When I wrote my first book I was working with the concept that the villain of the story was imagined. My heroine was paranoid about being imprisoned by the authorities or worse becoming a lab-rat. It was the paranoia that was the emphasis of the story.

I guess that, for most readers, this is not enough; for them the villain must be a person and a male to boot. Has a Bond Movie ever had a female villain? I don't think so.

Can I have a successful novel with a female villain?