It only takes a quick flip through the pages of the most beloved and timeless books to find one common theme – love. And with good reason. Romance is enchanting, intoxicating, exciting, and arguably down right addictive. You’d be hard-pressed to find anything in the universe holding more influence. It can create a hypothetical fairy tale, filling our hearts and minds with visions of eternal happiness and happily ever-after. Unfortunately, we learn as we grow it’s not all warm and fuzzy wonder. There’s a dark side to love. One that can take a perfectly innocent heart and crush it to pieces. It is from these ashes that villains are made.
If you’ve ever read one of my books, you’ll notice I have a pension for zooming in on the uncomfortable creation of evil. I’m a strong believer that in life we’re all born with an equal chance of going one way or the other. None of us are born wicked; we’re made that way. The path to hero or villain is complicated, dependent on circumstance, coping skills and surrounding support systems (or lack thereof). To write a great villain, you should be willing to wade in their realm. See the world through their eyes and justify their actions, even if your hero/heroine can’t. Heartbreak is a powerful catalyst for action, and allowing a glimpse into your antagonist’s perspective adds an entirely different layer to the story.
The very best villains, the ones who stick with us past the final page, are the ones we can relate to in some way. When we can say, “I understand why he/she feels the way they do, and I could’ve gone that direction, too,” we can truly immerse ourselves in the story. Once we’re that invested, we can get excited when the heroine defeats that darkness, because in some strange way it’s like they did it for us. The difference between the good and evil may seem like a chasm, but I think when you take a closer look, it’s more like a crack.
Author: M.E. Rhines
Publication date: July 31st 2017
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Obedience has always been a matter of survival for sixteen-year-old mermaid princess Pauline. Her mother is the tyrannical Queen Calypso, who rules the kingdom of Atargatis with an iron trident. To utter one word against her would mean banishment—or worse—so Pauline bites her tongue and minds her manners. But on the eve of her sister’s merling-shower, all of that is about to change. Confronted with the truth about what happens to the human men who are betrothed to the mermaids of Atargatis, Pauline realizes she can stay silent no more.
Determined to end the queen’s dark tradition, Pauline goes along on a search for shipwreck survivors, secretly planning to free them. But things get complicated when she finds herself inexplicably drawn to one of the men. Before she realizes what’s happening, she has kissed him—and a kiss from a mermaid is not without consequences. Now Pauline will have to risk everything if she is to save the young man and thwart the queen’s dark plans…
ME Rhines a southwest Florida native currently living in North Port with her two beautiful children and a third, much larger child whom she affectionately calls husband.
She writes young adult paranormal romance to feed her belief that fairy tales are real and
nonsense is necessary.
She also writes adult romances under her edgier alter-ego, Mary Bernsen.
