Real or Imaginary?

I like using a mix of real places and imaginary ones in my writing,but that means keeping up to date with changes.
The Post Office at Port Bannatyne, mentioned in 'The House at Ettrick Bay', has undergone a transformation and lends a very continental atmosphere to the  village. Here's hoping the summer is a good one!

The Post Office before

                                            The Post Office -contintental style!

An outing to Bute

Back from a trip to the Isle of Bute, though the weather wasn't quite as good as in this picture!
My work in progress 'Last Ferry to Bute' is set on the island as is the current novel 'The House at Ettrick Bay'.
Although it takes no more than an hour and a half to travel to Bute from Glasgow, the short ferry trip transports you to a much calmer world.
Bute was a favourite place for the wealthy Victorians to build their summer houses : many grand houses still remain,often divided into more manageable flats. And for the less wealthy, Bute offered the all the delights of the seaside, with many rooms available for rent during the holiday season.
Today the island offers beautiful beaches, excellent walking and sailing and golf : though the golf courses are not for the fainthearted!

WHERE DO THEY GO?

Do characters disappear when we're not thinking or writing about them? Or is there some parallel universe where they exist independently?
The latter seems to be more and more likely -how often do writers have to rein in  their characters to make them behave!
And what about those who suddenly appear 'onstage' and have to be very firmly bundled off?
You can tell I'm having trouble and the trouble is with the villain in my new novel who simply won't show any signs of repentance - not at all what I want from him. I'm afraid to leave him on his own in case I come back to find he's caused more problems for the heroine.
The novel is called 'The Lost of Paradise' - a nod to John Milton's  'Paradise Lost' - and I now realise the problem he had when he wrote it. He worried that the Devil was the most attractive character.
What is it about villians?