That’s me.  Evil Overlord of my characters. It’s kind of just like that. Evil Overlord: Plans to interfere with his targets’ lives. Me: Plan to interfere with my characters’ lives. Evil Overlord: Is constantly thinking, “What can I do to cause trouble for these people?” Me: “What can I do next to cause trouble for these characters? Evil Overlord: “In fact, what can I do to tear them to shreds?” Me: In fact, what can I do to make things as difficult as possible? Evil Overlord: “HOW SHALL I KILL THEM?” Me: HOW SHALL I– No, no no.  Wait a minute.  Here’s where we part ways. For me, it’s How will they get out of it? What new depths of themselves will they plumb to climb out of this personal disaster I’ve created, possibly while also saving the world? (Possibly.) Because the thing is, as the author, I don’t usually have any idea how they’re going to get out of what I put them into.  I’m so focused on getting them to the point of ultimate internal and external disaster (because, you know, that’s just the way I am) that when I reach it, I often go… Me: Uh, durrrr……