CLASS 69: Baddies from the Inside Out: Use Psychology to Create a Unique Villain—Jenny Milchman

We’ve all read books with hard-to-buy bad guys, people who lead us to say, “No one’s that evil!” What we really mean is that their actions aren’t justified on a deep, internal level. In this class I draw on my experience as a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of troubled children to reveal what gives rise to disturbed behavior, terrible acts, and horrifying outcomes. In other words, a great mystery, thriller, horror, or suspense novel! When your baddies do their worst, readers will believe what is happening and fear what is to come. Truth, they say, is stranger than fiction. In this class you’ll learn underpinnings and motivations to make the villains in your fiction feel really true.

Jenny Milchman is the Mary Higgins Clark award winning and USA Today bestselling author of five novels. Her work has been praised by the New York Times, New York Journal of Books, San Francisco Journal of Books and more; earned spots on Best Of lists including PureWow, POPSUGAR, the Strand, Suspense, and Big Thrill magazines; and received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist and Shelf Awareness. Four of her novels have been Indie Next Picks. Jenny's short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies as well as Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and a recent piece on book touring appeared in the Agatha award winning collection Promophobia.