DRAWN HAUNT – Not All Bad

I’m wrapping up the DRAWN Haunt party today with a post about writing those dark characters – the villains in our stories. Seems appropriate for Mischief Night!

If you’ve missed it, the DRAWN Haunt has been a month-long celebration for my award-winning novel DRAWN‘s 5th anniversary. You can explore through this past month’s posts to find lots of book-related stuff about writing, romance, ghosts, time travel and more. You can also subscribe to this site (see bottom of this post for how).  And for more about my novel DRAWN, click here. 

So, about those bad guys. Is it true that they’re…

NOT ALL BAD

Bad guys can be seriously tough characters for an author to write.  But every story needs them. What would Star Wars be without Darth Vader? Or Harry Potter without He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?  But writing these characters in a way that makes them believable is tricky.

You want to create huge problems for your hero, and that requires a villain and some true evil. But write about a person who is all bad and you have a cardboard character.  Like those villains in the silent flicks who twirled their mustaches while tying the damsel to the train tracks.

Literary Classics International Book Awards SILVER AWARD Winner; A Long and Short Reviews “Best Book”; A Night Owl Reviews “Top Pick”

In my novel Drawn I had to create several baddies. The book is about teen artist Michelle De Freccio, who moves to England hoping for a more normal life. Almost immediately she starts drawing a guy from the 1400’s. When she meets him (Christopher) at the town’s castle, things really get strange…and when she follows Christopher into the Middle Ages, well, stranger still. The novel needed villains in the present AND in the past, so I had my bad-guy work cut out for me.

The secret, I found, is to show another side to your villain. Even if it’s just for a moment, you want a glimpse of someone who means well at times, or who is wounded in some way, or who truly believes they are doing the right thing. If I can get the reader for just a moment to see this side of the bad person, then I know they’ll have a different view of things. That they may even understand how the bad person went so wrong.

Here’s a moment from Drawn when I try to do just that… In the following scene Michelle discovers that her visits into the past have seriously begun to alter history and to wound Christopher’s fate. At this point, she’s started to really fall for him, so seeing history books that accuse him of terrible things is frightening indeed. Michelle has pulled book after book off the Academy’s shelf, searching for answers. Her modern-day nemesis Constance takes this opportunity to get Michelle into trouble with Constance’s mother who is the Academy’s Headmistress:

I blink and see Headmistress Hunter looming over me. Constance peers smugly from behind her.

“Such disorder,” the Headmistress says between tight lips, taking in the jumble of books at my feet. She’s almost trembling with anger. “Horrific. We do not treat reading material so shabbily, Miss De Freccio.”

“Yes, ma’am. Sorry.”

“The Academy expects appropriate behavior both in school and out. We pride ourselves on being the best.” She sniffs as if I clearly don’t qualify.

Constance grins.

“Clean this at once,” the Headmistress is saying. “Understand, this will go on your record. And on your father’s. This doesn’t bode well for his future here.”

Constance’s grin fades.

“But this isn’t his fault,” I say and hate the pleading tone in my voice. “Please don’t let it affect my dad, Headmistress.”

Constance whispers, “Mother, I don’t think—”

“Are you criticizing me?”

“No, of course not.” Constance looks at the floor.

In that brief scene the reader knows that Constance didn’t mean to endanger Michelle’s father’s position at the Academy. We see Constance has some sort of a soul and some limits, and that she is terrified of her own mother.

As for the villains in the medieval part of the book? This was a tough one because there is a mystery intertwined in the plot. Who is the traitor? Who murders the Earl? And who is killing off all the courtiers? What if all signs point to Christopher, the young man (er, ghost?) Michelle has now come to love? I had to spread doubts and clues in a way that gave info but also made the reader (and Michelle) wonder who can really be trusted. I can’t tell you who the real villains are without spoiling the book for you, but when all is revealed, you can bet the reader understands why the bad ’uns are doing what they do.

Balancing good and bad in a way that’s convincing can be a real challenge for any writer. Put in too much good, and the villain is not a real threat. Put in too much bad, and you’ve created someone that’s ridiculous and unbelievable. I tried very hard to balance my villains for just the right feel… I hope readers will find it all works.

Actually, a review about Drawn that popped up on the site Author Chronicles says: “not a single character is one-dimensional—each one has flaws, strengths, and depths to them. Even the snotty ‘Queen Bee’ girl, Constance, who could easily have been a stereotype, has flashes of a soul at war with the front she puts up.”

Not all bad! 😉

*Marie is a Literary Agent at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency in New York City. To keep up with all her posts, subscribe to her site.

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DRAWN up for Book of Year – Please Vote!

Hi everyone!

I was so excited to learn that my YA novel DRAWN is up for BEST BOOK OF 2012 at the great review site Long and Short Reviews!!!

The poling just opened today and runs through Feb. 14th.  So here’s where I can use some help. If you could stop by their voting page and cast a vote for DRAWN, that would be all sorts of wonderful 🙂  You just need to select DRAWN, scroll to the bottom of the page and hit “Vote” and that’s that.  And, if you are feeling particularly wonderful, you could also spread the word, maybe?

To cast your vote, please click here.

Long and Short Reviews has already selected DRAWN as a “Best Book” and it was voted as a “Book of the Month,” plus in their review, they said, “I was drawn (pun intended) into this book from the first page and couldn’t put it down...The setting is wonderful… This story is so deftly created… It has the perfect amount of romance, and enough action and suspense to keep the most distracted reader turning the pages.”  Phew, that was cool.

Anyways, thanks so much for any support you can offer.  It’s so appreciated.

Marie

DRAWN Now a Literary Classics Award Winning Book!

Happy Monday, all!  I just woke up to discover that my YA paranormal novel DRAWN is now the Literary Classics International Book Award Silver Award Recipient for 2012.

With entries from all over the world, the Literary Classics International Book Awards selection committee recognizes the top titles which exemplify excellence in children’s and young adult literature, thereby encouraging a passion for reading while promoting education, imagination and character in young readers. 

I am so pleased to receive this honor.  DRAWN is such a special book to me, and it means so much to have it recognized by others.

Across the board, this novel about an artist and her ghost has been earning praise from reviewers and from readers ever since its release early this year. In addition to this Silver Award, DRAWN has also earned “Best Book” and “Book of the Month” through Long and Short Reviews and has been rated “Top Pick” by the review site Night Owl Reviews.  In one of this novel’s most recent reviews, BookLove 101 said, “Loved it all! … We’ve got forbidden romance, time travel, mystery, deception, heart break, and so much more! All put together to make one truly EPIC read! Five stars from me! I’d recommend this read to anyone!”

Thank you to the awards committee for singling DRAWN out for this award.  And thanks, also, to my novel’s many readers who have taken a moment to share this book with others.  I’m doubly honored by your support and by your thoughtful reviews.

DRAWN Voted Book of the Month!

Happy to announce that my novel DRAWN has just been voted as Book of the Month over at Long and Short Reviews!  Thanks so much to everyone who cast their vote and showed some love for this novel about Christopher the sketchy medieval ghost, and Michelle the artist who draws him in.  When DRAWN was reviewed by the Long and Short Reviews site earlier in the month, it was rated “Best Book,” which is above their usual 5-Star ranking.

Here’s some of what that reviewer said: I was drawn (pun intended) into this book from the first page and couldn’t put it down…This story is so deftly created that I was in each setting and could easily “see” Michelle’s art without illustrations…I recommend Drawn to tweens, teens and above. It has the perfect amount of romance, and enough action and suspense to keep the most distracted reader turning the pages.

To read the full review of DRAWN over at Long and Short Reviews, just click here.

Happy reads!

Marie

DRAWN is Rated “A Best Book”

Happy spring everyone!

SO happy.  I just found out that the review site Long and Short Reviews has rated my paranormal novel Drawn a “Best Book.”  This is high praise indeed.  Higher than their 5-star rating.  As the site explains it, the Best Book rating is reserved “For a book or story that is truly exceptional. You think about it when you’re not reading it. You wonder what happens to the characters when you finish. You would absolutely buy everything else this author had to offer. The highest praise – and reserved for only a few.”

So you know I’m smiling about this.

In case ya don’t know about Drawn, here’s the description:

She’s the artist that finds him in her drawings. He’s the medieval ghost that conquers her heart. And their time is running out. 

 

Michelle De Freccio moves to England seeking a normal life, but someone starts appearing in her sketches. Then he grabs her at the castle, his pale green eyes full of longing. She’s immediately drawn to him, but is Christopher Newman real? She’s either losing it, or channeling a hot ghost from the 1400’s. History calls him a murderer. Her heart tells her other truths. Now Michelle faces endless dangers…and a timeless love. 

 

A Night Owl Reviews Top Pick: “…an utter delight to read. I could not put it down. This is a fantastic romantic and tender story that will continue to enchant readers for years to come.” 

So… back to today’s write up.  At the Long and Short Reviews site, the reviewer said: I was drawn (pun intended) into this book from the first page and couldn’t put it down…The setting is wonderful…This story is so deftly created that I was in each setting and could easily “see” Michelle’s art without illustrations…It has the perfect amount of romance, and enough action and suspense to keep the most distracted reader turning the pages.

This review also gives a great spoiler-free summary of the novel, so if you want a feel for whether this book is for you or not, you can check out the complete write up by clicking here.

I’m also happy to report that Drawn is currently ranked #29  in its category of top sellers over at Amazon, and it keeps consistently getting great reviews from book bloggers and readers alike.  In fact, the novel’s goodreads.com page is full of praise from readers who have been saying stuff like: “I LOVED this book. It wa (sic) such a breath of fresh air. It was so well written and so entertaining i could not put it down.” And “This book was so unexpectedly amazing…”  To check out the goodreads page for Drawn (and to add your own reviews there if you’ve read the novel), simply click here.

If you haven’t already read Drawn, you can find an excerpt along with links to reviews and purchase info by clicking right here.

"I'm not Josie Grossie anymore!"

Thanks so much to my readers who have shared their love for my book.  I have no words to express how this makes me feel.  As Drew Barrymore says in Never Been Kissed, “I’m speechless.  This never happens to me. Words are my life!”

Marie