When People Make Me Mad, I Just Murder Them

Lori Soard is visiting me today, and she seems to be in a mood.



This is what she has to say for herself:

It seems like everywhere you go, there is at least one difficult person to contend with. You know who I mean. That loud person, or that bossy person, or that downright mean and crazy person can drive you up the wall. I can overlook all of that, but if you come after me, my family or friends, I am going to kill you – in my next book.

The Gossip
The gossip appears in a lot of my books. She is a useful tool to distribute information to my characters. In real life, she often comes out smelling like a rose, but in my books, she gets called out for her nosiness and for spreading rumors.

The gossip isn’t actually a character I tend to kill off in my books. The gossip does die a social death though, as her true nature is revealed to those around her. Readers often ask me if my characters are based on real people. While each character is completely unique, bits and pieces are based on people I’ve encountered. Sometimes, it is simply someone who sat behind me in a restaurant and proceeded to talk about everyone on her contact list.

The Sociopath
The sociopath… ahh where to start with him or her. When this person appears in my books, it is based on a real person. I don’t write and tell, but suffice it to say that this person hurt me and my family and anytime I can write her into one of my stories, it adds another layer to the book.

Life is a good teacher and while I’m working hard at forgiving this person, I am not quite there yet. Therefore, the anger I feel comes across on the page and my characters experience real emotions. The sociopath goes farther than the gossip. She doesn’t just call the neighbors and tell them that she thinks you’re an alien… she sneaks across to your yard in the middle of the night and plants a space ship there.

This character adds so many layers to a book as the main character battles the sociopath to survive. The sociopath appears in The Elixir and Dear Viking. The two villains in these books are quite different, but the underlying psychosis is the same. I usually kill off the sociopath in my books, but in real life, I’ve simply killed any and all communication, because that is the only way to survive a sociopath.

The Cheater
I’m fortunate to be married to a wonderful man, but I’ve seen friends go through infidelity and the pain it causes. I’ve also seen my daughters’ and their friends deal with heartbreak. The MO of the cheater is always the same.

We don’t want to kill the cheater. That is too good for him. We want to make him suffer. If you’ve ever seen the movie with Diane Keaton called the Ex-Wives Club, then you know what I mean. Dying is too easy for the cheater.

The cheater appears in my book The Lipstick Diaries. Like the gossip, he dies a social death. If he cheated on my heroine, then she may get revenge and then kick him to the curb. Of course, sometimes he didn’t actually cheat at all, as is the case in that book.

The Mean Girl
You went to school with her. You work with her. She might be a family member. The mean girl is out for number one. She doesn’t care about other people’s feelings. She is selfish. She cares mostly about appearance. She makes a great villain. In my romances, she is usually the other woman that is trying to grab the hero’s interest. She never wins, because she is a shallow character, but she can be used to make the heroine realize what she really wants. You can kill the mean girl if you want, but you don’t have to. She’s already her own worst enemy.

Writing Is Therapeutic
Writing is very therapeutic for working through feelings and difficult situations. I’ve kept journals off and on since I was in third grade. I almost always work through grief, pain and even joy through the pages of my books. If I can dig deep and share that sorrow that comes only from losing a beloved pet or a young cousin and it helps just one reader work through their own grief even in a small way, then I feel that I’ve accomplished far more than just writing out my feelings.



Photo Credit: Rune T via Compfight cc

Links:




Lori's Bio:

Lori Soard has a PhD in Journalism but she's hardly the stuffy professor type. She enjoys writing romantic comedies, such as Finding Ms. Right, gets excited over a good comedy and has even seen one of her books turned in a Manga comic. When she isn't working on fiction, she is writing articles, designing websites and promoting authors.

And from me:

Lori is a busy woman. She has been helpful to my career with promotion. Thank you, Lori, for joining me today.





Comments

Sally Painter said…
I love the antagonist breakdown! There are pieces of people I've known in life - good and not so good throughout my stories but mostly compilations.

I think most of us can relate to having run across a few or all of those personality types. Great post! You've given a fair warning, too.
Thanks for sharing how your writing helps you during your trials. I pray your stories help others as well. Blessings!
Lori_Soard said…
Hi Kimberli, Thanks so much for stopping by. I'm glad you enjoyed my post on working through difficulties through writing.

Lori_Soard said…
Sally,

Thank you for stopping by. Yes, we've all dealt with them and that is why I think they work so good in books. People will instantly recognize the gossip or the villian, etc.

I went and saw a movie last weekend with my best friend called "The Other Woman" and it made me think of the cheater character. In the movie, the women take revenge on the cheater. It is funny and perfect. This is exactly the type of scenario I love to write into a book.
Robin Bayne said…
Great breakdown! And that photo is a little scary :)
Lori_Soard said…
Thanks, Robin. Yes, the photo is scary. Maybe I should think about writing some thrillers :)
Pamela said…
I so agree with you Lori and what's even stranger is when you actually meet someone is real life who looks like your character that you envisioned and acts the same way. Ironic. No wonder why writing is so therapeutic, at times it is like a roller coaster ride! Enjoyed your post! Thank you for inviting me.
Kim Cox said…
Oh and what about that nosy person? Don't you just hate it when you're carrying on a conversation with someone and another person comes up and says, "Huh? What y'all talking about?" That drives me nuts. When I'm in a bad mood, I'm tempted to say, "Didn't I tell you?" They would say, "No." and I would say, "Must not be any of your business then."

I'm really not that mean. I could put it in a book though.
Lori_Soard said…
Pamela, I haven't had that happen yet. That would be weird, but kind of fun, too!
Lori_Soard said…
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Lori_Soard said…
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Lori_Soard said…
Kim, that is funny. You should definitely write that into a book.
Lori_Soard said…
I want to thank Marilyn for having me as your guest. I've enjoyed visiting Marilyn's Musings. Thank you all for reading my post.
Marja said…
Sorry I'm so late chiming in, but this was a terrific post! I once heard a famous author say she'd never run out of stories as long as there were people she didn't like that she could kill off in the books. I guess we all kind of feel that way. :)
Marja McGraw
Lori_Soard said…
Hi Marja,

That's great and she is so right in saying that. I think writing out these things is a great way to turn a negative into a positive, too.

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