I’m a little smitten these days with writing my villain. I’m not a particularly religious person, however, living where I do, I am exposed to both the good and the ills of the Christian faith. Among the Christians I know are some of the kindest, most selfless people you could ever meet.
And then there are those who identify as Christian but do not live very Christian lives. My bad guy is one of these, who twists a beautiful faith into something cruel and corrupted. I knew I would be walking a fine line in choosing to characterize my villain as an evangelical Christian, but to be honest, I am finding exposing his corruption is allowing me to explore the issues of faith and skepticism in a more nuanced way than I can with my werewolf hero and heroine, who feel the pull of the Goddess during every full moon, and have never lacked for faith.
So now I have to ask myself: will I give the bad guy a shot at redemption? Or is werewolf vengeance going to bring him down?