Why We Love the Villain: Dark Fantasy Tropes with Parker A. Garner

The Potion: The One Where the Villain Wins.​Pour a glass for this week’s Poison & Potions reveal as we toast to the characters who would burn the world down. This week, Rebecca and Heather are joined by dark fantasy author Parker A. Garner to deconstruct the art of building morally complex characters and interconnected worlds.​From the hidden Easter eggs in the Entwined series to the subverted tropes in Magpie, we are digging into why the "bad guy" is often the most compelling part of the story. We also discuss why reality TV is the ultimate writer's palette cleanser and how to navigate mental health themes in fiction.​What is in this episode:​Villain Development: Writing morally complex characters readers actually love.​World Building: How to craft dark fantasy landscapes and interconnected series.​The Entwined Series & Magpie: A deep dive into Parker’s books and hidden Easter eggs.​The Reset: Why reality TV is the ultimate writer's reset.​Community: Book conventions and the indie bookstore scene.​The Box Break: Heartwarming pet stories and Parker’s sweetest Velcro baby.​Grab Parker’s Books:​Magpie: https://a.co/d/02DVwPOR​Your Path is Sorrow: https://a.co/d/03RFj9cW​Connect with Parker: parkeragarnerauthor.com | IG: @parkeragarnerauthor​Join the Coven:linktr.ee/TwoGirlsOneTBR00:00 The Potion: Drink Reveal and Villain Tropes05:15 Introducing Parker A. Garner12:30 Writing Morally Grey Villains22:10 The Entwined Series: Building Interconnected Worlds34:45 Magpie and Subverting Romance Tropes45:00 Mental Health Themes in Dark Fantasy55:30 Indie Bookstores and Convention Culture01:05:00 The Box Break: Sweetest Pet StoriesTransparency Note: The book discussed in this episode was kindly provided by the author, but all unhinged reactions and opinions are entirely our own.