Being mean to your characters

My good friend Jeannie sent me an email to say that I was in the Sunday Star Times. The note about Writers House was tacked on to the end of an article about Nalini Singh a NZ writer I'd not heard off before. She writes romance fiction which isn't my cup of tea but she's doing really well - go her. I had a look around her website and came across her thoughts about being mean to characters. Take a look here because it's excellent advice. I particularly like the comments about internal conflict as that's what I'm writing about with Fleance at the moment. His struggles to cope with the huge changes in his circumstances as well as the massive responsibilities which weigh on his shoulders. I'm being deliberating vague because, though many of you know what happens at the end of Banquo's Son, I'm not letting the cat out of the bag.