Sunday, March 23, 2008

Under Lock and Key by Rebecca Benston


Who causes friction in the story? In my Rona Shively Stories mystery series, my main character, Rona Shively causes a lot of her own friction. She just gets into things that spell trouble. Generally, though, I try to make the villain someone the reader would never suspect. As in the first book, many people were surprised to find that the bad guy was...well...I can't really say. That kind of gives it away for those who haven't read it. In Under Lock and Key, I pulled a major switch with one of the main characters as well.

Do you prefer bad guys or bad gals? I don't know why, but my villains tend to run in pairs. Usually, a man and a woman are the perpetrators of evil.

How do you use your bad guys? My bad guys are usually causing trouble for some poor, unsuspecting soul. Rona Shively is that equalizing force brought in to help the underdog out of some terrible circumstance.

Do you enjoy writing the bad guys or do you find it difficult? I like writing them, but I really like writing their demise. It makes me happy to see the bad guy get punched in the nose or something equally painful.

Whether you enjoy writing them or hate writing them, we'd like to know why you feel that way? I don't know, maybe it's because my bad guys tend to have some of the qualities that really cause me stress. Some are a composite of the people in my life who have caused me a significant level of grief. So, I guess it's my way of inflicting a harmless dose of revenge.

Who is your favorite bad guy in any of your books? Which bad guy and which book are they in? I enjoy my first villain the most because he was such a jerk. You really never saw it coming because you already hate him when you figure it out. He starts out as a creep, almost becomes likable and then you realize that your first instinct was the one you should have trusted.

Who is your favorite fictional bad guy -- that's not in your books? One of my favorites has been Kyle Craig in the James Patterson's Cross series. He just doesn't care who he kills. He's so sinister.

Is there anything else about your bad guys that we need to know? Sometimes, people are just bad. It's not likely that any of my bad guys are just having a bad day, they're usually significantly flawed and will deserve whatever Rona might do to them to bring them down. I hope you enjoy watching things unfold.

Please provide your website link. http://www.theronashivelystories.com

What is the link to buy your book? http://www.theronashivelystories.com