>Villainology has Arrived!

>Ah, yesterday in the post the brand new copy of Villainology arrived. Woo Hoo. I'm impressed by Derek Mah's artwork once again. And the invisible man on the cover is soooo cool. Really.



There it is on my desk next to a cup of hot chocolate and cuddling up to a copy of Monsterology. I'm very pleased with how the book turned out, as you can probably tell. And it's officially my eleventh published book. Yay, for lucky number eleven!

Here's the table of contents:

1. The Wicked Witch of the West
2. Attila the Hun
3. The Wolf
4. Billy The Kid
5. The Headless Horseman
6. Morgan Le Faye
7. Qin Hui
8. Shakespearian Villains
9. The Invisible Man
10. Emperor Nero
11. The Queen (from Little Snow White)
12. Scarface Capone
13. Scrooge
14. Phantom of the Opera
15. Mephistopheles

Cheers!

Art

>Alas, Poor Sweeney, I knew him well...

>Yep, good ol' Sweeney Todd didn't make the Villainology cut. He won't be standing side by side along with Attila the Hun and Emperor Nero. What does a villain have to do to make it?


Sweeney Todd: A fictional barber who lived on Fleet Street in London. Anyone who bumbled in looking for a shave and a haircut, ended up getting a deep throat cut. Sweeney then chopped up their bodies and put them in pies. People pies is what they were called and they sold well. Sweeney first appeared in a penny dreadful (a really cheap story that sold for a penny) called "The String of Pearls: A Romance" (1846) that was likely written by Thomas Prest. Next came a play then musical after musical after Musical. Ah, there’s nothing more musical that cutting people up and stuffing them in pies. Kinda makes you wonder what everyone was eating in Oliver Twist. Sweeney Todd may be based on someone real, but no one has ever proved it. I guess somebody ate the evidence.


Poor, poor Sweeney. Well, at least he keeps people singing. Which reminds me. There was a Heavy Metal band called Fist back in the '80's who had a cool song called Fleet Street. The lyrics were something like:

"Follow the baker,
The people pie maker,
Makin' people pies,
Evil in his eyes!"

Hey, it was a cool song. Still is. It's somewhere on my iPod right now.

Speaking of eyes, here's a villainous eye...any guesses who it belongs to?

Tune in next time when you'll find out why Lizzie Borden didn't make the cut. Get it, the cut? Maybe that should be the whack.

Art

>A Nice Review for Megiddo

>Well, a nice review for Megiddo's Shadow from Ventura Country Star. I'm always happy to see a good review. It's a real pick-me-up first thing in the morning (although it's evening as I write this, I'm a slow blogger). It's always an odd feeling to think that my book is being read so far away (Ventura is in California, I'm in Saskatchewan, Canada). My books have a more exciting life than I do.

Which is fine. I'm just here to write them.

The real trick of this writing biz is to not read the bad reviews first thing in the morning, tho. That's a buzz kill!

Art

>More Villains on the Cutting Room Floor

>Ah, the scythe of the editor's mind. Oh, and that whole page limitation thing. Here's another villain who ended up on the cutting room floor.

Svengali: a hypnotist who stars in George Du Maurier's 1894 novel, Trilby. Ok, it’s a boring title, but it’s all about Svengali, a crappy musician who hypnotized Trilby (a girl) and turns her into a famous singer. He lives in luxury off of her concert performances. Then in the middle of a show Svengali has a heart attack and dies. Tribly wakes up, with no memory of being able to sing. The audience shouts at her and she has a nervous attack and dies later that night. Can’t anyone write a happy ending anymore?

Alas, goodbye Svengali.

Oh, hey speaking of Villains who are in the book, here's a body part from one. Can you guess who?



And it's not Scarface.

Have a gleefully villainous day!

Art

>Monsterology is scarier than Poutine!

>Just received the French version of Monsterology, published by Bayard. Look's great, eh?

Interesting that it becomes Monstrologie! I like it. And boy, it's ten times funnier in French. Here's an example:

L'ogre
Occupations: Etre gros et manger.
Il deteste: Se cogner la tete, Jacques, tomber de haut, quand les nuages sont bas.

Ha! Etre gros et manger! Etre gros et manger! If that doesn't tickle your funny bone I don't now what will. French really is the language of love. Uh, and laughter. Grosse Le Laughter!*

Monsterology's World Conquest is just beginning.

Adios, uh, I mean, Au revoir,

Art

*this is where I admit I did take French up to Grade Twelve but it was taught to me by a woman with a Scottish accent. "Ach, Monsieur Slade, you make the French sound like 3 day old haggis." Very sad. I was almost cultured once.

>Villains--on the cutting floor!

>Well, nigh over a month until Villainology comes out. Oct. 9th is "V" day!
Sadly not every piece of purple prose I wrote will be appearing in the book. Apparently they have page lengths to these things! Yes, I was as surprised as you. Which does make one wonder, are editors ruthless villains? Or are they ruthless taskmasters? (uh, this doesn't apply to any editor who's bought me lunch)

So here's a section on "Other Victorian Villains" that was left on the floor...

Other Victorian Era Villains:
The Victorian Era was the years in England when Queen Victoria ruled (1837-1901). Everyone was stodgy back then, practicing their stiff upper lips and drinking tea. Oh, and they also worked on their villainy. And not just in England.

Jack the Ripper: Ah, good ol’ Jack the Ripper. Back in 1888 he scared London and all the surrounding Brits by attacking and killing several women. He then wrote a letter to the paper, calling himself Jack the Ripper. Newspapers wrote story after story about him. Where is he? Who is he? When will he strike again? It sold a lot of newspapers. And later on books and then movies. No one ever found out who Jack the Ripper was. That’s not funny. In fact, that’s a little scary.

Tune in for more Villains from the cutting floor...someday...soon.

Art