[quote=@LoneSilverWolf]
Okay, but if a character views sexual assault as romance (you see this a lot in mystery/police type books), is it so bad to have that character? I love to write, and one of the villains in a manuscript I wrote is a sexual predator. I'm not, of course, but the [i]character[/i] is. And said character is integral to my story because without his actions, the characters wouldn't have grown up to be who they were. The story doesn't revolve around this as a "love story," I'll grant you that, HOWEVER, one person in my story does feel that way. 

Which leads into my next question--you read books for a living? Are you a publisher? Or an editor? Would you maybe be interested in reading something that ISN'T a love story, but more suspense/thriller type story with some horror elements to it?
[/quote]

I agree with this. It's not always the person who is a pervert or has ridiculous fantasies in real life. Just lustful people with nothing better to do than come up with perverse and disgusting things and turn them into sexual scenarios.

It's the mark of a GOOD author who can live their life and separate them from their writing, instead of dragging too much of what's in their head into the story. Again, "lustful people with nothing better to do" are the ones writing these.

Also, as a side note, I can confirm that [@LoneSilverWolf] is NOT such a person. I should know.