I take great pleasure in despising villainous characters, in particular, those two bad guys Jane Austen created over 200 years ago: Mr. Wickham and Willoughby. Honestly, it’s like therapy for me to detest them as fully as I do. The simplicity of their selfish, immature, conniving behavior is depicted so beautifully that you are reminded of one particular thing: some people are just rotten. The other night at the discussion of my first novel, Beneath the Mimosa Tree, I used another of Anne Lamott’s great quotes about “hanging out with your characters and getting them just right.” You have to hang out with your characters so you can show the…