Musings & Trifles

My favorite part of being a thriller author is that it gives me license to explore the darkest corners of the human psyche. It’s in these chilling narratives that I’ve glimpsed the potential for our own downfall. While there are many facets to what drives mankind toward self-destruction, one recurring theme that emerges time and again is the male of our species insatiable need for conquest. 

The Allure of Power

Throughout history, man’s lust for power and control has been the catalyst for countless conflicts. Whether it’s the rise and fall of empires, territorial disputes, or the ambition of leaders, the pursuit of dominion has often led mankind down a treacherous path. My thriller novels thrive on this theme, exploring the darkness that dwells within the human heart when power becomes an obsession.

In literature, the allure of power is often depicted as a corrupting force. Characters who seek to conquer find themselves descending into moral ambiguity, making choices that can have catastrophic consequences. It’s a reflection of the real-world consequences of unchecked ambition, as individuals and nations alike grapple with the consequences of their actions.

The Conquest of Others

One of the most chilling aspects of conquest is the way it often involves the subjugation of others, particularly of women by men. One of my characters reflects on man’s “insatiable need to conquer villages and vaginas.” Crass, sure, but no less true. This relentless pursuit of one’s desires, even at the expense of others’ well-being, creates a tension that propels the narrative forward in fiction. While in the real world, it causes much more consequential issues.

In the real world, conquest has led to colonization, war, and the displacement of entire populations. It’s led to racism, sexism and the need for men (particularly white Christian men) to do everything in their power to remain at the top of society. 

The thirst for more land, resources, or influence has left scars on the pages of history that threaten to widen and crumble the ground below us even now. As a thriller writer, I tap into this dark undercurrent of human nature, weaving tales that reveal the consequences of our desire to conquer at any cost.

The Downward Spiral

Thriller novels often explore the downward spiral that accompanies the pursuit of conquest. Characters who become consumed by their ambitions can find themselves trapped in a web of deceit, betrayal, and violence. It’s a cautionary tale about the dangers of losing one’s humanity in the quest for power.

In the real world, this downward spiral manifests in various forms, from political corruption to unchecked greed. When the need to conquer overrides ethical boundaries, the consequences can be devastating. Thriller writers like myself shine a spotlight on this phenomenon, urging readers to consider the impact of unchecked ambition on both individuals and society as a whole.

The Hope of Redemption

While the theme of man’s downfall due to the need to conquer is a dark and ominous one, it’s worth noting that many thriller novels also explore the possibility of redemption. Characters who have strayed into the abyss of conquest may find a glimmer of hope for redemption, a chance to break free from their destructive path.

In the real world, the possibility of redemption reminds us that there is always room for change. Society can evolve, and individuals can choose a different path. Thriller novels offer a mirror to our own potential for both destruction and redemption, challenging us to confront the darker aspects of human nature while holding onto the hope of transformation.

So as you turn the pages of my thrilling tales or others, I hope you’re not just entertained but also enlightened. Ponder the question of whether man is indeed the downfall of mankind, driven by an unquenchable thirst for conquest. And may you find inspiration to navigate our own lives with wisdom, empathy, and a commitment to a more just and harmonious world.

Fictional antagonists are fun to write about! They excite readers and make them want to read more. They are also a great way to mix up any genre. A well-written antagonist can single-handedly propel a story forward and often has some favorable traits even the protagonist doesn’t possess. Not all stories about good guys end in them winning and solving the problem. In fact, I’d argue that stories in which the white knight (or knightress?) lives happily ever after as he/she rides off into the sunset are predictable and cliché.

A good antagonist (well, good in the sense of being perfectly bad) must not only be distinguishable from the rest of a story’s characters, but she/he must be a fully fleshed out character. In other words, they can’t just be bad for the sake of being a foil to the protagonist. A good antagonist will have their own agenda when they arrive, and they must be able to get away with what they do because of who they are. Oh, and by the way, they probably won’t see themselves as the “bad guy.” In their mind, the story is about them. In many ways, they are correct.

Antagonists let us explore our dark sides

There’s a reason we love bad guys: They challenge us. They make us question our own actions and morality. They make us take a step back and look at others from a different viewpoint. We admire their strength, even if we fear the reasons for our silent admiration, and appreciate their forthrightness. In the process, they teach us something.

They make for great storytelling

Many people find bad guys enjoyable to read about and watch. Why? Maybe it’s because they are so true to themselves? Or maybe it’s because they often seem more confident than the typical protagonist. This genre gives you a chance to put your own spins on characters and stories. When it comes to thrillers, my favorite genre, it’s the strength and personality of the antagonist that generally determines how good a story will be.

They push our hero to their limits

Bad guys make fictional heroes stronger. By facing off against them, they teach our protagonists how to manage their own lives and careers while teaching us, how to be confident in our actions and in ourselves. Often it is an antagonist’s mistake or hubris that gives the protagonist the upper hand, learning from the bad guy’s mistakes and becoming stronger because of them.

Antagonists allow us to explore complex moral questions

A villain’s character is his/her story. How they live their lives affects their personality and habits, and that character is transferred to others. By reading a bad guy’s story, we get a better understanding of what makes them evil. We can discover what makes them human, how they lived, what they believed, and how that belief influenced their actions.

A strong antagonist forces us to think about the consequences of our decisions for a long time after we read their story.

Fictional bad guys help us process and deal with real-world bad guys

A fascination with bad guys has a long history. We love it when our favorite characters are wrong-doers or those who aren’t exactly nice. It makes us wonder what they are like behind the mask and how we would respond to them. Does this humanize real-world bad guys? Sure. Is that a bad thing? I don’t think so. We are all human, after all. And it is more often circumstances, not genetics, that determine if we turn out “bad” or “good.”

Certainly, this doesn’t excuse real-world bad guys, but it does give us, as a society, the insights needed to change lives for the better. Or maybe I’m just a fiction writer who likes to think that everyone, fictional or real, can be redeemed. What do you think?

Okay, I know the title of this post is a little click bait-ish. Or is it? I guess you’ll have to tell me in the comments if you only clicked on this post because of the title. No matter how you ended up here, I hope by the end you might nod along in agreement. 

First, let me set some minds at ease (particularly those of the people who know me and live nearby). I don’t actually love real-life murderers, sex traffickers and psychopaths. I think these particularly twisted individuals represent the worst of humanity — assuming they, indeed, have any humanity in their souls, or even have a soul. So please don’t call the police and suggest that mine is a safe house for the criminally insane.

Now, if you have read some of my other posts (it’s easy, I’m not exactly a prolific poster), you already know that my favorite literary color is gray, I hate happy endings and I believe there are no true bad guys in fiction.

And fiction is exactly what I’m referring to. I have a fascination with murderers, sex traffickers and psychopaths of all stripes in literary works. Why? Because in the right hands, they make multi-dimensional characters that drive the narrative forward. They bring fictional worlds to life. They make you want to turn the page even if some of their actions turn your stomach and make you want to turn away. 

Good guys without flaws are boring. Give me a villain any day. Sure, I will root for the good guy (no matter the gender) to win. But only if the villain is a worthy opponent. And especially if the villain seems to have the advantage. And, frankly, I prefer my good guys/girls with some rough edges, maybe a dark secret or two, or perhaps a dark past. Why? Because that makes them more realistic. I have a hard time rooting for an obviously fake person. In the real world, good guys don’t have all the answers. They don’t always make the right moves. And they seldom have the upper hand over their opponents. 

And, let’s face it, villains don’t always see themselves as villains. For them, they’re the main character. They’re the one with a mission, and it is the so-called “good guy” who has intervened to stop them from being happy. 

When is the last time you enjoyed a story that started with sunshine and roses and stayed that way for the entire book? I’d venture to say never. Even in the sweetest of sweet romances, trouble arises that our couple must overcome. Children’s stories also have villains. I mean, have you read the original versions of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales? Those are some dark tales! And they were meant for children. Heck, look at the Harry Potter series for a more contemporary example. The entire plot is driven by the murder of Harry’s parents and the attempted murder of Harry. As. A. Baby.

So, yes. I love bad guys of all stripes. Don’t you?

Let’s start with money because that’s often the measure of someone’s success. Mr. Sandler, Happy Gilmore himself, is worth about $420 million. It seems pretty fitting for his net worth to be 420 friendly. I wonder if he spends his weekends randomly buying up assets just so nothing harsher the mellow of his money.

If you’re keeping track, that makes Adam Sandler one of the richest actors in Hollywood. What? That’s right. The man who gave us Hubie Halloween enjoys a higher net worth than Jack Nicholson, Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Tom Hanks, Michael Douglas and scores of other A-List actors.

When he signed a $250 million four-movie deal with Netflix, people were astounded by its record size and by the fact that it was with Adam Sandler. But guess what? Netflix has since extended that deal for another four movies. Clearly, he’s doing something right. People may write him off or wonder what his appeal is, but all the while he’s having the time of his life and laughing all the way to the bank.

And, sure, he has put out some bad movies. In fact, he’s earned 36 Golden Raspberry Award nominations, winning nine times. But he’s also been nominated for multiple Golden Globe, Emmy and Grammy Awards. He has earned a perfect 0% Rotten Tomato score for The Ridiculous 6 (well deserved in my opinion). But he’s also earned an astounding 92% for The Meyerowitz Stories. 

In my opinion, most of his movies are at least mildly amusing and some are just plain amazing. I’m thinking of Punch Drunk Love and Uncut Gems. Both of those movies proved that my man Adam can act when he needs to. Shoot, even in a silly throwaway buddy movie like The Do-Over where he’s mostly being silly, he is able to deliver and comes across as very endearing.

But the biggest reason that Adam Sandler is my role model is because the man appears to have mastered the illusive work-life balance. By owning his own production company, he can better control what projects he works on. And as you can tell by the repeated appearances of his friends, he likes to make sure he has fun and stays connected with this who matter in his life even when he’s working. In fact, his wife and two daughters also appear in a ton of his movies. 

Who wouldn’t want that kind of freedom? Who hasn’t wished for that kind of life?

Now I hold no illusions that my own budding side hustle as a novelist will ever become the publishing equivalent to Adam Sandler’s career. Hell, I’m too old for that. But I can certainly learn from him and use his career as a model for my own. And that’s exactly what I plan to do. As soon as I’m done hanging with my family.

Please don’t take that the wrong way. When it comes to books, or movies or any form of entertainment, I do want the story to have a solid resolution. Even if it is one of a series. Cliffhangers are okay as long as there aren’t a lot of loose plot threads left dangling that don’t get resolved in the next book. Even series books should conclude their story to some extent, don’t you think?

I read a lot of crime novels, mysteries and thrillers. They make up the bulk of my library, which is probably not surprising since they’re the kinds of stories I like writing as well. I love all the twists and turns of a good suspense. But I hate it when all the thrills fall away at the end to reveal a shiny, happy resolution. Am I the only one?

I’ve always found the traditional Hollywood ending a bit trite. As I mentioned above, I don’t want a movie or a book to leave a bunch of loose ends hanging out there unresolved before the ending credits or the last page. I just don’t like the manufactured happy ending. For one thing, happy endings rarely happen. In fact, endings in general aren’t all that natural, happy or otherwise.

In real life, of course, our story keeps going. The end credits don’t roll until we die, and even then there is still a story to tell, it simply involves one fewer characters. So the idea of a happy ending is completely made up. It’s manufactured. It’s false. 

I’m not suggesting that people (even fictional ones) don’t deserve happiness. On the contrary, I think happiness is a core goal that drives life forward. Everyone is searching for it, or some variation of it. Perhaps they just want to be comfortable or find balance. I’d argue both of those goals are built on a foundation of happiness at some level. So let’s just agree that people (real and make-believe) deserve happiness. I merely want that happiness to fit the hundreds of pages and thousands of words that came before it. 

Traditional happy endings, in my humble opinion, are boring, trite and unrealistic. Now, I will grant you that readers of some genres do expect a happy ending (I’m looking at you, romance readers). But aside from that admittedly very large genre of stories, I argue that endings that are too full of sunshine and roses will actually ruin the entire story that came before it. That might sound harsh, but think about it: when is the last time you read an unsatisfying ending and said to yourself “Oh well, it’s just the ending. I loved everything else so I’ll give it five stars.” 

Never. You’ve never done that. Nobody has. In gymnastics, sticking the landing will make or break your entire routine. Same goes for a pilot. Nobody cares how smooth a flight was if the landing is scary. In racing, you may pull some epic moves, speeding by rivals and maneuvering through wrecks. But if you don’t cross the line first when the checkered flag waves, it was all for naught. 

I think I’ve beaten my point into submission. I’ll just leave you with this. A book must end the way the story requires it. Nothing more. Nothing less. I should not bolt on an ending because I as the writer really want it to end that way. Nor should I create an ending solely because I think it is what my readers expect. I hope I always write the endings my stories require and deserve. I humbly invite you to keep me honest on that.

I welcome your comments and opposing points of view. The one thing I know for certain in this life is that I’m not always right.