Marilyn Meredith, Creating a believable Villain

Readers love to hate villains. Think about some of your favorite ones. The one who always comes to my mind is Hannibal Lector—he who dines on his victims, among other horrors. As far as I’m concerned, he has no redeeming qualities.
Authors are told to give a villain at least one redeeming quality, something I’ve never worried about.
I like a villain who seems horrible in many ways, but sometimes my “bad guy” really isn’t all that bad. It all depends upon what the story calls for. In Murder in the Worst Degree, the murder is morally wrong, but understandable.
In Seldom Traveled, the latest in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, I hope that the villain won’t be easily figured out by readers because he or she has been swept up by circumstances in life.
In the book I’m writing now, the villain(s) because at this point I’m thinking there may be two— all seem to have major flaws.  And isn’t that the way it is in real life? All of us have flaws, some have bigger ones than others, and who knows how future circumstances may affect us.
Over the years I’ve created many villains, some much worse than others. Some of my villains I’ve enjoyed writing about, others have caused me some problems.
What about you? Is there a villain in either a book or movie that you love to hate? Or if you’re a writer, have you a favorite in one of your books?

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Seldom Traveled Blurb:
The tranquility of the mountain community of Bear Creek is disrupted by a runaway fugitive, a vicious murderer, and a raging forest fire. Deputy Tempe Crabtree is threatened by all three.
Marilyn Meredith’s Bio:
Marilyn has had so many books published, she’s lost track of the count, but it’s getting near 40. She lives in a community similar to the fictional mountain town of Bear Creek, the big difference being that Bear Creek is a thousand feet higher in the mountains. She is a member of Mystery Writers of American, three chapters of Sisters in Crime, and is a board member of Public Safety Writers of America.
http://fictionforyou.com
http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com
New Contest:
Winners will be randomly picked from those leaving the most comments on the blog posts. Each winner can choose one of the earlier books in the series as either a print book or e-book.

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