I did a Very Bad Author Thing (apparently).
I wrote a character into a book with NO INTENTION of giving him his own book. None. (People who thought I was being cute and setting up for a sequel from the beginning…nope.) I was never going to see him again, so I felt completely free to make him as awful as I wanted. He’s not the villain, no, but he comes pretty close at times. He’s the bad twin brother of my hero.
In the prologue (of What A Gentleman Wants) he’s having sex with his married lover. Then he whines about being saved from a duel with her husband. Then he gets drunk and wrecks his carriage in the middle of nowhere. He offers to marry the woman who takes care of him as he recovers from that, but then gets cold feet and signs his brother’s name instead in the marriage register, and after he takes his supposed wife back to London, he high-tails it out of town with no forwarding address and leaves his brother to break the news to her. He’s mixed up with some very bad people, and deep in debt. He’s a bit of a drunk, an accomplished liar, a gambler and a general scoundrel.
So why on earth did people start writing to me as soon as the book came out, saying, “Please tell me David’s book is next!”?????
The answer to that would have been a big NO, except that my editor was the first person to ask. Somehow I thought this meant I was supposed to do it, even though the first thought that popped into my mind was…”who would have this dude?” But I sat down and stared at the computer screen and thought and thought and thought about that question: who would have him? And why?
I loved writing David because he was such a perfect foil to my uptight, precise hero, but again-I was never going to see him again. I made him awful so I could show off my actual hero, Marcus, and show what kind of man Marcus was by how he dealt with the utter screw-up that was his brother. But David was a real person (well in my mind at least) so he wasn’t a complete waste. He’s got guts, and he knows when he really screws up, and he does love his family. He’s charming. He’s an adventure junkie, in some ways; he’s never had any actual responsibilities, so he’s had to come up with some other way to get his rush. So I started to write, nervously, a book in which he went from carefree playboy to someone who was worthy of True Love. He needed someone to need him, I decided, but someone who wouldn’t take any baloney from him. He needed someone who could understand him. And he needed a major reality check, and perhaps to nearly lose her because of his actions.
(Damn, I hope it worked)
But tell me this: what is it about the wicked characters? The enigmatic best-friend-of-hero-who-probably-has-hidden-issues, yeah, I get it. The cynical rake, yeah, I get it. The lying, cheating, irresponsible rogue? Hmmm…
Hi Caroline,
“What A Rogue Desires” has been on order for a month and I cannot wait to read it. I know it’ll be as good as your first two books were. I’m a big fan of yours.
with best wishes
Marie
I sure don’t know, Caroline, but I have learned never to create a dastardly character without expecting someone to want his story. *G* The reforming of the rake is an old, much-loved theme in literature (and not just romance either). It’s certainly an old favorite of mine. So I’m not surprised readers wanted you to write about David. It’ll be fun to see the end result!
Hi Marie! Thank you so much–I’m so glad you liked the first two books. I hope this one lives up to your expectations!
Thanks for the tip, Sabrina. Where were you two years ago when I was merrily blackening David’s soul and not expecting to pay for it? (Strangely enough, I was all set to go on several secondary characters from my first book. Just never happened…) But of course you are a master at redeeming your ‘scourges!’
I love watching a completely screwed up man work hard to become a better person.
I do so love the bad boys! I love to see them keep some of their bad, bad ways after they “see the light” and I love to see how the women in their lives roll with it.
SUCH a good story when it’s done right. I mean, who’s perfect? None of us and perfection gets boring after a while.
It’s definitely true that many people love to see the bad boy reformed–especially if they grovel. I’ll even admit to desperately hoping David would get his book–and now I can’t WAIT to read it!!
well, I do love a good grovel. I loved what Kristina did to her latest hero Frederick.
One funny note about this book: I only realized about a month ago that while David grovels very well and lays his heart bare, Vivian (heroine) never really says she loves him! She says it in a roundabout sort of way but not directly.
Oh Darn! Oh Good! I have you’re first two books but they are still sitting in the TBR pile. After reading about what a f*ck-up David was in WAGW,I love me that kind of hero.
So the damn is I have so many books and so little time. The good is I have them already and WARD is in the bookstores. I see a trip in the very near future!
” Vivian (heroine) never really says she loves him! She says it in a roundabout sort of way but not directly.”
I like it, being the heroine who does that for a change.
OH my! I haven’t read any of your books, but I want to read this one, just from what you have written here! Off to the online bookstore to check all of your books out!
I love a bad boy. There is something about a guy who you know you shouldn’t be with but you can’t resist the temptation of entering the danger zone. 😉