Recently I read a Blog by Heidi on her page Inside the mind of a Fantasy Writer about wanting her readers to side with the bad guy.  I think that as in reality most of us have a thing for the bad boy.  We wouldn’t want to marry one and generally we out grow them but they are always there lurking in our fantasies.  The bad boy respresents everything our parents warn us against. We know he will probably break out heart, he is dangerous but damn he is sexy.

Throughout the press we see bad boys on self destruct, yet these are the guys who would seem to have everything going for them, looks, fame and women falling at their feet.  The say that good guys always finish last I don’t agree with that I think they start last.  They are the ones we are friends with, the ones whose shoulders we cry on when the bad guy breaks our hearts.  But as we get older the good guy comes into his own.  We reach a point where sitting looking longingly at the phone waiting for a call has lost its charm.  It is the the stability of the good guy comes into its own, he is the one we want to father our children, the bad guy well thats another story.

The bad guy is our fantasy, the guy who dominates us in ways we never thought we wanted.  He is the guy who backs you into a corner and ravishes you. The problem is you know the minute he knows he has you hooked he is onto his next target.  And that is why the bad guy makes such a great character for a writer.  With the baddie you can let your mind run free.  You don’t need to think is this in keeping with his character, will he regret it later, no he will do what ever it takes to achieve his own agenda.  The bad boy can never really be the victor without reforming, the problelm is that reformed he loses his appeal.  He may still have his looks and be a sexy guy but he stops being the fantasy.  I decided on my bad guy had to die.  It is sad and I find myself dragging my heels slightly writing as I approach his demise.  That he has to die I have no doubt, it is not so much that he is killed as he self destructs.  The interesting thing is the emotions he inspires, not just in me but in the way I write the way he interacts with other character.  My heroine has every reason to hate him, yet is physically attracted to him.  This battle of emotions is fascinating me even as I write it.

I did for one brief moment consider a different ending but it just wouldn’t fall into place.  My characters will mark his passing in different ways and I will mourn him.  Yet, as I believe in reincarnation who knows if he will reappear at a later date.