That’s what a fellow author once said to me. Of course, she didn’t mean literally, although she had a point. She writes nonfiction, and her comment had to do with some of the things we novel writers do to our characters. She’s right. Some of the things we to our characters is just plain mean. Then again, some of those characters have it coming.
I was telling her about Scott, an antagonist in my contemporary romance novel, The Deception. Let’s face it. Scott isn’t the nicest guy on the planet. He’s a married man who puts himself out as a single guy, and his actions have hurt a lot of people, especially Carrie. Once Carrie and her friends realize Scott’s stories aren’t adding up she ditches him. I had originally planned on writing him out of the story at that point. However, readers would expect him to be held accountable for what he did, and they would be disappointed if he were able to simply walk away.
Scott is later arrested for a crime he didn’t commit, and he gets his comeuppance in the form of a humiliating strip search. I strive for accuracy when I write because I want my contemporary romance novels to be as realistic and believable as possible. This means I do a lot of research, so I told the nonfiction author that I went online and read testimonials by real people who’ve had this experience. I then based Scott’s story on those real-life accounts. That’s when she looked at me and said, “You novel writer’s are evil.”
Well, what can I say? She wrote a memoir. I write fiction.
Marina Martindale
The Deception is available on Amazon, and BarnesandNoble.com. To read a free sample please click here.