For complex evil characters to work, you’ve got to give them some screen time, as it were. Because a paragraph or two simply will not cut it.
Backstory
Since evil characters are a certain type of character, it pays to give them a backstory as deep and rich and meaningful as the ones you give to your hero characters. Hence, just as you do with your hero characters, think about where and when they were born. Do they have siblings? Do their parents still live?
Maybe there were early signs of trouble. Did they start small? Could they have been abused or neglected? Did they abuse weaker, younger siblings, or animals? Both of those signify deep mental disturbances. Perhaps there is trauma.
Motivation (Motive)
So, why is this particular character evil? What drives their behavior? Because real human beings don’t just do bad things for fun, what gives? Are they seeking vengeance for something? Did they lose their own true love, their fortune, their family, or their home? Maybe they were horribly humiliated.
Characters who are evil simply for the sake of being evil are boring and unrealistic. Humans just plain don’t work that way (because people who are evil for the sake of being evil tend to be psychopaths in real life).
And the same is true of characters who are evil merely to drive the plot. Your terrorists need a reason why they do what they do, no matter how odd.
Means
And for your complex evil characters to do their thing, they need some way of getting it done. Hence an impoverished character would need funds, probably. Or a disabled character might need someone else to be the muscle. And a famous character might simply pay someone else to do their dirty work. Or they might need to be in disguise.
Means for characters can potentially also be about weaponry. Your French medieval society would only have rudimentary use of gunpowder. For example, Joan of Arc lived during a time of gunpowder use but didn’t necessarily use it herself. However, your evil character might just be a jerk or a person who calls others names. If that’s the case, then you should know which slurs were used when.
And pay attention to age! Evil five-year-olds are very different from evil fifty-year-olds.
Opportunity
Your complex evil characters have limitations if they live far from your other characters, unless they have access to fast transportation. Furthermore, modern or future characters can attack in cyberspace or its equivalent. Or maybe they can attack over the phone or via letter if you go back in time far enough.
There’s got to be some ancient Roman who attacked with words written on stone tablets, or via messenger. And if there isn’t, write one!
Attacks in person mean your complex evil characters are at risk. The victim might hit back. Or there could be shrapnel flying around. Plus there’s always a possibility of police involvement. People for real “commit suicide by cop”. Maybe your evil characters do something like that.
Is a Comeuppance for Your Complex Evil Characters Necessary?
Not every character gets punished, just as not every real-life criminal is caught. How do you want your story end? Or do you maybe want to open up the possibility of a sequel?
Rehabilitation
And even in prison or under a doctor’s care, not everyone changes their ways.
There are also issues with imprisonment. During a lot of history, it was just barely this side of torture, if it was at all. Even the best-run prisons, with the least amount of corruption, have dirt and danger. Also, there’s the question of suicidal evil characters. Currently, the American prison system is supposed to have good safeguards. But suicides still happen. Or murders which look like suicides.
Revenge
Your complex evil characters might want to avenge, well, nearly anything. And even if you used that as their motivation before, it doesn’t mean you can’t use it again. It can still work.
Complex Evil Characters: Takeaways
There’s a reason why this post is divided into motive, means, and opportunity—just like in a police investigation. You may want to consider such steps in turn when writing. They will keep you focused and help you to address areas you might accidentally overlook or gloss over.
Complex evil characters can be memorable. Just ask Hannibal Lecter.
Visual artists and the visual arts can be a source of intense inspiration. Because their struggles can be a lot like a writer’s.
Consider how a piece of art makes any of us feel. Does it inspire? Or are you puzzled? Can it move you emotionally? And what’s happening around the fringes? Because sometimes the details and the background are of more interest than the main subject. You know, just like in books sometimes.
Hence let’s take a look at some well-known inspiring pieces.
The Mysterious Lady
Of course Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is one of the most recognizable pieces of art in the world.
Furthermore, the mystery of the piece continues to this day, as it has for a few hundred years. So, what, exactly, does her smile mean? After all, it’s a small smile. And so the model intrigues us, even now.
The Weird Landscape
Here’s another one. Salvador Dali’s The Persistence of Memory is another very well-known piece although you might not have known its name.
Because the painting is so strange, it can offer any number of interpretations. How important is time? Is the setting a desert?
And what about the odd white lump in the center? Could that maybe be a creature wearing a clock as a saddle? Maybe it means we are all driven by time and memory. Hence we are all under its yoke.
So think about the paintings (and sculptures, too!) which you know. And consider what you see in them, for they may help, particularly with writer’s block.
More Art and Artists
Consider more art and visual artists. Van Gogh can be dreamy but also kind of scary. And the fact that it’s well-known that he was insane adds a bit of spice to things.
Marcel Duchamp, on the other hand (just Google him!) has a rather different visual style, to say the least. Well, that’s one way of putting it.
And go back even further, all the way, as far as art even goes.
What if you could get in the head of the person who painted the walls of their cave, or the sculptor of the Venus of Willendorf? Are the paintings meant to guarantee a good hunt? Or are they just decorative? Is the Venus an object of reverence? Or a sex object? Or is it something else entirely. Hell, maybe it’s just a doll.
Making any of these decisions can easily inform a story about those people, about that painter (several painters, most likely) and that sculptor. Writing their stories is a bit like writing the story of humanity itself.
A Practical Idea
So did you know that Pinterest has secret pin boards? It’s true. And what that means is, you can always create a secret board for only you to see. Or you can share it with a select audience, such as beta readers or even fans, if you like.
And all you need to do is, go to your profile and scroll all the way down. You’ll find it on the left (“Create Secret Board“). And that’s all you need to. So fill it with art which has meaning for you.
Visual Artists: Some Takeaways
Visual artists and art can inspire. And the internet means you don’t even have to visit a museum, although you might want to, anyway. Because they can be kind of fun. And you should get out of the house more often, anyway.
Are you getting some inspiration from your characters’ names?
Sometimes a character won’t “speak” to us until we give them the right name.
Names Are Our Identity
While names have meanings, you can even get inspiration simply from how they sound. What’s Gertrude like? How about Lakeisha? Or maybe Stefan or Juan?
Popularity
The popularity of what people call their children changes over time. This can depend upon movie stars, politicians, or even religious figures. When I was born in 1962, my first name, Janet, was already past its peak. However, it was popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Why?
Because in 1937, Janet Gaynor starred in A Star is Born. However, Janet Leigh did not star in Psycho until 1960. And Janet Jackson doesn’t seem to be having too much of an effect on baby naming. For a lot of little girls who would have had the name Janet in the past, now often have the name Jennifer or Jessica.
Ethnicity
Another factor? Ethnicity. Maria easily made the crossover to non-Spanish and non-Italian families, but not Juan and Vito. How many non-Russians have the name Boris (the British politician Boris Johnson notwithstanding)? And do you know any non-Irish women named Siobhan? So when you create your characters, see if you can match ethnicity.
Of course there are Jewish kids named Sean and British people named Dominic. So this isn’t a hard and fast rule or anything.
For westerners, traditional names generally come from both the Old and New Testament, or from the saints. Hence you see Margaret and Mary, but also James and David. Other related names can be similar or with alternate spellings or derivatives. Marynel and Maryellen of course derive from Mary, and Stefan is just the German version of Stephen (or Steven).
In my own work, the most traditional names mainly come from The Real Hub of the Universe. But this is because that trilogy takes place in the 1870s and 1880s.
Inventions
People also, sometimes, invent new names. Actress Alyssa Milano’s daughter is named Elizabella. So of course the name comes from clipping the Beth part off Elizabeth and instead inserting the similar name, Bella. While it might or might not catch on more widely, it’s a fairly harmless alteration. Plus it allows for a number of shortenings.
Because all of the characters in Untrustworthy are aliens, I had to come up with names. Hence I came up with Tathrelle, Ixalla, Adger, and Velexio.
Takeaways For Names
Name your characters whatever you wish, but do keep them consistent within your universe. And while there’s technically nothing wrong with having two similarly-named characters, if they spend too much time together and are otherwise too similar, that can lead to some issues. Hence you might occasionally want to change Tim and Tom to Tim and Dan.
And keep in mind, names can come into and go out of fashion. These days, very old-fashioned names are often popular again. Hence, your futuristic science fiction novel might have people named Hiram, Dorcas, or Ethel.
Yes, You Can Still Get Inspiration from Instances of Sexism
Sexism remains an unpleasant reality in our world.
Since sexism is still with us today, you might see it, or even experience it yourself. However, even an unpleasant experience can inspire fiction writing. Because sometimes, you just want to write a villain. And maybe your villain can eventually see the light and change, too.
Sexism At Work
In the United States, there are rather specific laws governing and prohibiting gender discrimination. However, that was not always the case. If you write historical fiction, things can differ considerably. Consider what gender discrimination means. It means judging a person’s characteristics or abilities based upon sex and often traditional gender roles.
Hence judges might see women as better parents in custody battles. Or men might get blue collar jobs more often due to perceived differences in physical strength. And this can happen even when physical strength does not factor into job performance.
Sometimes women lose out on promotions due to imagined differences in toughness. And men can find they are overly scrutinized in professions where they may be in the minority. These can be nursing or teaching or the like.
In Social Situations
Some instances of sexism have mild or semi-benevolent origins in what is gallantry behavior. Holding the door for someone is a nice thing to do. However, when a person only holds the door for women, that is move which treats the sexes differently.
Even a positive difference is a difference, particularly when it can be a vestige of not just gallantry. It can also be a vestige of behaving as if women are incapable of taking care of themselves.
Social sexism can also take the form of deciding who asks whom out, or who pays for a night out. Waitstaff can perpetuate this by asking for women’s food orders first, and also by giving the man the check. Teachers might perpetuate these behaviors by giving strength tasks to boys and praising the quietness or cooperation of girls.
When sex is an excuse for a snap decision about someone without taking specifics into consideration, then it’s sexism.
Casual Prejudging and Sexism
Whether you try to excuse it as locker room banter, or it appalls you, sometimes people indulge in this. And it can even happen almost inadvertently.
One area where this tends to happen is with apparel. It’s rare when boys or men receive judgment for what they wear. That is, unless it’s overly feminine, filthy, or completely inappropriate for the occasion or task at hand. Or it’s the wrong team’s jersey.
Women and girls are often judged by their clothes. It can be skirt or shorts length, the neckline of a blouse, or the height of their heels. And yes, sadly, that goes into the rape old trope. What was she wearing?
No matter what, we still hear it.
Sexism and Transgender Folks
As trans people become more common in our world, they, too, are often subject to sexism. But there is also a bit of it being self-inflicted. How does someone who is pre-surgery and even pre-hormones satisfy their need to be a gender they were not assigned to at birth?
It can be with some preconceived notions about the sexes. Transwomen may feel the need to wear a chic sweater set and pearls, and put on makeup. While women assigned female at birth knock around in jeans and sneakers.
And transmen may feel the need to grow facial hair (if they are able to). They may even embrace male pattern baldness if testosterone therapy turns that gene on in them. Contrast this with men assigned female at birth, who may use Rogaine or do anything to avoid a five o’clock shadow.
But Do They Experience Sexism?
You’d better believe they do. But with trans people, it’s likely to be wedded to transphobia or terfism. It’s even harder for minors who are trans.
Takeaways
Characters can remark on everything from who pays for dinner to who gets the right to vote. They can support sexist conventions by pulling out chairs for women and giving little boys toy trucks. They can upend those conventions by giving up seats on the subway to men. Or by giving little girls chemistry sets. Or by accepting trans folk wholeheartedly, and without reservation.
Exercise should be a vital part of anyone’s life. And you don’t have to be a gym rat to get inspiration from your workout or from what happens while you’re exercising. As we have seen in other instances, exercise is just another vehicle for inspiration if you look at it that way.
Your Workout
In order to maintain good health, you need to get up from your computer or chair on occasion. And you need to work out in some manner. Of course your decision as to what to do depends upon any number of factors. Maybe you’re elite and can train for a triathlon.
However, for beginners, getting around the block might present difficulties. And if your area is sometimes an unsafe one, you might end up working out inside. So that can mean a gym membership or a pool or mall walking or even just equipment in your home.
Hence one factor is your environment. As you observe it, consider your characters. Would the chipmunks you see on a nature trail amuse them? Or would they fight off demons while jogging in a less than savory part of town?
Maybe they see exercise as a meditation (a lot of people do).
Your Characters Working Out
Your characters can get in on the action, too. Action and fantasy characters would fight or train. Romantic characters could go for walks. Science fiction characters might work out as a part of military training or even as a health requirement in low gravity.
For Mettle, Elise Jeffries jogs. And, in one of the first chapters, she jogs and that gets her (and the reader) around the neighborhood. She helps to set the scene and show some foreshadowing simply by doing what I have the character loving to do.
Observations
Getting outside means you can overhear conversations. You can people watch, too.
Writer’s Block and Depression
First of all, I want to make it clear that, if you feel the need for medical intervention, please go ahead! A lot of writers can experience certain levels of depression and so by all means, care for yourself.
And for God’s sake, I am not saying that all you need is to go outside and be magically cured. Chemical imbalances require more than some fresh air.
For example, if you experience seasonal affective disorder, you will need to find full-spectrum light. Hence you need to either mimic it with a special light or go out in the sunlight. And here in New England, the winters are full of days with very little sunlight. Very, very little.
Hence I have learned to get myself outside and to shovel snow if I have to (I’ve got to watch my back these days, so I do not make the kind of fast progress I used to) or walk carefully to avoid slipping on ice. Good boots are a lifesaver.
It’s great to sit on the porch, too, and I try to make a habit of doing that when the weather is at all warm.
It doesn’t hurt that I can people watch then as well.
If none or not too much of that is in the cards for you, a gym membership or mall walking can at least help. Because you will also need to get up, get dressed, and get outside in order to do either.
Often, if we commit to just five minutes, we can feel good about continuing.
Psst, you can do that with writing as well!
Exercise: Some Takeaways
Getting up and getting around is a great way to add little droppers full of scene setting and exposition to your story. A place that is always very hot and humid is going to inform the way characters dress, socialize, and eat. And the same is true of a cold, dry environment.
What happens when characters are assaulted because they’re wearing too little in the oppressive heat? And what happens when villains can convincingly hide their faces without rousing suspicion, because everyone is so bundled up?
But exercise is also a necessity for you, the writer, you know.
Everybody needs to take a break from writing. Your eyes will thank you! So you may as well get up and get some exercise. Live long enough to finish your series! Do it for your fans!
Why, of course it is! And, in fact, it can sometimes be hard not to be inspired by the music in our lives. And we may even, consciously or not, try to emulate videos in what we write.
Just don’t out and out steal, okay? But an homage? It should be fine.
Inspiration from Music
Music is a rather common pairing with writing. Some people cannot write without it. Others are inspired by it. Still others are haunted by it.
Lyrics
Sometimes, it’s the lyrics. For me, personally, I pay a lot of attention to lyrics. As a result, I have a lot of trouble listening to tunes while writing or even editing. I have to shut it off, as I am unable to concentrate.
But I do listen when I go outside or offline. For a fan fiction piece, I created a kind of bad girl character. However, she did not come to life until I listened to Amy Winehouse’s You Know I’m No Good.
It’s not just the words, though. And it isn’t just the video. The bass line did it, too. As a result, the character snapped into sharp focus. I could not stop listening to the song until I finished the piece.
The Sound of Music (The Von Trapp Family and Others)
For a genius character addled with ADHD, I wanted his mind to be going about a thousand miles an hour. The best way to do this was to listen to fast-moving songs. Therefore, this one was a must.
The song itself is kind of silly. The words are somewhat nonsensical. But the beat is fast. It’s not rap, although speed rap could have worked as well. Either way, the sound was discordant. And that was the idea. With so much clanging going on his head, the character was simply incapable of concentrating.
A Constant Companion
So, when I was writing Untrustworthy, Pompeii by the group Bastille was in very heavy rotation on a local college station that my husband and I listen to a lot. That song embedded itself into my mind and it became the song for that book. And to this day, I can’t hear this song without thinking of the book. And, for the most part, vice versa.
When Things Go Wrong
With the character of Peri Martin, a lot of her essence came to life when I started to listen to an older song I love—When Things Go Wrong, by Robin Lane and the Chartbusters. But for the romance, it was Squeeze’s Take Me, I’m Yours.
So for the successor Time Addicts trilogy, most of the playlist was songs about time. But two of them stand out: Time Waits for No One by the Rolling Stones and Got the Time by Anthrax (a cover of the Joe Jackson tune).
The Funky Ceilidh
Of course, Ceilidh O’Malley had to have this song by Black 47. In 2022, when I was writing a prequel to Real Hub of the Universe, I also listened to a lot of Irish music. But the song that really brings me back to her is always Pure by the Lightning Seeds.
The Whole Shebang
For Mettle, I saw the separate point of view chapters as episodes in a series or miniseries on television. And much like the TV show Murphy Brown used a lot of different music, I fell in love with the idea of giving each chapter or at least each character their own tune. But since the book mostly takes place in Boston, the characters would have their own song with some form of Boston connection.
So, here’s how that shook out.
This list is set up by character, song title, and artist.
Eleanor Braverman – I Do – J Geils Band (I may change this one)
Noah Braverman – Roadrunner – Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
Craig Firenze – Shipping Up to Boston – The Dropkick Murphys
Dez Hunter – It’s a Shame About Ray – The Lemonheads
Elise Jeffries – When Things Go Wrong – Robin Lane and the Chartbusters
Kitty Kowalski – The Queen of Suffolk County – The Dropkick Murphys
Minka Lopez – My Best Friend’s Girl – The Cars
Nell Murphy – The Wanderer – Donna Summer
Olga Nicolaev – Train Kept Rollin’ – Aerosmith (I may change this one)
Mei-Lin Quan – Voices Carry – ‘Til Tuesday
So then, for the love scene, it would be Boston’s More Than a Feeling. Of course, there are a thousand others I could add.
Because, do I want to leave out State Radio’s Counting All Crows? Or The Pixies’ Monkey Gone to Heaven? But at some point, you have to put a bow on it and say, “That’s it. I’m done.”
Enigmans and Others
So, I don’t tend to use a playlist for short stories. And The Enigman Cave never really got a song attached to it, either.
Creation
For those who need songs to write, playlists are a must. And you can find several on YouTube by searching on writing playlist. However, that might not work for a lot of people. Because writing is a personal thing, just like musical taste is. If I prefer disco, and you prefer country, we’re both right, so long as we keep writing.
So one great thing about YouTube is the ability to create private playlists. If your inspirational music of choice is BTS or the Bee Gees or Britney Spears or Beethoven or The Beatles or Bobby Darin—then that’s fantastic! And no one need be the wiser.
Music and Writing: Takeaways
If you need it, then by all means listen to tunes while writing or editing. If you don’t, then don’t. And don’t let anyone tell you their way is somehow better. It’s hard to find anything more subjective than this.
For everyone who has ever received medical care (which would likely be all of us), the idea of putting it into fiction should be a natural. After all, not all of us have careers or families. But virtually everyone has gotten some form of medical care, even if it was just someone putting a bandage on a skinned knee.
Is it Possible to Get Inspiration from Injuries and Medical Care?
Of course it is!
Medical care matters in our lives, so it should matter in fiction, too. Because unless your setting is a magical one, somehow, some way, any hurt characters will need healing. And they may even need it in a magical setting as well.
Injuries and Medical care
Medical care might not seem like an inspiring subject. However, doctors and nurses naturally witness drama on most days. And some of the most compelling stories can be about that, such as Coma.
Injuries
So, have you ever broken a bone, or suffered a sprain? And if either of those things happened to you, what happened next? Did you faint? Or seek medical attention? Was it fast? Or maybe did your injury linger, even with an infection or complications. Did you need to have surgery?
And even if you were not the injured party, maybe a friend or a family member was. Surely, somewhere in your past, you signed someone’s cast, yes?
Illnesses
So we all know that illnesses, of course, can run the gamut. They can be mild colds or HIV. And they can be chronic, like diabetes is considered to be today, or a death sentence, such as Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is even more compelling and heartbreaking due to its gradual theft of the self.
And then there are pandemics, like Covid-19. What happens when medical care is rationed, or people just plain believe conspiracy theories which end up hurting—or even killing—them?
We may think of cancer as the worst of all possible diseases, yet treatments are better now than they ever have been. However, if you are writing historical fiction, that was not the case, even as recently as the 1970s or so. And if you aren’t squeamish, look up the treatment for breast cancer for John Adams’s daughter. Yes, that John Adams.
Childbirth
Of course these days only women and transmen give birth (although medical science may change that someday!). However, anyone can always witness it, not only the actual event but also everything leading up to it.
And don’t forget about how it can even be a bitter fight as to who gets to be in the delivery room. Mothers in law, I am looking at you.
Death
Of course death comes along with the territory. Consider the impact not only on the patient and their family, but on the caregiver(s). How do home health aides feel? And what about doctors, or even researchers trying an experimental treatment? Losing a patient is tragic, yes, but researchers can learn a lot from that.
Plus, naturally, the end can bring with it an autopsy. Or maybe the organs are recovered, for transplants or for medical research.
Malpractice
Let’s face it, it exists and it is troubling. How does it affect the patient’s family? Or the medical professional(s) who screwed up? Lawsuits and sorrow and guilt can all happen. Does anyone apologize?
Medical Care: Takeaways
Characters slip and fall, or they get battle injuries or just a cough. The medical care they receive matters.
Science is one of the cornerstones of our existence. So are your characters scientific? Do they f’ing love science? And even if they don’t, it can still inform what they say and do.
Discoveries and Science
First of all, there is an enormous amount of inherent drama in trying to discover a cure for a disease. However, sometimes things go another way, where a seemingly serious breakthrough ends up having a rather different application. So consider minoxidil, which is used to treat baldness. Its original development was to be a drug to treat high blood pressure.
And research, with all its successes and failures, can spark drama.
Chemistry and Physics
So chemist characters can do everything from creating potions on the edge of magic to working in pharmacies. And your physicist characters can study the cosmos. Or maybe they build nuclear weapons, and experience all sorts of doubts and moral crises due to that. Furthermore, any of these characters can teach at the high school or collegiate (or graduate school) levels.
Biology and Geology
Maybe a biologist character could unleash a plague or study alien creatures. And a geologist character could warn of an impending volcano eruption (this would be a vulcanologist, actually), or maybe help find fossil fuels.
The Art and Science of Medicine
Beyond finding cures, doctors also handle people at their most vulnerable. And they see the weak, the sick, the dying, and the naked. So some physicians find humor in the absurd, like in M*A*S*H. Psychiatrists can work with the insane or just the troubled. And that can spill over into marriage counseling, or helping people figure out how to come out of the closet.
And, of course, there is caring for people who (currently) have an incurable disease, such as Alzheimer’s.
Takeaways
So whether your characters are blinded with science or just need to get a sprain treated, scientific observations and pursuits can often inspire great writing.
Consider Frances Miller Ashford, One of My Original Characters
Who is Frances Miller Ashford?
When Ceilidh is hired to work for the Edwards, the first thing readers should notice is: it’s a really big house. There are obviously going to be other people working there. Lots and lots of them! If you have ever watched Downton Abbey or Upstairs, Downstairs, then you know exactly what I mean.
But at the same time, I knew that not everyone would know the nuances of Victorian era living. Plus, I needed to have a good way to get across the look and feel of the Edwards House. There would have to be a character who would, at least in part, behave as a kind of expository mouthpiece.
Enter Frances.
Margaret Qualley, who I see as Frances Miller. Image is intended for reference purposes only.
Where Did Frances Miller Ashford Come From?
I wanted very much to have an immigrant much like Ceilidh but better settled in the story. Also, I needed for Ceilidh to have someone she could talk to. Frances fills the bill rather nicely in both areas. Further, I needed Ceilidh to have someone who had an English accent she could emulate. It didn’t seem realistic to have Ceilidh remember Captain Underwood perfectly for years. But Frances was a lot more plausible.
Originally, her last name was Marshall, but then I had too many scenes with a character named Barry Marsh. The names were starting to get confusing. And I could not change Marsh’s name, as he was named after someone I know.
Hence, Frances got a slight tweak. I also like the newer name better, because it flows much better with her (spoiler alert!) married name.
The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Frances Miller Ashford
An orphan who never knew her family, I never actually wrote her extremely early life. But Frances could have been the child of people who died—perhaps of any of the many diseases flying around Britain at the time.
Or she could have been the child of an unwed mother, left at a church or even the orphanage where she grew up. Her mother could have even been a prostitute. I don’t see her as a female Oliver Twist, the child who’s in the orphanage but should have been raised by their own wealthy family.
No. Frances was to be a real foundling, with a hard beginning. For an almost traditional look at someone who raised themselves up from their bootstraps, she is the one to look to.
Was Frances Originally Jewish?
The more I read about the Manchester Jewish Board of Guardians, the more I wonder if I could make her a Jewish child. Conversion of orphans in orphanages appears to have been pretty common at the time. The Board of Guardians is developed in 1859, though, and I put her birth at 1858. But this can work for the story line.
So, prior to the creation of an appropriate orphanage to place a Jewish child in, the possibility is high that such a foundling would be put in a non-Jewish orphanage. For a very young baby, which Frances would be, there really wouldn’t be anyone to object to someone just quietly baptizing her.
Coming to America
In keeping with what really happened to some people, I wanted Frances to have kind of gotten to Boston in a roundabout way. Ceilidh means to go to Boston. But Frances? Not necessarily.
As she got older, the orphanage was clearly going to toss someone like her out on her ear. The orphanage wouldn’t necessarily care if she ended up working, married, turning tricks, or dead. They would simply want her bed for some other, younger child.
And so I decided there would be someone who would come and promise the older girls husbands if they left the country. This would be an irresistible offer for not only someone like Frances, but also for girls like her and the orphanage itself.
But when they arrive in the United States, there are no waiting husbands. The promise was a false one. And so, rather, Frances and her cohorts become Lowell Girls, working for a mill.
After she bides her time, eventually, she gets a day off and ventures into the big city of Boston. Frances has main advantages: a pleasant voice and demeanor, a high class-sounding accent to someone like Mrs. Edwards, and a willingness to work hard. As a result, Frances gets a job in the scullery. She doesn’t keep in touch with the other girls, and has no idea what happened to them.
Her rise is slow, deliberate, and patient. I want it to feel believable. Frances knows the world does not owe her a living.
Frances Miller Ashford, a Description
So, Frances has dark eyes and dark brown curls. I always hear her as having a somewhat breathy voice. Her British accent is via Manchester. It is the kind of accent Americans generally think of when we think of British accents. She is not cockney and is not some latter-day Eliza Doolittle.
I recently decided on actress Margaret Qualley to be the face of Frances Miller. It was a bonus that Qualley was in a show called Maid!
The idea behind Frances is that she almost blends into the background in the beginning. But, of course, she ends up being a lot bigger and more important than that. Ceilidh is a big part of Frances coming into her own as, of course, Gregory Ashford is, too.
Quotes
Coming from Ballyvaughan, Ceilidh has never used indoor plumbing before. In this scene, Frances explains what to do:
Frances lifted the lid, and showed Ceilidh there was a lacquered wooden seat. “Now here’s all you do, see. You lift the lid like so and let it rest against the back here, see? And then you gather your skirts or your nightgown up and sit down, facing the back.”
“Right, yes, I see.”
“And you do your business, of course. Then you take a sheet of these papers and use it cleanse yourself.”
“What do you do with the paper afterwards?”
“You place it into the bowl, where you just did your business.”
“And then what do you do?”
“You see the lever, and the little frog pull?”
“Yes, ‘tis rather amusing.”
“You pull once and hold it for as long as it takes in your head, to say,” Frances giggled a little, “God Save the Queen.”
“Truly?”
“Truly!”
Relationships
Frances has two main relationships.
Plumber’s Assistant Gregory Ashford
Her romantic one is with her husband, Gregory Ashford. They meet when the plumber is called in, to clear away a clog in the bathroom shared by all the women servants. Gregory is the assistant. While fixing the toilet, he and Ceilidh talk a little. He asks her, “Who is the vision?”
Ceilidh asks for clarification, and he says the vision has brown curls. Ceilidh makes sure to tell Gregory that Frances is Miss Frances Miller.
For Frances, Gregory is utterly unexpected. She and Ceilidh are what anyone of the time would have called old maids. While Frances has always wished and hoped for a family, she is a practical person at heart. Her dreams of love would not necessarily come true.
And so Gregory is a pleasant surprise. He is also kind and gentle and truly cares for her. Frances gets a middle class life, and that is perfect for her.
Ceilidh O’Malley
The only other relationship (really) for Frances is her close friendship with Ceilidh. When Ceilidh arrives, unsure of whether she’ll get work, Frances is the one to help Ceilidh along and assure she gets a job as a scullery maid. Frances wants a friend, someone she can talk to. No one else in the Edwards household can fill that need for her.
And so Frances kind of puts her thumb on the scale and rigs Ceilidh’s test to be hired. Without Frances and her help, Ceilidh would not have gotten such a good job. And certainly nowhere near as quickly.
The truest of friends, Ceilidh convinces Frances to give Gregory a chance, because plumbers will always have work, so she’ll never starve. Coming from grinding poverty, that’s an enormous plus, so far as Ceilidh is concerned.
The biggest bonus is when Gregory turns out not only to be all right, but to truly be an almost (this is the 1870s and 1880s we’re talking about) an equal partner.
Other Servants
Just like Ceilidh and other women of the time, Frances is a victim of what today we would refer to as sexual harassment. Donald Smith is nasty to everyone, and he leers at virtually every woman he sees. This comes to a stop when Gregory finally steps in and makes it clear that Frances is his girl. At least Donald backs off.
With the other servants, Frances is cordial but not overly friendly. There is nothing about the woman who Ceilidh ends up replacing. I never mention her by name, and neither does Frances. And so I feel we can conclude that the two women were not too terribly close.
Conflict and Turning Point
In the first book, The Real Hub of the Universe, the conflict and turning point for Frances are nearly the same as those for Ceilidh. Without getting too far into spoiler territory, the real issue is that both Ceilidh and Frances could have lost everything. When Judge Lowell helps out, Frances realizes she’s come from nothing, but has come to have powerful friends.
Her gratitude goes beyond measure.
By the time the series ends, she has achieved a great deal of the middle class dream. In particular, in comparison to someone like the wealthy Margery Cabot Edwards, Frances has true happiness.
Continuity/Easter Eggs
Gregory’s Brighton, Massachusetts house ties in with, of all things, Mettle. It’s just down the street from the house where Craig and Mei-Lin find the solar panels—about 140 years later.
Also, as an expository character, she aligns somewhat with Ixalla from Untrustworthy. But only a little. Ixalla, after all, is well-educated. Frances, while she can ostensibly read and write, has what is likely what we would call dyslexic today.
Also, her name ties her directly to Josie James’s sixth-eldest sibling, Frances Farrah James Walsh. But Francie is a professional ballerina, and has divorce in her past. She shares custody of her daughter, Gina, with her ex-husband, Clayton. Francie Walsh lives on Titania, a Uranian moon. Her ex has custody of Gina and they live on another Uranian moon, Umbriel.
And so Frances and Francie really just share a name, but nothing else.
Future Plans
I don’t really have future places for her, simply because the series is done. But never say never, for I did write a few short one-offs with her, Ceilidh, Gregory, and Devon. She may very well turn up again. Here’s hoping!
There are also enough hints that there could very well be a sequel series if I ever get a true plot together…
Frances as an old woman could be truly compelling. With her birth in 1858, she could conceivably live into the 1930s. Without it being too much of a stretch, that is. Her earlier, harder life could even give her an advantage during the Great Depression. But she would still be about 71 when it starts, and that’s pretty old for that era. For a person with a difficult early life, even a survivor like Frances Miller Ashford might not live past her sixties, if that.
Frances Miller Ashford: Takeaways
Every main character needs a sidekick, a kind of bounce off person. Frances is that type of character. This survivor, against all odds, is still sweet and charming. This makes her one of the more optimistic characters I have ever written.
Frances Miller Ashford — because so many main characters need a true best friend.
Want More of Frances Miller Ashford?
If Frances resonates with you, then check out my other articles about them, Ceilidh, Johnny, Devon, Frances, and everyone else as they work to prevent a temporally jacked-up genocide.
Salvador Dali’s The Persistence of Memory is another very well-known piece although you might not have known its name.
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