Loving our Bad Boys

In the midst of a multi-author blog hop:

#ShiningLightOnOurLadies

where I highlighted my leading lady

Nefret, from Khamsin, The Devil Wind of The Nile,

I started thinking about some of the Bad Boys in my novels.

What fascinates us so about them? What makes us even root for them? More often than not, they aren’t the main protagonist but his nemesis.

It keeps happening to me. These sideliners weasel themselves into the action when I simply needed someone for a scene. Then, later on—holla!--there they are again, sprouting up like a weed.

Of course, Ebu al-Saqqara, the vile vizier in Khamsin is – well, vile without redemption. I didn’t like him one bit.

However, I did take to Saad, King Aha’s royal steward (see him, on the left, all humble and servile) until he turned on me and my sweet girl, the Princess Nefret.
I was so mad I wanted to kill him. Oh, yeah…

Five-thousand years later, there is the ubiquitous Edward, the dapper conman—destined for a mere dalliance with Naunet in Sirocco, Storm over Land and Sea.
Suddenly, he turns kidnapper and an accomplice to murder. Still, I couldn't quite bring myself to killing him off, so he remains my leading lady’s nemesis throughout the series.
He was one charming devil. While I don’t like him any longer, his ability to “go with the flow” still astounds me.

-- A small history of him in Edward, Con Extraordinaire, is free for the next five days; just saying … http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009BQZ1JY

And then, there is Vergil, Jonathan’s seemingly dimwitted guard on the M/S Bucanero in
After the Cataclysm. 

To my surprise (!), Vergil turns out to be a wily modern-day pirate who’s also rather handy with a handheld rocket launcher in

The Crystal Curse.

I wonder what mischief he’ll be up to in Book 5?

Take a guess...

The subject of Bad Boys begs the question (perhaps evoking long-buried memories?): Why are real women drawn to them?
Nope, not going there...

Instead, I’ll concentrate on Book 5 of the Legends of the Winged Scarab to be published later this fall. It's got a great cover and I am planning to reveal it soon.