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We bought land in the mountains last spring, a Shangri-La escape from hectic day jobs. The critters outnumber the people, so when we kick back at the end of the day with a glass of wine, we watch the wild kingdom. Wood ducks, geese and the occasional heron hang out in the spring-fed pond. Owls haunt the trees at the edge of the woods. There’s even a bald eagle – how cool is that? They’re huge and have the haughty, I rule supreme around here attitude.
But I love the hawks. They ride the wind currents on wide wings until – boom – plummeting into the hay field after one of those irritating voles that dig huge holes and eat flower bulbs.
Spring rolled into summer and we spent long days clearing the property. The Canadian geese resented our work around the pond, departing with loud complaints. The wood ducks were more discrete, quietly fading into the rushes. Then ducks do what ducks do – we do write romance at Carina Press – and soon lines of yellow and brown fluffiness appeared behind the adults.
Gradually though, the lines got shorter and piles of poofed feathers appeared in the meadow. Yep, it appears hawks like baby ducks as much as they do voles.
Did your attitude towards the hawks just change?
Is the hawk a ‘bad guy’ or is it just doing what hawks are programmed to do in order to survive?
I had a lot of time to think about predators while cutting the hay field. I shared that story here. For many authors, the villain is a predator, either physically hurting someone or exploiting a situation for their own benefit. The best antagonists, in my opinion, have a reason for what they do, even if it only makes sense to them.
In the animal world, hawks eat to survive and they keep the world from being overrun with ducks. While a hawk is clearly a predator, is predator status inherently a bad thing? Or does it depend upon your perspective? Does it depend on the predator’s motivation?
What do you think makes the most intriguing villains?
When I write, I create a world, populate it with characters – good and not so good – and invite the reader along for the ride. An important element in making that journey rewarding is figuring out what motivates the characters. In THE PROFESSOR, the villain may have been warped by his childhood, but he chose to cross the line and prey on college women.
Meet the villain in THE PROFESSOR - what’s your perspective on him?
The Professor stared at the young women arrayed in tiers before him, like a banquet offered for a visiting prince. I’ll have that one, he thought, and that one.
His gaze moved from the blonde to a brunette. Her long, silky tresses cascaded past her shoulders. She noticed him watching her and self-consciously looked away. He continued past her, losing interest. Vapid; an unworthy opponent.
He moved on, ignoring the corpulent ones, fastidious in his taste. Already, he heard the summons inside him. For now, his hunting was leisurely, merely considering possibilities. His mind and body still resonated with Emily’s death. He needed time to appreciate her, to review the triumph of his endeavors.
Nevertheless, the craving was there, a faint scratching in his belly. The want, the need, had become more insistent with each success. His eyes swept across the classroom. If his prey wasn’t here, there were other venues, numerous colleges where lovely, young women congregated, careless with their lives and their bodies, convinced they were invulnerable and perhaps immortal.
Another woman entered the classroom, late, but unrepentant.
He smiled. He’d been watching this one, studying her. He knew her routine: the library, the sorority house, the businesses she frequented on the Strip. She moved freely about campus, often alone, sure of herself.
Like all women, she was a fool.
No woman was a match for a man, especially one like him.
Silently, he watched her cross the room. Something was different. She always moved with a
confident grace. Today, she carried an added glow. Sexuality simmered below the surface. Something had awakened it.
His instincts responded. Like fresh blood drew a predator, she enticed his senses.
Others noticed, as well. Cocky young men, testosterone-driven, followed her movements. Her hips rolled in her tight jeans and her breasts jostled softly, unrestrained beneath the sweatshirt. Her hair cascaded in a riot of curls around her face. Usually she confined it, smoothing it back in a braid.
Triumph surged through him. He could always spot the ones with a secret. She’d held herself out as different, demure. But she was a slut like all the other women. She had risen late from her lover’s bed to come to him.
She will be mine.
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The Professor released this week! To celebrate, I’m giving away a copy to a commenter.
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You can learn more about Cathy’s writing at her website: www.cperkinswrites.com
Photos used by permission. Credits: hawk photograph Eagle Brother ; duck photograph NJ Birds
I see enough genuine evil representing abused and neglected children that I don’t seek it in my entertainment, so my villains tend to fall close that mark you mention–they have reasons, or at least reasons they tell themselves. I also like it when the villain and the hero/heroine resonate somehow, each a reflection of what the other could become, but for choices consciously made. I also have a hard time meting out justice to my villains on the page, but I’m getting better at it…
And I will not read “The Professor” late at night when the moon is new, but I love the voice.
{{Hug}} on the day job – it takes a special person to do that.
I didn’t see the parallels when I wrote the first draft, but once I saw it during editing passes, I did try to emphasize that resonance (great word) without putting it in the reader’s face.
Glad you like the voice – and can read with the lights on
Great snippet, Cathy and congrats again on the release of The Professor!
I agree that the antagonist in a story has to be more than a mustache-twirling villain who exists solely to be a foil for the h/h. I’ve heard many times that the villain has to feel he’s the hero of his own story, and I try to do that in my own books by giving even my nastiest bad guys very strong reasons for doing what they do.
Oh, I agree Alix!
If the antagonist isn’t a strong character, then the hero/heroine doesn’t have a monumental task to overcome … and the story can fall flat
Oooh, compelling excerpt, Cathy! Congratulations on the release of The Professor. I think it’s fascinating to study what makes a villain–there are so many kinds, and some repel me more than others. My villains tend to be people driven by ambitions and goals that push them past the point of caring about what they do or who they hurt. But maybe, since a greedy or driven person should and maybe could know better, he’s a worse kind of villain than one with true damage, who doesn’t know anything but that he or she has a mission or a calling–it’s just an evil one in the eyes of society. Wow, now you’ve got me thinking
Great topic.
Good luck with your release. I wish you many happy sales!
Made you think – my job here is done
I know we’re chatting about Professor, but the villains in my current WIP (there’s more than one!) are so driven by greed that those lose that perspective–the effect of their actions on others. It was harder to write, because as rational people they should have known better – and I agree, that made them worse!
Chilling premise Cathy. Congrats on the release.
You make an interesting analogy with your mountain home. Sparked an interesting debate in my head. Villains replicate predatory behavior through choice, the dark side of our position as an “enlightened” species. As you mention, animals are doing what nature intended. They don’t make choices, stuck with a template from which they cannot divert. We all know what happens when the balance of predator and prey is skewed.
I guess all living things engage a dual role of predator and prey, including lower forms (if you consider micro-animals prey). Humans unbalanced their role by removing most of their traditional predators. The unbalance is creating newer forms of human predator, one in the form of increased self inflicted violence (hence your story). Another is evolving, the ruthless striving of microorganisms to reach incurable status.
Wonder if there’s a romantic thriller in the other? Contagion mutates to each individual. Survival of mankind depends on finding someone with exactly the same mutation. Odds against it are akin to winning the lottery. Will this new criteria in the makeup of human emotion force an all out search to find the one true love? It’s a big planet. Time is running out.
Aren’t I all anthropologic today.
I love how your mind works!
And you absolutely have to write that thriller! Add the love interest and go for it.
Big congrats on your release day, Cathy!!!
One reason I like the TV series Justified is that you see so much of the paradox in all of the characters. They are all exquisitely flawed so that you find yourself rooting for most of them at some point or at the very least wondering which side they are going to come down on.
I’ve heard about that show – I’ll have to find out when it airs around here. It sounds fascinating.
Did you ever read The Day of the Jackal? It’s told from the POV of the assassin – and you find yourself rooting for him to succeed. Sort of like Dexter – given his motivation, the serial killer ends up as the protagonist.
I guess it really does depend on your perspective!
Lover everything! The cover, the excerpt…now if I can just HIDE so i can go read it!!!
Sleep? Who needs sleep?
LOL – thanks for stopping by
Congrats on your books release. I find some of the best villains I’ve “met” are those who I could understand where they were coming from. Whether I agree with them or not, this extra insight I find adds more dimension to a story.
Thanks, Na –
I think showing the villain’s motivation makes that character more 3D, too. I need to invest in the H/H and if the villain seems “real” rather than a cardboard cut-out, then I care a lot more whether the H/H succeed.
Great excerpt, Cathy. I can’t wait to read it. Congratulations on your release and I wish you every success!
Hi Sharon! Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoy it.
Wow, Cathy! What an intriguing excerpt. I love, love, LOVE dark romantic suspences (and paranormals. This has all the earmarks of a huge success! Kudos to you.
Hi Cadence
I’m glad you enjoyed the excerpt. If you like dark, this is a story for you
Thanks for coming by!
Mega-congrats on your release! Judging from that excerpt, the sales should roll in! I know I can’t wait to read it! Love the observations on villains too – really got me thinking.
Hi Marlo
I think the villain is so important to a suspense and it seems a lot of people around here agree.
Thanks for stopping in – hope you enjoy the story
This is next to read on my Nook shelf. Can’t wait!
I, too, like reading books where I can understand the bad guy. He can’t be all bad, just as a hero can’t be all good.
As someone who’s spent time with a serial killer, I can tell you that you can’t tell by looking at them or even talking to them that they’re psycho nut jobs.