Evil has a Gorgeous Face
Ahhh, evil.
It’s that sparkling, enticing, pleasurable, delicious, addictive thing our mothers tell us we must stay away from. And because it’s such an elusive, shadowy do-not-touch kind of thing, it intrigues us. In the eyes of a reader it can make a character more badass, and even more sexy, making the villains in movies and books some of our favorite characters. They tend to have looser sexual morals, and are as handsome as they are arrogant. They hide their demonic soul behind the face of a male model, and they're not afraid to use their beauty, wiles, and sex appeal to get what they want. Even the ones who are inherently evil, and gorgeous turns to gruesome under a full moon, who cares?
Evil, in all it’s glory, is gorgeous, even with a hairy face.
You may wonder why I’m telling you this. The truth is, I wanted to let my readers know that I’m about to launch my writing career in a new direction, and in doing so I’ve done a lot of research on just what a villain is. Along with a lot of other manlove authors, I’m trying something new. I have put a handsome face on evil, and made the villains alluring.
Let me explain.
I’ve heard all my life that beauty equals goodness. Well, I’m here to tell you, if that were true , then we’d all be out of business. Some villains are absolutely gorgeous—in fact most of them. They ooze sex appeal and carnality in a way that shows how seductive and tempting evil can be. Their outfits tend to show more leather, and they most always have a fetish hang-up, but they do it with class. Sure, what's the point of being evil if you can't do it with class? Or failing that, do it with a bit of style?
Like every other woman, I’m easily seduced by evil and it’s dark beauty, so being curious I opened that forbidden door and walked through, finding myself surrounded by unsavory characters who have taught me a lot about evil, and its many gyrations. That’s why I can tell you that in many stories evil begins with a good guy who’s been tempted, or possibly put upon by evil. He will suddenly take on the attributes of a villain by becoming more sexually assertive. The changes in his personality sets the stage for a very dark relationship between him and his chosen lover. This brings about exciting happenings between them. He rarely chooses evil on purpose. If his story is told, he has misgivings at first, but circumstances, whatever they are, finally turn him into the Big Bad, and he begins to walk on the wild side—and what better way to make evil seductive? Good boy gone bad. Suddenly his walk becomes a swagger, his narrowed eyes cut and slide, and you can just guess what goes on inside his head. But whatever his story is, sex sells regardless.
Every author’s writing style changes as she/he becomes more experienced, and since I became a manlove author, I have been flirting with evil. I seem to be begging to break out of these bonds that hold me, and take a walk on the dark side of the road, and present evil as something physically enticing. Why? Because just like you, I feel attracted to the man with the swagger. That’s why my hero’s appearance will focus on inspiring lust, even if he is subject to the moon, and undergoes a change. We all expect an evil being to become hideous and ugly somewhere in their metamorphosis, but not always so. Oh, sure, he changes, but it’s his soul that turns ugly—not him. After all, there has to be a metamorphosis somewhere, and since he has to remain evilly beautiful, let’s make it happen inside instead of outside.
Original? You bet.
When he finds himself under evil’s control, he becomes a little more raw, loose, and hungry sexually. While many will find him sexier this way, others will find him not so nice, but will anxiously go with him as he struggles to return to who he was before.
This sets the stage for a dark, twisted tale of evil disguised as a bold, handsome, brazen man. You know the kind I mean. The badass type who wears leather, swaggers beneath the street lamp, chews on a toothpick, or acts like a real smart ass.
Sure, he’s easy to look at, but what about the poor good guy, the one our mama’s want us to marry? He’s suddenly in the shadows of our interest until he winds up a villain, and then he begins to take on the looks of a movie star.
Manlove writers, bless their hearts, have done the impossible yet again. They have taken the hideous faces off the villains and made them so god-awful gorgeous that the average reader falls in love with the dark, evil villain. This makes the bad guy suddenly become hot, thus making attractive male villains more common. All this may sound very benign and powerless, but let me assure you, once this badass finds his victim he’s just as evil, and just as strong as that of the werewolf, or vampire.
So take my advice. When you’re reading Kelly Conrad’s Beautiful Villain Collection, and you become enthralled with the evil villain because he’s just too handsome to resist, take my advice and back away. Because he’s there. Watching and waiting with each page you turn. And then when you least expect it, he’ll turn his sultry gaze on—you!
Not terrifying enough for you?
Maybe you’re not paying attention…
Kelly Conrad
