by Jamie FrevelettiWe all know the famous characters in literature: Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, Sherlock Holmes in the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Percy Blakeney in the Scarlet Pimpernel. Also well known are the opposites that play against these famous protagonists. Without the...
International Villains and Their Motives
by Karna Small BodmanAll this week my Rogue colleagues have been writing terrific articles about various types of villains, from those featured in great thrillers to historical and contemporary leaders who have been responsible for heinous acts not only against their adversaries,...
LORD OF ALL THE BEASTS
In any country there must be people who have to die. They are the sacrifices any nation has to make to achieve law and order. --Idi Amin Dadaby KJ HoweAfrica was once my home. My father was responsible for telecommunications in Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. In the years I lived...
MAKING MR. WRONG
S. Lee Manning: The topic for this round of blogs for Rogue Women Writers is creating a great villain. (If you haven't already, sign up to subscribe to our blog here.) In honor of the current topic, I am sharing my recipe. Caution: this recipe is for international or...
HERE’S A GREAT VILLAIN FOR YOU … NOW WHAT DO YOU DO?
BY GAYLE LYNDS: How do you beat an unbeatable villain? As an author, it’s a question I grapple with a lot. For inspiration, let’s take a look at one of history’s most notorious and elusive mass contract killers. . . .“He almost never emerged from the turbid underworld of...
ELAINE VIETS GOES ROGUE – LOOK GOOD IN YOUR COFFIN
by Elaine Viets (Guest Blogging for Chris Goff)I find Elaine Viets inspiring! A multi-published, award-winning writer of four mystery series, she has often gone to extremes to find her story. For example, to know of what she writes, she has worked most of the jobs in her Dead-End Job Mysteries....
HOW TO TAKE THE PAIN: ADVICE YOU CAN USE RIGHT NOW
by Sonja StoneWhat Doesn’t Kill You Makes You… Stronger, Bitter, Drunk. It Depends On Your Attitude.My sensei, Michael CerpokI was having dinner with a friend last night, and he said, “I couldn’t help but notice the uncanny resemblance between you and your main character. You’re both five-two, of...
THE CON ARTIST: JAMES HOGUE’S BRILLIANT GAME
image copyright Mark Ulriksen/The New YorkerBy Francine MathewsFifteen years ago, I was drafting a spy novel entitled Blown. It was my second novel about Caroline "Mad Dog" Carmichael, a CIA terrorism analyst very much like myself, who was combatting neo-Nazis at home and abroad. The draft wasn't...
The Villain Makes The Thriller
Sherlock Holmes and his brilliant nemesis Professor Moriartyby Jamie FrevelettiI love writing a villain. In fact, a brilliant villain will make or break a thriller, mystery or cozy. Without a frightening bad guy, the hero will have nothing to play off of in the story. Over the course of writing my...
Can You Identify This Brilliant Woman?
...by Karna Small BodmanAll this week we are talking about how we created the characters in the thrillers we write, and if there were any particular "real" people who were the inspiration for them. The answer is yes, there certainly was one very famous, very brilliant woman who inspired me...