In a recent review of Invisible (on Amazon - check it out) someone said that she thought Shalini was too mean. She said she liked villain characters to have some slightly human qualities about them. I probably agree. Like in life, no one is totally bad - or totally good. We're all a mix of dark and light.
I guess I was writing it from Jazmine's point of view though. She's been so harrassed and so mistreated by this girl that she can't see any redeeming features about her at all. The only thing that slightly makes her human is the fact that her brother died in a car crash. For Jazmine, that's the thing that might have made her the way she is.
For the record, Shalini is based on a person I knew at uni. I lived down the hall from her one year and I'll be honest: there wasn't much that was nice about her. In fact, I was pretty much scared of her the entire year. It was funny. She did have friends - and some quite nice friends - but there was something about me she didn't like, and she didn't show me one speck of politeness.
As they say, the best revenge is to write someone into a book...
I guess I was writing it from Jazmine's point of view though. She's been so harrassed and so mistreated by this girl that she can't see any redeeming features about her at all. The only thing that slightly makes her human is the fact that her brother died in a car crash. For Jazmine, that's the thing that might have made her the way she is.
For the record, Shalini is based on a person I knew at uni. I lived down the hall from her one year and I'll be honest: there wasn't much that was nice about her. In fact, I was pretty much scared of her the entire year. It was funny. She did have friends - and some quite nice friends - but there was something about me she didn't like, and she didn't show me one speck of politeness.
As they say, the best revenge is to write someone into a book...