The "Ex" Factor

I was a divorce lawyer for many years. I get that ex-spouses and ex-girlfriends/boyfriends are out there and can be pretty compelling in terms of their overall nastiness. But I am kind of stunned at how many nasty ex-whatevers I'm seeing in novels these days. There is rarely a time where an ex is just an ex. The ex-girlfriends and ex-wives tend to come back and demand custody of the kids or manipulate and scheme to get the hero back. The ex-husbands and ex-boyfriends tend to be abusive a...