narnia? Not me!

Even modern day fiction (i.e. romantic paranormals), has its share of hateful ladies. Take Artemis, the self-centered femme-fatale who lives to make Acheron’s life miserable in Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series. Anyone who has read these books, especially Acheron’s story, can’t help but wish the selfish goddess would get a taste of what she’s dealt out to others.

Some might argue that Artemis is more of a secondary character. While that’s true in some of the books, it can’t be denied that her malicious meddling is a wonderful tool that adds tension and conflict throughout the Dark Hunter world. Nalini Singh also handles this well in her Psy/Changling series with her Nikita Duncan character. As the mother of the heroine, Nikita starts out cold-blooded and easy to hate in book one, Slave to Sensation. Her sole purpose seems to be to heap stress and heartache on her daughter. I’m not giving away anything here, but exploring this character’s growth over the arc of the series is well worth the read.

Male or female, villains are integral members of a plot, especially if your story arc spans more than one book. In my Bloodsworn series, the protagonists face numerous hurdles, but none so daunting as the main villain. Camarie, that power-hungry Bloodsworn, is out to rule the planet, Avalyr. Nothing and no one is going to stand in his way, least of all his nephew Devlin’s new Starmate, Avera St. John. Find out what new plans he has for her and her First Blade, Bracca Cu-Laurian, in Bloodsworn II: Linked by Blood, due out July 15th from The Wild Rose Press.
Bracca has plenty to worry about as he struggles to cement his place as Avera’s First Amber Blade. His determination to gets thrown off course when he meets Sheren Ni-Annun, a young widow who wants nothing more to do with Blades. She’s seen first hand how their loyalty to their Bloodsworn can poison a family. But when Camarie’s hate oozes out to threaten her son’s life, who better than a Blade to help her keep her child alive?

For those playing my Scavenger Blog Game, here’s question (2): Who is the nastiest villain you can think of. Male or female, human or…something else altogether, name the favorite character you love to hate.

Publisher: http://www.thewildrosepress.com
Amazon:

My website: www.kyrlane.com

10 comments:

desitheblonde said...

this book is a eye catcher and would like to read and blog on it

Eliza March said...

I was fortunate to be a beta reader on the second book and I've read the first too. This series is a great adventure romance. I like how each book stands alone but the stories are interwoven. I'm looking forward to reading more about these characters and this magical world.
Congratulations on your new release.

Lilly Gayle said...

I agree. Villains need to be 3 dimensional and not Snidely Whiplass cartoon characters. As for my favorite villain, it would have to be Frances Dolarhyde in Red Dragon. After he met the blind girl, he became sympathetic and "almost" likeable....aside from the fact that he was freakin' crazy. lol!

Marianne Stephens said...

Gotta love/hate those villains. Without them, some stories fall flat, and if not done correctly to entice readers, plots don't work.
I have one book where the villain's POV is done in first person...just so the readers can see how EVIL he really is! The rest of the book is in third person.

GladysMP said...

The most recent villain I have read about was in the book The Wedding Season. The book contains two stories but the story by Louise M. Gouge was one of the most delightful love stories I have read. The villain was a peer who took advantage of his title, but the hero came to the rescue in true heroic fashion. We've been so busy around here lately that I have yet to visit the author's website, but I plan to let her know how much I enjoyed her story. She was a new author for me.

GladysMP said...

I actually failed to name the villain I detested in Louise M. Gouge's story, but it was Lord Chiselton, a viscount. Talk about egotistical!

JaneE2059 said...

Black Jack Randall from OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon is one of the worst villains.

B. A. Binns said...

My favorite villain's name is Richard Bantling, and he's not in a romance novel, but a legal thriller called Retribution and its sequel Last Witness. This guy could give Hannibal the cannibal a few lessons in intimidation and cruelty. He's my favorite kind, a combination sociopath and psychopath, and women do not want to catch his eye. Ever.

Two dimensional - maybe. But creepy - absolutly.

Kathy Lane said...

Thanks Desi and Eliza. One week and counting until release day! Thanks, too, to everyone who shared their favorite villain. Look for my next blog stop at http://romanceinflight.blogspot.com/

Robin said...

Hannibal Lecter is a pretty darn creepy villian..

Robin D
robindpdx (at) yahoo (dot) com