"I loved this book, each chapter is almost like a cliffhanger in it's self so you have to keep reading to find out what happens. The characters are so compelling, you either love them or hope they get what's coming to them. " - Joan, Goodreads
Published: September 26th, 2016
My name is Cheri Rose Thorne.
I spend my life hunting Vamps and Fiends and killing them, but my main goal has always been to destroy my evil father while keeping my sisters at bay.
Sex, drugs and rock and roll keep me going. Oh, and killing things.
This supernatural horror thriller will keep you turning the pages. I promise.
GUEST POST
Necromance: Creating The Bad Guys
Having a great ‘good’ main character is pretty boring unless you have a really great ‘bad’ character to oppose them.
The enemy has to be stronger, faster, smarter and nearly invincible, creating enough tension for the hero to make it almost not worth fighting.
Who wants the hero to be this super powerful bully who runs roughshod over the bad guys all the time without breaking a sweat?
As much time as an author puts into his main character hero-type creation he needs to spend on his dark alternative in the story. I’d even argue he needs to spend more time on the bad guy(s) because their motivations aren’t always clear and spelled out for you.
What really makes them tick? Why did they become so evil or fall so far from grace in their lives? It might not make it into the actual story, but they need a background that explains why they do what they do.
A truly great villain in any story doesn’t always know they’re the villain, either.
People have different ways of thinking and their angle is always somewhat different. Ever notice two people, witnessing the same incident, will have slightly different explanations on what happened and focus on slightly different facets on it?
Perception.
Nothing in life is simple and black and white when two people are involved. In most fights both sides believe they are on the righteous side. Even if your villain knows he’s doing something hurtful and/or illegal, he can usually justify it in his mind.
The hero, after all, is the bad guy in this situation.
As a writer, the more well-formed the villain is the better a reader will be involved in the story, because they know these two characters on opposite sides cannot live in the same world together without fireworks.
But what makes for a good bad guy?
His motivation needs to be clear and concise, at least to him or her. Too many writers just write a bad guy and imagine he’s crazy or there are a few screws loose. All the motivation you need. Except it makes the bad guy a caricature. One-dimensional. Boring.
Revenge is always an easy one but maybe it needs to go deeper. A personal vendetta against our sparkly clean hero is always a good start, but there needs to be something else.
Too many books rely on that one thing, that simple revenge plot, to drive the baddies. What would happen if they actually won? I doubt even they know. It’s so much more rewarding if they also have some subplots and sub-motivations that drive them as well.
Money is always a good one. Why not seek revenge against the hero and make a million bucks while you’re at it? How about revenge against everyone who’s ever picked on you in gym class? It gives the bad guy a nice, long list of personal affronts and enemies to dispose of in horrible ways.
Did the damn hero steal the love of your life? Revenge time for that. Jealousy is a nice motivator as well. Maybe the hero got more hugs than you from mommy. Even though you’re brothers there’s a rivalry that is turning deadly.
I could go on and cite a bunch of examples but the bottom line is to create a multi-tasking bad guy who has a solid reason (in his mind, anyway) to want to destroy our hero.
In Necromance I created not only Cheri Rose Thorne’s evil father, wanting to destroy the world and everyone in it, but her sisters who want nothing more than to help their father take her down.
Why?
Read the book to find out.
About the author:
Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he's not sleeping. He's happily married to a woman who helps his career and is supportive, which is all he ever wanted in life...
He's written over 150 stories that are currently available, including horror, zombies, contemporary fiction, thrillers and more. His goal is to write a good story and not worry about genre labels.
He not only runs two successful podcasts...
Arm Cast: Dead Sexy Horror Podcast - interviewing fellow authors as well as filmmakers, musicians, etc.
The Mando Method Podcast with co-host Chuck Buda - talking about writing and publishing
But he owns the network they're on, too! Project Entertainment Network
He also loves to talk in third person... because he's really that cool.
Website ** Goodreads ** Facebook ** Facebook Fan Page ** Twitter
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4 comments:
This book sounds super awesome.
My spine is tingling after just reading the excerpt.
This book has an amazing cover.
I love a book that keeps you wanting to read more & more.
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