Blog Archive

I was about half way through writing what I thought would be the second (now sixth) book in my series when inspiration struck. What if the innocent victims from Poisoned Empire were, in fact, party to the coup attempt? That would make them villains, wouldn’t it? Chasing the next shiny thing (something I’m often guilty of as a writer) the female lead for Conspirators’ Kingdom, Taisiya, began taking shape in my head.

The idea of a villain simply being the hero of their own story helped shape how she viewed her world, which meant she would have a number of unkind thoughts about the first book’s heroes. And I didn’t want Taisiya to be the least bit heroic—I wanted her to eat heroes (and heroines) for breakfast. There would be no ‘redemption arc’ for her. She should remain a true villainess from the first page to the last. Thus, our leading lady was born. Except for this to be a fantasy romance (or romantasy, take your pick) she would need a partner who looked at her and thought, “I can make her better worse.” Where better to turn to for inspiration than some of my favourite media?

To say I’m a fan of manga and manhwa would be an enormous understatement. I’ve read more ‘I was reincarnated into the villainess’ type stories than is perhaps wise. But I can probably count on one hand the number of them where the female lead remains a true villainess, with no intention of backing down or giving up her wicked ways. The same goes for English-language novels. It’s not terribly surprising. The ‘unlikable’ female lead isn’t exactly the most popular choice for a protagonist, and a villainess takes that type of character to the extremes. My challenge in writing her was this: how to make a cruel, ambitious, calculating woman likable enough that my readers wouldn’t simply put the book down before the action starts?

Maybe you wonder why I didn’t ask this of myself to the same degree about the male lead. The short answer is that fictional male leads in fantasy romance are generally given astonishing leeway in how morally bankrupt they can be and still be rooted for. The long answer involves several PhD theses on misogyny in fiction and a number of other topics best left to more learned individuals than myself. In fantasy romance, nearly every crime can be forgiven when a handsome man with a wicked tongue is the one to commit it. And I mean that without the least bit of rancor. Who doesn’t love a flirty villain? It was safe to say that as long as our male protagonist had affection for our female protagonist, and a few other good qualities aside from his lust for power, he was going to really shine in the story I had planned. Taisiya, on the other hand, was going to need some work.

It should also come as no surprise that I read more ‘enemies to lovers’ style fantasy romances in every format than is strictly necessary. In stories with the main trope revolving around the delicious friction of enemies to lovers, the male lead is often portrayed as the villain. What turns him from enemy to lover is just that—love. Love, lust and affection soften his edges enough that we as the reader can enjoy the fireworks to come. And if that can work for a male lead, why not a female lead? The answer to my dilemma was to show the soft underbelly of my villainess’ porcupine-like personality and ambitions.

I gave Taisiya grief over the people she’d lost, a fierce love for the family she had left, and an even fiercer loyalty to anyone she considered her own. I made her shoulder the weight of her family’s magical and political legacy. Taisiya became someone who would do anything for those she loved, no matter how unsavoury or horrifying. She was as willing to self-sacrifice as she was to sacrifice those she considered pawns. Taisiya remains a villainess, as cold-blooded as she is steadfast, and as cruel as she needs to both destroy her enemies and protect her loved ones.

Fortitude, a sense of duty, and (albeit brief) moments of vulnerability give her something for the reader to relate to, the same way they might relate to those same qualities in a hero or heroine. The conceit in Conspirators’ Kingdom is that such qualities are used in service of making you root for baddies. In short, I gave her some of the same humanizing qualities that turn a male villain into a love interest.

Now to cross my fingers that it’s enough to endear her to my readers, and maybe even inspire them to look for more female leads just like her. As they say, write what you want to read. I, for one, would love to read about more wicked leading ladies, and better still, the kind that need neither a redemption arc nor a heroic partner. In writing Conspirators’ Kingdom, I hope I’ve done my part to contribute to a truth (not yet) universally acknowledged that a villain in possession of royal ambitions is in want of an equally cunning villainess.

Official Author Website

Buy Poisoned Empire here

READ Lena's review OF Poisoned Empire

Official Author Information: Elyse Thompson writes steamy fantasy full of court intrigue, daring heroines, magical mayhem, swoon-worthy romances and worlds inspired by ancient history.

Elyse graduated from University of Toronto with a Bachelors in History and Classics and currently resides in Canada's capital where you can find her binding antiquarian books, playing Dragon Age or snuggling with her husband or her neurotic terrier.