Happy Disaster Stories Are Found Here

Everyone loves a story with a warm, safe, soft landing at the end. Even the darkest of stories seem to redeem themselves with a HEA. But does every story have to conclude with this overused cliche?

Millions of authors write formulaic HEAs for traditional HEA fans. HEA is comforting. Fans know that by the book’s close, any crazy world travelled before it is well-managed and secure. It makes readers feel good to end with a happy every after — it’s like pulling up a cosy blanket on a cold Winter’s night.

It got me thinking, I write HEAs too. My evil narratives end in happy places! Sure, they do. They REALLY do!

Stop laughing.

It’s a fact. My characters flounder like any HEA character. They doubt themselves. They love, hate, and inspire to do better, fail and succeed. There are winners and losers — just like any HEA character. And every dark story I’ve ever written ends with a profound, life-affirming resolution. It’s just that the HEA is hidden. I don’t make it obvious.

You could call what I write a happy disaster.

There’s a happy element, but it’s misplaced. Purposely.

A criminal’s happy-ever-after is no less important, so, as a writer, it’d be a wonderful new writing challenge to create the perfect HEA for the bad guy. Taking their viewpoint would allow a writer to explore their life goals, their hurdles, ups and downs, and all the defects that come with living their kind of life.

For instance, not going to jail would be one of the criminal’s best HEAs, right?

It’s obvious, but this type of HEA would be a hard sell to those who firmly believe bad people should be punished.

Remember TV’s Dexter?

Remember Thomas Harris’ Hannibal Lecter?

So not all criminals get punished. Some are even rewarded for performing evil deeds and thinking evil thoughts.

We liked these deranged killers. Fans grew to love them. Some even felt sorry and wanted to rescue them. It’s HEA — unconventional but HEA just the same.

See? It can be done. It just needs the right elements to be in the right place at the right time for the right reasons.

This writer’s greatest challenge is to create new narratives using the HEA as a starting point — then develop them from the perspective of evil. I invite readers to experience them, so they too can become dark HEA believers by The End — the perfect conclusion for my kind of adult fiction.

–Michael