I don't know about you, but writing villain's can be much more fun than 'normal' characters. We are able to dig deep into the dark places in our imaginations, trawling through the many movie and novel villains we have encountered in our lives. And also maybe some 'real' villains from news reports. Gleaming inspiration from crime documentaries is also one of my favourite sources, and yes its macabre, but as writers everything is research - isn't it?

When I created my character, William Folkes, in The Twesome Loop, I wanted to create a man with sadistic tendencies, who revolted his young wife with his lurid mannerisms. His lack of empathy with his victims made him a hated character, which of course was my intent. From the messages I received from readers I succeeded! As I wrote about his deviancies, I had to decide on the 'source' of his behaviour, which gave me pause at the time. No character can be truly one hundred percent evil, just for the sake of literary progress, as they become unrealistic and this leads to a bland and boring character. There has to be some redeeming feature, or cause for their conduct. They have to be relatable on some level.

In The Commodore's Gift, I created a man greedy for power. Commodore Theodore Gripe-Rudhall used his position to subjugate those around him and used whatever means to ensure he was obeyed. In common with William, Theodore has clear motivations, a strong personality, and a plan to achieve their ultimate goal. In both scenarios, these two men thwart my protagonist's plans with ever growing unpredictability.

It is the age old - good versus evil scenario, that has so many of us enthralled with a story and cheering on the hero. Our villain is the foil that makes our readers turn the page as they highlight, or differentiate certain qualities of our protagonist. Will they succeed or be overcome?

What villain have you written in a story? What (or who) was your inspiration?