"They think they're so special!" (shrieked like the wicked witch of the west)
(3yo says this monster is eating a red sock)
How did he come to be acquainted with one of my villains? you ask. Well, aside from the fact that I read my middle grade manuscript to him at nap times, he overheard me doing an impression of Countess Bula to my husband in the car one day.
Yes, I am a huge, monster geek.
I do impressions of my characters. Countess Bula is one of my favorites because she's positively rotten to the core.
"Why do we hate good people?" Her tongue waved out of her mouth like she was ejecting the bad taste from saying the g-word.
Everyone answered whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, so it was tough to decipher one answer from the roar of noise echoing off the stone walls.
“So true!” the skinny, clawed woman agreed, sitting at last behind a huge metal desk. “As you say, they are hypocrites. They do care way too much about what people think. And they do write horrible poetry. What else?”
Another assault of yelling and snarling ensued, but Robert could hear one answer above the rest. A sickeningly high voice from the back of the classroom screeched, “They think they’re so special!”
“Aha! You’ve got it,” Countess Bula grinned. “You, Violent Violet, have pin-pointed the #1 reason why we hate those people. They think they’re so special."It's one of my favorite scenes because it's the first glimpse of the villain community (oxymoron, right?) and we can really see what motivates them at the very core. Also, I just like thinking about a bizarrely bad teacher and what she might teach her pupils.
So you can imagine how big my smile got when my lil' guy spouted Countess Bula's thesis about why villains hate good people.
Lil' guy saves the day again!
Now I will go back to refreshing my mail box over and over again. Make sure to leave comments so I can get notifications in my email. Gotta get SOMETHIN'!
OMG, too funny. Reminded me of my post this week about my 4 yo's hugs cheering me up during my query process. I don't read him my YA at naptimes, partially because he no longer naps, and partially because...well, it IS dark YA.
ReplyDeleteI love how evil she sounds and I can see how much fun you're having writing her. I can't wait to read it!
How cute is this???? I nearly died when I read his impression of Countess Bula (such a baddie, that one...). Just goes to show you that moral support comes in all shapes and sizes.
ReplyDeleteAnd levels of cuteness.
Thanks you guys! It really cheered me up to see your fun, sweet comments in my inbox. Beats rejection letters ANY DAY O' THE WEEK!
ReplyDeleteVicki- aren't preschoolers fantastic?!
Amparo- his cuteness level is definitely an asset, both in moral support and morale degradation! If he weren't so cute...
Cuteness goes a long way. Take it from someone who cowers at the sight of it.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you stop by my blog later? I gave you an award!
Kids definitely help build our confidence.
ReplyDeleteLove the villain school!
Found you at Amparo's blog.:)
Janet- thanks for stopping by! I love to meet/follow other writers, especially MG and YA! We are the most fun, right?
ReplyDeleteYou have a lovely blog. Totally loving the book excerpts in pretty cursive, and--of course--the picture with Oscar the Grouch. Priceless.