Battle Creek, MI -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/26/2013 -- On November 25th Jill Edmondson visited the blog Her Ladyship’s Quest as she promotes her new release Frisky Business the fourth installment of her Sasha Jackson Mystery series. In her guest blog Edmondson wrote about creating bad guys and the importance of avoiding clichés.

“To avoid having that happen, use the ugly stick sparingly,” Edmondson wrote.

She admits that writing villains can be challenging. Drawing upon her experience, she advises writers to have fun while trying to reveal a character’s badness. Her recommendations for negative characteristics include bad manners, animal hating, poor hygiene, and swearing.

Not every tip involves negativity. Edmondson sometimes gives a bad guy a tiny redeeming quality to show his humanity. The contrast created by this can make the villain uncomfortably relatable to readers.

Edmondson draws upon her own personality for her heroine Sasha Jackson. The PI star of the Sasha Jackson Mysteries was described by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine as the “true literary granddaughter of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.” Living in Toronto, Canada, Edmondson likes head-banging rock concerts, ice cream, and palm trees.

Fans of her novels and writers who are creating bad guys can read her guest blog Bad Breath, BO, and Bad Language in Tool Kit for Writing Bad Guys and leave comments.

Her Ladyship’s Quest is the blog of Tracy Falbe, the author of The Rys Chronicles, Rys Rising, and Werelord Thal. When not reporting on her writing and publishing business, her blog highlights the old, the new, and the best of the overlooked.