Friday Alice Renaud it visiting and Talking about Heroes, Heroines and Villains #MFWRAuthor #Fantasy #Heroes #Villains

 

1.       Heroes, Heroines, Villains. Which are your favorite to write?

 

I find heroines easier to write than heroes, because I’m a woman so it’s easier for me to picture myself in another woman’s skin. My favorite characters to write are villains, though. I love a good villain!

 

2.      Heroes. How do you find them? Do pictures, real life or plain imagination create the man you want every reader to love? Do they come before the plot or after you have the idea for the story?

 

Usually I have an idea for the story first, then the hero develops from that idea. My novellas and short stories are all connected. A secondary character in a story will often become the main character in the next story. My heroes come mostly from my imagination, I don’t base them on real people. Once I have written the story, I look for pictures that resemble the character I’ve created.

 

3.      Heroines. How do you find them? Do pictures, real life or imagination create the woman you want the reader to root for? Do they appear before the plot or after you have the idea for the story?

 

When I have an idea for a story, I usually imagine one of the characters first – sometimes it’s the hero, sometimes the heroine. If I have imagined the hero first, his character will influence how I create the heroine. She has to be right for the hero, but there also needs to be an element of conflict. For example, in my story Music for a Merman, the hero is a cop. I made the heroine into an eco warrior and made him arrest her. If the heroine comes first, then she will grow from the idea I had for the story. Again, heroines come from my imagination. I’ve never based a hero or heroine on someone I know, though sometimes they have elements of myself.

 

4.       Villains or villainesses or an antagonist, since they don’t always have to be the bad guy or girl. They can be a person opposed to the hero’s or heroine’s obtaining their goal. How do you choose one? How do you make them human?

 

My Sea of Love series is made up of three novellas, each one centred on a young shifter merman or mermaid who falls in love with a human, in defiance of the laws of their people. In the first two books the antagonists are the heroes’ fathers, the elders of the merfolk community, who are conservative and opposed to their son marrying a human woman. I made sure I explained their motivation – fear of change, fear of losing their identity.

In the third book, Mermaids Marry in Green, the villains are proper monsters – bloodthirsty, cannibalistic red hags. Monsters are great fun to write. I intend to show more of the hags’ character and motivation in future books, however, so they too will become more “human”.

 

5.      What is your latest release? Who is the hero, heroine and or the villain?

 

Love Comes in Many Shapes is my first gay romance/menage story. It is included in the new BVS anthology of LGBTQIA+ love stories, Rainbow Desire, on pre order sale only $0.99 until the release date 1 October. It has two heroines, Bryony the shifter mermaid, and Maia the witch. The antagonist is Ariel, Maia’s ex, a powerful warlock. Maia and Bryony have run away together and are living the dream in Las Vegas, but their relationship comes under strain when Ariel turns up.

 

6.      What are you working on now?

 

I am writing another short story for the next BVS anthology, “Dark Desire,” which is planned for 2022. A shifter mermaid teams up with a vampire to steal a magical jewel… with unintended consequences. I have also just finished the first draft of my next novel, “How to win a sea-witch.” I am hoping it will be the first book in a new series, “Conjuring Love,” about time travelling witches and warlocks.

 

7.      How can people find you?

 

You can find me on the following links:

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AliceRenaudAuthorRomance/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alicerauthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18670218.Alice_Renaud

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/alice-renaud

Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Renaud/e/B07L52P17B

Website: https://nomadauthors.com/alicerenaud/alicebooks.html

 

8.      Who are your favorite authors? Your favourite book?

 

My favorite authors are Tolkien, Ursula Le Guin, and Robin Hobb. My favorite book remains The Lord of the Rings. It’s the book that made me want to become a writer.