Micah Persell: Sometimes villains are redeemable

I'm one of those authors who can say that a characters has surprised the heck out of me. One book ended up with a serial killer I never saw coming. So it doesn't shock me when Micah Persell, author of Of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, out Monday (Nov. 19), says it floored her when a character she admired turned out to be a villain. But there's more! I'll let her explain …

Micah: Have you ever heard the saying, "There but for the grace of God go I"? I, probably like many of you, was raised on this expression. My parents would mention it often whenever I was tempted to judge someone for violation of what seemed a cut-and-dried moral issue.

A few months ago, when I was sewing up Of Eternal Life and plotting Of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, I heard a speaker at a conference say, "Every hero has weaknesses; every villain has reasons." It really stuck with me. When I heard this phrase, I was going through a writer's crisis. See, Dahlia, the best friend of my first book's heroine, surprised me by turning out to be the villain of Of Eternal Life. I mean, really, really surprised me. I had planned on making her the heroine of my second book, but she turned on me. It's weird to say, since an author creates her characters, but I felt Dahlia had betrayed me. It was a feeling my editor shared. When she sent me my edited manuscript, there was a note next to the scene of Dahlia's betrayal that said, "Aw, I really liked her!" I did, too. And when I heard this idea that every villain had reasons, I realized I didn't have to write Dahlia off.

If a hero has weaknesses, and a villain has reasons, where is the line that divides hero and villain? The childhood phrase I'd heard so often from my parents came back full force. Who knows what drives a person to commit a crime, especially// a crime of passion? One moment of human weakness can lead to a lifetime of consequences. And how horrible is the idea that there is no redemption after mistakes?

Suddenly, I was in Dahlia's corner something fierce. I wanted to know what her reasons were — what weakness led her to her current situation. This girl needed some redeeming!

So I started writing her background story. My guiding question was "What would drive a woman to kill?" The answer was immediately obvious — though I won't share it here. You'll have to read the book to find out for sure, but I bet any lady reading this can think of one glaring "reason" a woman would shed blood. As I continued building Dahlia's background around this central reason, I was completely humbled by Dahlia as a character. I discovered she's much harder on herself than anyone else — including me, the author who had been ready to abandon her — could ever be.

Though her past was horrific, I couldn't resist torturing her just a little more: I paired her with a notorious do-gooder in Jericho. He's a big, blond Boy Scout of a man who knows he could never love anyone who is evil. It was great fun showing him he was wrong, but it was more fun showing Dahlia she deserved a happily ever after.

I love all of my characters. They each have a special place in my heart. But Dahlia is different. She showed me how to be a more caring, compassionate person, and for that she earned not only my love, but my respect.

You can catch up with Micah onFacebook,Twitter (@MicahPersell) andPinterest, or check outher website for a special sneak peek of both Of Eternal Life and Of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.