Love. Sex. Death.

Posted on by April 21, 2011

Love. Sex. Death.

That’s why you visited my blog today, right?

Well, okay. Maybe it is for the Blog Tour de Force free book, and the prize AND Kindle drawings.

I don’t blame you. Great! We’ll get to that in a moment.

First, let’s talk about love, sex, and death. They’re what you look for in every novel you read. Doesn’t matter which genre.

“…the need to belong, the hungers of the body, and the search for individual worth; Community, Carnality, Identity. Ultimately, that triad is what all stories are about.” ~ Orson Scott Card

Hungry4You It’s what you’ll find in A. M. Harte’s book, Hungry for You. Through short stories about zombies, you’ll follow characters in search of community, carnality, and identity. Some are living. Some are undead. But set your preconceived notions aside. I promise you, these aren’t your father’s zombies.

 
AdairPaperWomanCoverEbook96dpi Now, I know that zombie fiction isn’t everyone’s cuppa tea, so there’s love, sex, and death aplenty in my historical suspense series starting with Paper Woman, winner of the Patrick D. Smith Literature award. Spies and assassins, ships of sail and storms at sea, swashbucklers and bandits, and a brilliant, brutal, sociopath challenge my main character. I promise you, this isn’t your father’s Revolutionary War.

Okay, you want a free book, a prize, and a Kindle, right?

1.  Win an ebook copy of Paper Woman! (No eReader required.) First, read “The Making of a Fictional Villain, Part 1.” Then return to this post and use the comment form to tell me the following:

  • One characteristic of a good villain
  • Who’s your favorite fictional villain, and why (Love. Sex. Death.)

Make sure you give me an accurate email address. I’ll email you instructions for your Paper Woman download.

2.  Win the Historic Haversack goodie bag! (U.S. deliveries only.) My sponsors’ reviews prove that Paper Woman has the Right Stuff:

So pick your favorite sponsor review, and comment there with the phrase, “Love, sex, and death. Paper Woman has it all!” Then, come back here and comment what review you selected. I’ll enter you in the drawing for the Historic Haversack. Watch my blog for an announcement of the winner.

(Need more convincing? The Pen & Muse posted a review of Paper Woman and an interview of me, plus Red Adept Reviews posted a non-sponsor review for Paper Woman.)

3.  Win the Kindle! Every relevant comment counts as an entry toward the Kindle drawing. The more you and I talk on my blog, the more entries you have. Love. Sex. Death. Let’s talk!

4.  Want more chances to win the Kindle? Of course you do! So let’s stay in touch. Each of the following secures you an additional entry toward the Kindle grand prize drawing. Make sure you comment where you followed and Liked.

I need comments from you folks today. The busier the conversation buzz on my blog today, the greater my chances at winning Blog Tour de Force’s author prize: creation of a video book trailer for my series.

Thanks for stopping by. You’re a winner!

Update: The Paper Woman giveaway has ended. The drawing for the Historic Haversack and the drawing for the Kindle from my blog are closed.

Suzanne Adair

*****

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Comments

Love. Sex. Death. — 247 Comments

  2. I really liked your comment prompt. Harte’s was pretty good too. It’s a good way to make people actually think about their comments.

  3. > I also need to make sure you care about what happens to my characters in the story
    That is SO key. I couldn’t tell you how many books I’ve given up on because the author starts with tons of information about characters he/she hasn’t given the reader any reason to care about yet. Roberta Gellis is much smarter, she is doling out Magdalene’s backstory through the series. (With an eyedropper!)
    Again I guess I’m atypical; my favorite ST movie was “The Voyage Home” (with the whales). No real “villain” but plenty of conflict, with nothing less than the future of the Federation at stake!
    I’ll be interested to see how you incorporate “villainless” stories into your analysis of villains. And I hope you win the video trailer – I tried to do my bit to help! (Not that I just enjoy talking about books or anything, of course.)

  4. I think the best quality for a bad guy is humanity. I’ve read books where the villain was very one dimensional, just a bad guy. But I like villains that almost make you like them.
    My favorite villain is Black Jack Randall in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. He has it all and has some redeeming qualities as well. I am looking forward to reading PAPER WOMAN. I’m sure it will be great!
    Whoo-hop! I finally made it here!
    Holly Price

  5. Thanks for commenting, Gilberto. So true, the need to give a villain clear motives. Without clear motives, the reader/viewer doesn’t know what’s fully at stake for the hero.
    Gmail hit the panic button yesterday due to my account activity and temporarily (I hope temporarily) disabled my account under the presumption that I’d been jacked by a spammer. As soon as my email capability is restored, I’ll send you a copy of Paper Woman.

  6. Sylvia, one of the worst ways that writers abuse this “care about the character” concept is by starting a mystery with a prologue that shows victim #6 of a serial killer getting snuffed. We have no reason to care about the person getting snuffed, and when the writer doesn’t even give them a name, we care even less.
    I also like the “whales” ST movie the best.

  7. Hi Holly! So glad you finally made it in, after all those hours of trying to figure out where it wasn’t working.
    Humanity in a villain — gosh, what a concept! A most amazing thing happens when you give your villain humanity. S/he becomes three-dimensional. I agree with you about Black Jack Randall. He’s a stinker, isn’t he?
    Gmail hit the panic button yesterday due to my account activity and temporarily (I hope temporarily) disabled my account under the presumption that I’d been jacked by a spammer. As soon as my email capability is restored, I’ll send you a copy of Paper Woman.

  8. Gotta go with Paper Woman, simply because I’m always in the mood for a historical and a good sociopath for a villain.
    Favorite villain: Ah geeze. I always like the villains that Lawrence Sanders came up with in his Deadly Sin Series, so there wasn’t a specific one–just that he made them equal to the protagonist Edward X Delaney.

  9. Thanks for commenting, Donnell! Yes, it’s so important to make the hero and the villain nearly equal so they’ll be worthy of each other. That’s how the villain achieves one of his dramatic functions: bring out the best in the hero. When you dumb down the villain, the hero follows.

  10. A sociopath makes a “good” villain. My favourite villian is Darth Vader.

  12. I thank everyone for participating here yesterday. We had a great time! You taught me some things that will show up in future blog posts. :-)
    Visit my blog again soon!
    And I apologize if some of you received information about your free copy of Paper Woman a little late. I used my Gmail account to pass information to you about how to get your copy. And the A. I. at Gmail (there are no humans behind the interface) determined that my account was experiencing “unusual activity.” It shut down my account without any attempt to contact me first.
    Not only was I unable to get into my account, but I couldn’t get through to a human being in The Empire and explain that it had been a mistake of their faulty algorithm. I finally had to jump through a bunch of hoops to change my password.
    If any of you plan to use Gmail for high-volume business purposes, consider yourselves warned that Gmail isn’t a good business partner in that capacity.
    Suzanne Adair

  13. I know I’m late to the game, but I still want to play along for S&Gs.
    I’ve been a lover of the villain since I was a tot. I think it started with the Abominable Snowman on Rudolph, or maybe it was the Wicked Witch of the East, either way, I was hooked! I used to watch the old Batman series on TV and Julie Newmar & Eartha Kitt were the bomb. Sexy, but mysterious and deadly at the same time- the perfect combo.
    Also, I left my comment at Juniper Grove…love her site and review.
    And I’m a blog follower via the Google Friend Connect thingy, too.

  14. Christine, thanks for commenting. I think the reason we love the villain (or want to love the villain) is because he or she is the character who makes things happen in the story. If it weren’t for the villain moving and shaking the hero’s world, the story would be boring, right?
    You mentioned the sexiness of the Catwoman character in “Batman.” In the 1960s TV show, sexiness was an appealing feature that added depth to Catwoman’s character — especially when contrasted with Adam West’s rather stodgy, flat portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman.
    No doubt about it, we’re drawn to the movers and shakers who cross our paths, and also to people who have appealing characteristics. Fortunately most of them aren’t villains.

  15. I think a villian needs at least one positive trait to be complete. Maybe he loves his mother or pets a puppy.
    Favorite villian: probably Hannibal Lector.

  16. Kari, having a redeemable characteristic humanizes a villain, makes him/her more three-dimensional, and helps us relate better.
    Thanks for stopping by. If you look back over the posts from Thursday, you’ll see that Hannibal Lecter got lots of votes for memorable villain. Clearly he hits the spot.

  17. A good Villan has charm, physical and sexual prowess.
    My favorite fictional villain is Angelique, and I loved Dark Shadows as a teenager. A movie or TV series like Dark Shadows outstanding.now would be

  18. A Movie or TV series of Dark Shadows now would be outstanding was what I meant to say.

  19. Thanks for commenting, Rebecca. Dark Shadows in the 1960s set the stage for the current popularity of the paranormal genre. Without that first sampling of how entertaining vampires, werewolves, and witches could be, shows like Beauty and the Beast, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, and Touched by an Angel would have flopped right after leaving the gate.
    There’s been at least one attempt to revive Dark Shadows as a prime-time TV show, but it flopped. I think the show has served its purpose. Readers and viewers are now exploring a variety of mythological creatures and monsters from different cultures, such as the Sidhe and Greek gods.

  20. Sorry I’m late posting.
    I’m not big on villains but I like seeing what brought them there, what made them turn to bad guy. I like when they have a background that makes them humans, not just “evil incarnated”.
    My favourite villain, who turned out not to be, has to be Snape. You can see the inner pain that brought him there.
    mariebwolf (at) laposte (dot) net

  21. Marie, yes, it’s impossible to pull a villain out of thin air and make him/her credible. Each villain must have a background, and the more heroic characteristics we find in the villain’s background and personality, the more relatable the villain becomes. I was glad to see Snape turn out to be not “evil incarnate.”

  22. I like thoroughly evil villains. It makes them fun to hate and they scare me to death.
    One of my favorite villains is the scary priest in the movie about Elizabeth I. He sweeps in with a flourish of his creepy black cape, bringing death and treachery.

  23. Julie, when religious officials are characterized well and not stereotyped, they make excellent villains. Our first reaction is to trust them because they’re supposed to represent good.
    Unfortunately we’ve seen too many cardboard religious characters as villains in books and movies. Especially priests in their black robes. The stereotyping is so bad now that when I see a priest in black robes in a movie, I think, “Okay, he’s the bad guy.”

  24. I think villans should be the hero’s opposite. I like the classic James Bond villans because they’re totally over the top but instantly recognizable.

  25. For me the most important trait of a good villain is that he or she has some motivation beyond just “to be evil.” He has to be relatable in some human way.
    My favorite villain is Al Swearengen from the show Deadwood. He’s a scary, evil man, but completely fascinating.

  27. I think the best characteristic of a good villain is a complete lack of moral conscience. Nothing is more chilling than that because he or she could do anything. I hope Lt. Fairfax lives up!
    My most despised villain is Rasputin. In books and in life.
    mandaj07 at gmail dot com

  28. A good villain should have at least one quality that makes him appear somewhat sympathetic. A narcissistic sociopath, with a bit of a tortured soul.
    A favorite fictional villain is Dr Jekyll’s Mr Hyde, because the character embodied both qualities.

  29. One characteristic of a good villan is “manipulating”.
    My favorite villan is Darth Vader from Star Wars

  30. As with most psycopaths and sociopaths, a good villian is a character that you can almost admire for their ability to amnipulate those around them and almost seem normal. Scary at the same time, growing up absorbed in Dark Shadows, you ahve to admire the female villain Angelique, what control she exhibited over male caharacters in that story line. Great concepts in Paper Woman, an historical suspense novel – can’t wait to read it.

  33. One trait is sociopaths! There so many questions about how and what they do! I love historical mysteries! My favorite theme is Beauty and the Beast! So my Villian would be there!
    Hope I did this right, LOL. Would love to read the book!
    cathiecaffey @ gmail.com

  34. One key characteristic of a great villain is that he (or she) cannot be fully evil — unless the villain has one creepily normal feature, he/she is not really, really frightening. My favorite villain is Satan in Paradise Lost.

  35. My favorite villains are the ones that seem normal and then suddenly you see the creepy hiding there. Right now, I’m really enjoying Mags Bennett on Justified.
    I’d love to read your book – jallen3210 at att dot net

  36. one character of a good villain? Villain must have a purpose, a goal why he/she needs to be a villain. My favorite villain of all time….The Hannibal Lecter character!

  38. I think a good villian needs to be charming. I like when the boundaries are not clearly defined, and the characters are conflicted because the villian doesn’t seem to be that bad.
    I can’t think of my favorite villian off the top of my head.
    Stefanie647 at msn dot com

  39. To me, a good villain has some sort of sexuality – even asexuality. That presence or lack of primal drive is always threatening.
    My favorite villain is John Marccone in The Dresden Files. He’s got a code, albeit a messed up one, so he’s often the lesser of two evils. I love when heroes are forced to team up with villains.
    FatesTwists AT yahoo DOT com

  40. A villain must have a distinct oddity to him. The Joker is my favorite.
    My email is dolcezzina21 at aol dot com.

  41. I’d say a good villain needs to be able to plan. My favorite villain … Cruella de Vil since she has a cool name for a villian.
    roxburysnoopy-blogtourdeforce AT yahoo DOT com

  43. Entering for the free copy of ebook Paper Woman. Is early 4/26 here, so hope offer is still good.
    Good villain manipulates others, but very subtly, so that they often may not realize that they are being manipulated. I think that might be part of the popularity of Survivor TV show, we get to see behind the scenes of contestants lies & motivation. Amazes me that contestants get so upset by the backstabbing & lies, like they trusted people to act like they would in the real world where big money win isn’t at stake.
    My favorite villain is Hannibal Lecter. Anthony Hopkins played him so well & love that he was so soft spoken instead of loud & intimidating. I think that made him even more scary, that he appeared so normal.

  45. The Paper Woman giveaway has ended. Thanks to everyone who participated and commented! If you followed the instructions to win an ebook copy of Paper Woman and got your comment in on time, you’ll receive an email telling you how to download Paper Woman.

  46. Let’s get ready to RUMBLE!!!!!!!!! No wait….Wrong website. Sorry. Hannibal Lecter had charm and that’s what counts! Oh My, sounds like an awesome read! skilmer at nb dot sympatico dot ca Kindle style!!

  47. I guess you’d have to be a bad ass sociopath. Someone that can charm you like Hannibal did.
    I think he has always been one of my favorite villans and no matter how often I watch the movies I get the chills.
    Hope I get to be a lucky winner but even if I don’t I still win. How? Because I get to read all of the great blogs out there and read everyone elses comments.
    Thanks. Cheryl
    cheryl@theirown.net