They say truth is stranger than fiction, but for me, truth is also where the best fiction begins. Every character I create—whether hero, villain, or the ones that blur the lines in between—is inspired by real life. Some are drawn from people I know, others from strangers who have crossed my path, and some from those I’ve never met but whose stories have lingered in my mind.

I’ve never been one for the paranormal or extraterrestrial. Ghosts and aliens might unsettle some, but for me, the scariest stories are the ones that could actually happen. The serial killer who could be your neighbor. The person sitting across from you in a coffee shop, hiding a past they’ll never speak of. The friend who keeps a secret so dark, it could destroy them. That’s where my thrillers live—in the possibilities of real life.

Exploring the Dark Parts of the Mind

To write an effective villain, you have to be willing to go places most people would rather avoid. You have to ask yourself uncomfortable questions:

• What would drive a person to kill?
• COULD I kill someone if I needed to?
• How far would someone go to protect a secret?
• What does true revenge look like?

When I write my antagonists, I imagine what it would take to push an ordinary person over the edge. Most people don’t wake up one day and decide to do something terrible. They are shaped by their experiences, their trauma, their choices—or lack of them. Monsters are not born. They are made.

In my upcoming novel, We Never Told, for example, the characters are haunted by decisions they made in their youth. A school shooting tore their town apart, but the real horror isn’t just what happened that day—it’s the secrets they’ve been keeping ever since. Someone knows the truth, and one by one, the past is coming back for them. The idea of justice, revenge, and guilt twisting into something unrecognizable is what makes this story chilling. Because deep down, we all wonder—what would I have done?

The Thin Line Between Good and Evil

The best villains aren’t just killers. They aren’t mindless, evil-for-the-sake-of-being-evil types. The scariest ones believe they are right. They believe what they are doing is justified, that the world has wronged them, and now it’s time to balance the scales.

To create those kinds of characters, I have to tap into the darkest corners of my own mind. I ask myself: What if I lost everything? What if I was betrayed in a way that left me broken? What if I had no way out? If I can convince myself that there’s a path from Point A to Point B—where even a “good” person could snap—then I know I’ve created something truly unsettling.

Real Life: The Greatest Inspiration

I don’t need to invent supernatural horrors when reality already gives us more than enough to work with. News headlines are full of tragedies that sound like something out of a novel. Ordinary people commit extraordinary crimes. Secrets unravel in ways that leave entire communities shaken.

This is why I write the way I do. My thrillers are grounded in reality, because I know that’s what lingers with readers long after they finish the last page. The idea that this could actually happen. That the killer isn’t hiding in the shadows of some other city, state or country but is someone you already know.

So the next time you read one of my books and feel a chill creep down your spine, just remember: every character started with something real.

In closing, keep an eye open for announcements coming very soon! There are several projects in the pipeline INCLUDING the release of We Never Told which is coming VERY soon! Until then, happy reading!

Tyler