Kelly Heckart - Of Water and Dragons

We want to hear about the bad guys, bad gals and villains in your book. Even if you don't have a murderer, thief or other "bad guy" there should be some negative force.Who causes friction is the story?

There is more than one negative force in Of Water and Dragons. The Roman legions play a roll as a negative force trying to bend the Celts to their will, but one character, a female warrior named Rhonwyn, causes friction in the story, but she isn't an evil person. She acts on love and ends up causing trouble for herself and everyone else.

Do you prefer bad guys or bad gals?

I like both bad boys and bad gals. It depends on the plot of the story. How do you use your bad guys? So far, the bad boys or girls I have written are not totally evil. Something usually happens to change their thinking or they have a redeeming quality about them.

Do you enjoy writing the bad guys or do you find it difficult?

I enjoy writing troubled characters. I think that makes them more real because we all struggle with our inner demons.

Whether you enjoy writing them or hate writing them, we'd like to know why you feel that way?

I think everyone has a dark side and only some decide to act on it at some point in their life. I find it interesting as to what exactly causes that breaking point within a person. As a writer, it is also fun to get inside a villain's head and get to act out my dark side that way.

Who is your favorite bad guy in any of your books? Which bad guy and which book are they in?

I think I would have to say Morgaine from White Rose of Avalon, which is going to be released November 16, 2007. She isn't an evil being, but in her desperation to save Avalon, she nearly destroys everyone she cares about. Because of that, some people might view her as evil.

Who is your favorite fictional bad guy -- that's not in your books?

I am going with a t.v. character because he really defined a redemptive bad boy in my eyes. Spike, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, once a totally evil vampire without a conscience, goes through a change and gives own life to save Sunnydale in the last episode. The drastic change he went through was believable.

Thank you for telling us about your bad guys. We love to meet the "evil ones".

Kelley Heckart

Author of Of Water and Dragons,

"an appealing amalgam of magic, erotica, military history, and romance that will leave readers breathless in its wake." Ellen Tanner Marsh, NYT best-selling author
http://http://www.kelleyheckart.com/