Creating an imperfect man: The source of trauma in Damaged Girls

Have you ever heard that someone is so good they are bad? Whether it is that ornery friend that captivates every situation and knows how to manipulate every circumstance to obtain the greatest effect, or that cool and deadly recluse in the guise of a mysterious heartthrob that is a marvel to most females. In a visual sense, that person is perfect. Just the right skintone - smooth and flawless, except for the tiny smudge of masculinity that rocks the corner of defined peckers. Perhaps he has that ever-commanding stride – you know the one that causes everyone to follow behind, in hopes of getting noticed. On the outside, and to the world, he is perfect. Dig deep, not too much, but dig. What you will find is selfishness, corruption, hatred and a severe lack of compassion. With such traits, anyone should freely be able to walk away from such a jerk. Not necessarily. Not if you make him so conniving, phony and devious that a psychic could never tell his true dimensions. And most importantly, his assessments are mainly based on his incredible looks – your typical wolf in sheeps clothing. Then you make him pry on those whom are less suspecting – virgin minds. He’ll love them, chew them up, love them again once again, love them another time, dismiss them, love them, spit them up, etc… you get the idea. In fact, he would be incapable of love.

When I began writing Damaged Girls, the sketch that I had for the novel’s scoundrel was typical of the idea man on the outside. Sure, the book is about more than Steven Briggs; however, he controls every aspect of the female heroine’s lives. As a matter of fact, he is the antagonist that wants everyone to believe that he is the protagonist. He plays to the audience. In this first series of my debut novel, there are times when I had to walk away from my writing to keep from feeling that Stevie was being victimized. He knows how to tickle everyone’s empathy and he does it so well. I actually felt like a two-faced writer. In order to allow my story to develop, I needed to fall in love with Stevie and learn to hate him. In doing so, I was able to create an imperfect man.
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