All stories have their villains, or antagonists. My new contemporary romance novel, The Scandal, has one Randy Hall. He is perhaps one of my most villainous characters to date. Randy is Lauren McAllen’s, ex-husband. His goal is to destroy her at all costs.
Randy and Lauren had a dream marriage until Randy starated doing drugs. This left Lauren with no alternative but to file for divorce once the marriage became toxic. Randy, however, doesn’t think he has a problem. He sees Lauren’s departure as abandonment. As the story unfolds, Lauren is unwittingly caught up in a major Hollywood scandal. Randy will seize the opportunity to use it as a weapon to ruin Lauren’s life and destroy her career.
Many of us have experienced relationships which started out well, only to unravel because we didn’t know the other person had an addiction disorder. Addicts don’t come with warning labels. They are oftentimes masters at hiding their addictions until it becomes too late. Once the addiction becomes known, most partners will leave the relationship as quickly as possible. Others may go into their own form of denial, believing they can change the addict. It’s a great romantic fairytale, but one I will never write about, because the only person who can change the addict is the addict him or herself. In the real world, the so-called helpful partner becomes the enabler who reinforces the addiction, and the relationship typically doesn’t end well.
Randy is a composite character. His inspiration comes from a few men I’ve known in the past who, unfortunately, turned out to have addictive disorders. Thankfully, none them were as toxic as Randy, and the relationships didn’t last long.
Marina Martindale
The Scandal is available on Amazon, Barnesandnoble.com and other online booksellers.
Marina Martindale writes and edits all of her blog posts herself. She does not use AI software or images of any kind. No part of this blog may be used or reproduced or transmitted in any form, or used in any matter by AI, without the express written consent Good Oak Press, LLC. Requests for permission must be addressed to Good Oak Press, LLC, P.O. Box 51244, Denton, TX 76206-1244