Villain: wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately; principal bad character in a film or work of fiction (WordWeb). I’d like to add to that: character who refuses to cooperate with your plot.
I started with the definition of villain so we both speak the same language. Mine was named Pietas and he was the bad guy in a book I’d written, edited, rewritten, re-edited, and restarted nine times since 2008.
I picked it back up, considered it, and set it aside again multiple more times before I realized my problem was not with the plot, the hero, or the concept. It was the villain.
My problem was with my immortal Ultra, Pietas.
He would not do any of the things I thought a bad guy should do. Seriously? A villain who doesn’t even swear? What kind of bad guy is that? Although he had used a “bad word” in a book no longer in print, that was me badly writing his character to fit my “vision” of who he was. It felt wrong at the time but I didn’t listen to my gut. I should have.
Like any proper scoundrel, Pietas was cold and inhuman and his followers obeyed him without question. But unlike the usual dastardly-deed-doer, the minions of Pietas followed him out of loyalty. I’d missed something in creating this villain of mine and I didn’t know what it was. I figured I had to either put the book away forever or find a way to make Pietas behave.
Those who know the Bringer of Chaos are laughing right now. Make Pietas do what? Right!
Talking to a writer friend, I lamented about this frustrating villain and how difficult it was to write about a narcissistic sociopath. She laughed in my face and informed me I couldn’t be more wrong. He was not a villain at all, but a passionate, honorable, and humble man who’d been put in a position of being the heavy.
To which I replied, “No, no. I’m talking about Pietas.” Turned out, so was she. Obviously, I had missed far more than I suspected. But what?
With her help, we set up an “interview” where she would ask me questions and I would answer as Pietas in a free association format. This is a thought process in which ideas, words or images suggest other ideas in a sequence. Using what I already knew about him, I would try to figure out how he’d answer. I’d role play. Why not? Pietas was not only the king of the immortals in my story, he was the Gamemaster in the role-playing game they all obsessed over: Peril.
We agreed to record it so I could go back and listen again. She would ask open-ended questions that couldn’t be answered “yes” or “no” which would elicit conversation. We talked for well over an hour. She asked “Pietas” about his father, how he felt about his mother, why he did not get along with his sister, and why he was so hung up on a previous lover. What had happened to him as a child that made him angry now? What did he hope to accomplish?
By the end, I had a far deeper understanding of the immortal king. I got to know the real person and not the superficial character I’d written. What showed up in other books was the person he presented to the world. In reality, the psychotic front he showed to others was not at all who he was.
That insight changed everything.
I got to work writing his story instead of the one I’d wanted. When I finished Bringer of Chaos: the Origin of Pietas and released it, one reviewer said “He’s painted as a complete psycho in other books. It’s really great to get some insight into who he truly is.” Readers told me they felt Pietas was a real person and I was channeling his energy. My heart sang. I’d accomplished my purpose and revealed the true person to the world. Although, now I had to deal with Pietas, who wasn’t all that happy about the big reveal! I’ve sweet-talked him into bringing his truth into the light, so we should see several more books in his series.
I’ve been busy writing the sequel to the Origin of Pietas. I’m on the last few pages now. Here’s the blurb for the new book, Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire. (updated cover on the way)
Reviving after death isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and wounds of the heart take forever.
When Pietas reunites with the immortal Ultra people he was born to lead, they reject his human friend, Six, a member of Ghost Corps. Ghosts, their most feared adversaries, are resurrected special ops soldiers who possess enough strength to perma-kill Ultras.
Six is taken hostage, and Pietas must free his friend, deal with the brutal father he’s detested since childhood, make amends with his sister, and rescue his ailing mother. Meanwhile, the tempestuous affair he rekindles with a beautiful, telepathic warrior he’s adored for centuries lays bare long-held and deadly secrets.
The gift of telepathy he’s always wished for activates at the worst possible time, but it gives him one huge advantage. He bonds with an ally who harbors every bit as much hatred for his father as Pietas does: a tribe of genetically enhanced panthers. As much as he loves these noble creatures, connecting with their feral bloodlust threatens to undermine his legendary self-control.
How can he even hope love will withstand the unstoppable berserker rage within the Bringer of Chaos? If it can’t, Ghost Corps will be the last thing Ultras need to fear.
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Pick up Bringer of Chaos: the Origin of Pietas
When I decided to write about the immortal warrior Pietas, who’s been the villain in several of my books, I thought he might have issues with details. You know, the type that makes you adjust and readjust a picture, straighten a towel, or minutely focus the volume of a song. Boy was I right! And I thought I was insistent on details? In the beginning of the book, Pietas performs a ritual before entering into peace talks with a group of humans. The ritual is designed to help him focus, and he repeats it later in the book. It’s when he puts on the mask shown in the cover. Pietas has a mantra that he repeats a half dozen times in the book, to remind himself he will survive; he will overcome. His singleminded devotion to duty makes him one of the most implacable, indomitable warriors ever born.
After the ritual and its details are complete in the beginning of the book, his sister (who aids him) asks if he’s ready for the peace talks. Pietas says, “No. I’m ready for war.” Here’s a peek at the ritual.
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Early on the first morning of the peace talks, Pietas entered his round bathing room. Starlight filtered through the portal overhead. Sleek silver walls reflected the cool light.
He remained at the door, content to savor its calming glow. Its beauty did not dispel the worry niggling at his mind. Not given to trusting premonitions and omens, he grounded himself with meditation. Once he centered himself and calmed his spirit, Pietas took a deep, purifying breath, and with slow deliberation, exhaled.
“Time to begin. Lights.”
The room brightened.
He shed his silk robe and let it fall at his feet. Nude, his platinum hair streaming down his back and chest, he lifted his hands, palms up as if praying.
On the planet Kaffir, warriors used this ritual to summon spirits. He used it to affirm his own superior strength and prowess.
Before a copper fire pit, he plucked one blond hair, and fed it to the fire. It singed and melted.
“As fire has victory over life, so I have victory over my enemies.”
He passed a hand through the flame, and hissed at the searing heat, relishing the pain. He cupped his hand over the flame’s source, and held it until the fire went out. The burns on his palm cooled, and as he watched, the skin healed. Of all the elements, fire alone had power to linger on an Ultra’s skin. He welcomed it as a symbol of victory.
“I am powerful, as fire is powerful.”
Pietas thrust both hands forward, clutched his fists, and yanked them back.
“I own the wind. I prevail over the breath of my enemies.”
In the bathing area, he took six steps down into a waist-deep pool.
“Water submits to my presence the way enemies submit to my will.”
He cupped water in his hands, lifted it, and let it pour down his arms.
“The blood of my enemies trickles into the pool of time, is absorbed, and forgotten.”
He pushed wet fingers through his hair, and released it.
“My mind is clear. I do not waver.”
He 
submersed, and rose, head thrown back, face lifted to the sparkle of stars above.
“My body submits to my will. No pain defeats me. No fear touches me.”
He swept his hands down his chest to his loins, and the tops of his thighs.
“My will is absolute.”
A scratching sound alerted him to the presence of his silver-skinned android servant. The creature entered, and Pietas fixed him with a hard glare. “Why did you interrupt me?”
“Your guest is here, my lord, in the living area.” He offered Pietas a towel.
“Leave it.” He waved the android away.
After exiting the pool, Pietas brushed off the water and wrung out his hair. He pulled out a tray holding half a dozen clasps. He chose a silver dragon studded with six turquoise stones, twisted his wet hair, and fastened it up, out of the way.
He dried his face, gathered a brush, and picked up a pot of black face paint. Leaning in close to a freestanding mirror, he outlined a bandit’s mask from beneath his eyes to over his dark eyebrows, and filled it with black.
He’d worn the mask in battle ever since defeating the First Division, a human special-ops group formed to fight Ultras. It came about because Pietas had slain an enemy, and blood splashed across his eyes. Thinking the blood belonged to Pietas, the Ultra troops had rallied to him and slaughtered the humans. The blood dried almost black.
Stories of how their “bandit king” had conquered the First Division filled the night. The name stuck. To his troops, he was First Conqueror, War Leader of the Ultras.
Pietas turned his head side to side, surveying the effect.
His body would reject foreign matter on his skin. The Ultra metabolism protected from every perceived attack, even harmless face paint. He closed his eyes and sprayed sealant over the mask to delay its disappearance by a few hours.
Satisfied with his looks, Pietas pulled on a pair of loose white lounging pants. With a deep, cleansing breath, he opened the door. Damp, shirtless, barefoot, he padded into the adjacent room.
—
Bringer of Chaos: the Origin of Pietas
Two enemy warriors: one human, one immortal. Different in belief, alike in spirit, marooned together on an alien world.
Imprisoned and in isolation over a year without food or water, the immortal Pietas survives. Though broken in body, his intellect and will are intact, thanks to Six, the special ops warrior who captured him, but kept him sane. The warrior had no hand in his deprivation and, like Pietas, was betrayed by his own kind. When Pietas is abandoned on an alien world with nothing but his honor–and Six–he must find and rejoin other immortal exiles. After centuries of war, Pietas detests humans and kills them on sight, but he is too damaged to continue on his own. Though he despises needing help, he allows Six to nurture and restore him to full strength, and then accompany him. As they cross the planet together on foot, the immortal begins to wonder if he has found his first human friend, or if Six is loyal only because Pietas could keep the others from tearing him to shreds. This human will either be his closest living friend, or the one whose betrayal will trigger all-out vengeance by the most powerful immortal ever born.
Immortal. Warrior. Outcasts. Traitors took everything. Except their honor.
Amazon http://amzn.to/1R8DAbb
CreateSpace http://bit.ly/boc-origin-csp
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My character Pietas has always been the villain, but I had it in my head to write his origin story. I knew he was well aquainted with storms, personal, psychic, physical, and spiritual. So when I wanted to create a dragon for him to have as a spirit animal, I knew the dragon would have something to do with storms as well. You’ll be seeing more about Bringer of Chaos as I continue to work on the book.
Stormsinger with Pietas
It turns out, his dragon can summon storms by singing to the wind and sky, and although his color is a very cold blue and turquoise, Stormsinger is a firedrake. Pietas’s sister, Dessy, has a dragon spirit animal as well. Hers is a red ice dragon called Fireshade. Does it do me any good to complain to these characters that their creatures are completely opposite of what’s expected? Talk to the floor and see how far you get.
Pietas and the dragon met on the planet Stachien in the Colonies of Man. I haven’t written that part of the story yet, so I don’t have details, but it’s coming. I thought you’d like to see a preview of a drawing of Pietas with his dragon. Clicking the picture below will open the image full size, which is 1920×1200, full wallpaper size for a desktop computer. Art is by Jamin Allen, my son, although I have done extensive work on both the dragon and Pietas.
Stormsinger with Pietas
Watch Jamin create the Pietas image in this speed-drawing video. You’ll also get a peek at the real life model he used as the inspiration for the drawing.
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Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It's a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.
Welcome to this week’s Book Hooks, a snippet or intro to a book to whet the appetite and invite you to check out more.
Anyone could show anger when they are wronged. If someone steals from you, or cheats you, you’ll be furious, and rightfully so. But what if you have a character whose nature seems to exhibit more anger than usual? This is often true of a villain, but anger can be a problem for heroes and heroines as well.
Anger often comes from environment. Hunger, abuse, neglect, poverty, unjust treatment, lack of freedom — all these can lead to anger. If you’re writing an angry character, here are some things to consider for their back-story.
How do you write an angry character? Here are some insights. #AmWriting Click To TweetWhile most of the time, we know quite well when we’re angry, that is not always the case. An angry character might not express anger out of fear of reprisal, or to keep from hurting someone. But they might lash out in passive ways. Here are several.
Often, people experiencing passive anger do not realize it (at least at first). Others might think the character is intentionally sabotaging himself. He may not able to explain his actions. He is “out of sorts” and grumpy.
In one of my earlier books, Pietas fits this bill perfectly, and he knows it. Here’s a quote from Alitus. “What was that word you used last time? Oh yes, ‘fractious.’ What an entertaining word. ‘Likely to be troublesome.’ That was my favorite definition. It fits me, don’t you think? ‘Pietas tends to be fractious.’ A true statement. So, sister, you know I become ‘fractious’ when I’m annoyed. And you have annoyed me greatly today.”
When a character expresses anger aggressively, he is fully aware of what he’s feeling. There’s no wavering. That doesn’t mean they know the root cause of their fury. If an angry character isn’t aware of why he’s so angry, he might display the following:
An aggressively angry character has not learned how to recognize his triggers. He does not manage the symptoms of anger. What are those? That’s next.
If you have an angry character who has dealt with anger long-term, there are physical effects. While more than anger can cause the following symptoms, they are an indicator that something is wrong on a deeper level, beyond the physical.
To show your angry character struggling with life, add some of these symptoms in what may seem an unrelated area. Readers will pick up on these clues. This is one way to show, not tell. That being said, it’s not wrong to name the emotion, because your character may recognize it, or recognize what he thinks he’s feeling.
However, he might not realize that the emotion he’s feeling comes from a deep-seated anger. And if he does, he might think it’s with someone other than the true person who’s angered him. The emotion might be clear and distinct, but its root is not.
Characters are people. When written true to life, they can have hidden emotions. Here's how to reveal an angry character. #Book Click To TweetIn this scene from Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire, the immortal Pietas is about to face his father. Though hardly a child (he’s 1900 years old), that same feeling he’d experienced since youth dogs his steps. Pietas has ducked under a small waterfall to clean up 
before joining others. His human friend, Six, joins him.
Six waded into the pond, stuck a hand under the falls, screwed up his face, and stepped beneath the water. He sprang back out and danced around, shivering and swearing.
Pietas bit his lower lip to keep from laughing out loud. “That might have been the shortest shower in the history of mankind.”
“That’s freezing! How can you stand there with liquid ice pouring over you?”
“Discipline.”
“Yeah?” Six sloshed through the pool. “I figured out something. You Ultras are supposed to be genetically enhanced. You ask me, they packed more strength genes into you by yanking out the genes for hot, cold, and sleep.” He pulled off his shirt and wrung it out. Even in the lessening light, the teal dragon tattoo across his back showed. He put the shirt back on, muttering about ice water the entire time.
Pietas stayed under the numbing flow, wishing it had the power to numb his dread. He faced every fear, ignored every pain, refused to permit regret any place in his life. But dread? Dread dogged his steps. No matter how hard he fought, dread seeped into his life, insinuated itself under his skin, and muddied his decisions.
Dread soiled him.
How have you used anger in a character’s arc? Leave a comment below. Be sure to click other links in the hop!
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