Words from the Heart

Today we welcome author, Linda Lee Kane to Words from the Heart to discuss ideas for creating heroes and villains. I hope you enjoy reading her thoughts and advise.   Heroes and Villains  Most thrillers tell the story of a hero who leaves the comfortable, known world and ventures into the dangerous unknown, often at risk to his/her life, to bring benefit to humanity. As such, thrillers hearken back to myth is that span all cultures and epochs. Look at Wikipedia’s list of Heroes and World Cultures and Heroines in Folklore and mark those that appeal to you the most. Keep a list of ideas, and heroes in a notebook to refer to later.  When creating motivations for heroes and villains, a fundamental principle to remember is that making a decision between good and evil is never really a choice. All humans will choose well as they see it. You must tell why your villain is picking his own right (which your reader will perceive as evil). This is where your moral gray...

Historic fiction is one of my favorite reads, so I didn't hesitate to accept the offer to review Black Madonna: A Pope's Deadly Obsession by Linda Lee Kane . This story takes the reader from present time into the past of the Catholic church and back. A bit reminiscent of Dan Brown's stories, Black Madonna , uses the history of Tarot to help inform the story. That said, I will add in capitals, TRIGGER WARNING . There are some very explicit sexual passages (rape) as well as graphic violence. For me, this took away from the story and I had to put the book down several times to get through it.  However, the story, sans the above, was interesting and I found that I was curious to see what was truth and what was fiction. The author, cleverly, adds this information to the end of the book.   Therefore, while I had a difficult time with the sex and violence, the book has inspired me to do more research into the Cathars and Tarot.   Read other reviews and post...