Some of my favorite scenes to write are when Finley is doing something morally questionable.  When I’d doing an Intrigue, I love when a character has to do the wrong thing for the right reason.  Having to make those kinds of choices or wiggle out of a tight situation really allows me to explore a character’s flaws and I find those more interesting than their heroic moments.

So what was the worst thing an Intrigue character did?  When I did the Landry Brother series – 7 brothers, felt more like seven levels of Hell at times – One of the brother’s had (unknown to him) been raising his stepson as a single father but once he discovered the truth, he didn’t tell the long-suffering biological mother for a long time.  Morally wrong, but done for the right reason in the character’s mind.  If you justify and motivate it correctly – in this case he wanted to know two things – was the biological mother a fit custodian; and he wanted to protect the son he’d been raising for nearly five years from having his safe, comfortable loving world destroyed.  Intrigues being a Harlequin imprint, the characters have to be heroic, so they can’t be too, too bad.

Finley is and always has been a big hairy liar – in a good way.  I conceived the character as very flawed and very independent.  That combination often has her doing illegal things as well as selfish things.  It’s actually harder to write a character like that because you have to straddle the fine line between keeping her likeable to the readers while she’s doing things that are inappropriate and/or flat out illegal.  Oh, and did I mention that her thoughts are honest, which doesn’t always mean nice or kind.  I think those honest moments – even if she’s thinking something really snarky about another person - humanize her and give her depth.

So bad things/choices – if you motivate them properly and well, the readers will overlook an awful lot.  Realistic characters need those shades of gray.  My favorite examples to ask yourself are these:  Is your character being assertive or is she being a bitch?  Being assertive is good, a bitch, not so much.  Is your hero consistent – does the flaw show itself in other areas of his life?  A man who is a workaholic could be considered selfish (bad) or he could be one of those people who gives all his energies and attention to any situation (good).

Happy Writing!

Rhonda