You will probably have noticed you got two instalments for the price of one, well there’s a reason for that. I realised the introduction was a little on the short side in comparison to the short stories yet to come, so I decided to give you a bonus in the form of chapter two, the Lexicon of Terms Pertaining to Magic and the Supernatural.

         The Lexicon was originally intended to be the final chapter of the book but after a bit of thought I realised it would be more sensible to provide you with it ready for when you begin to encounter some of the words in the upcoming stories. You might want to take a fresh look at the Lexicon as Martin, one of my loyal beta readers, came up with a suggestion and in accordance  with what he suggested I've included links to the Wikipedia articles referring to historical characters mentioned in the Lexicon so you can learn a little more about them and  to differentiate them from my fictional characters. I’ve also added links to some of the term where I thought it might be beneficial. I sometimes forget writing for online consumption is different to writing something destined to end up in print, so I’ll probably do the same in any of the short stories including such a reference. Something worth bearing in mind is the definitions given in the Lexicon are specific to The Wheel of the Year sequence. By the way, if you do come across any unfamiliar words you don’t understand, please let me know so I can add them to the Lexicon.

         Lesley, another of my loyal beta readers, after seeing the original layout of the Tales From the Demi-monde landing page, suggested making it more visual, hence the poorly realised artwork at the top of the page. Please consider it a placeholder and, if any of you wonderful readers out there can come up with something better, I’d welcome any contribution you’d care to make.

         I’d also like to thank Jonah from the Unreal Writers group for suggesting I separate the fortnightly instalments by adding an intervening post explaining the thinking behind the short stories in the collection.

         I was pleased to see the stats showed I was picking up some hits from family in the US. Howdy Folks, I hope you’re enjoying the new website. I know things are getting off to a slow start but once the storytelling begins next Wednesday I can assure you things will pick up. I’m guessing you found me courtesy of Mrs Author posting something on Facebook, a place I was banned from without explanation nor any recourse to appeal, hence why I’m on Mastodon instead.

         Talking of stats for my website, they are looking really promising. It’s nice to be able to get some feedback indicating I’m managing to engage with an increasing number of people.

         Next Wednesday the short stories start in earnest with the publication of chapter 3 which will present you with a brief biography of Willy Winterson, chairman of Winterson’s auction house. This is where the artefacts unearthed by Nathan are sold at one of the special, invitation only auctions held around about the same time of the year as the eight major seasonal festivals making up the Wheel of the Year. It’s notable that these auctions are treated as social occasions, indeed Nathan and Vicky along with a few of their friends partake of an after-auction meal as a way of catching each other up on their various adventures. The bio is followed by the first proper short story from the collection, featuring one of Willy’s adventures entitled Out to Lunch, which details just how wrong lunch can go when you are a member of the demi-monde.

Enjoy!

Take a look at piccies below.

At long last How to Succeed as a Supervillain by Following the Evil Overlord List is on the actual bookshelves of an actual bookshop.

A big shout out to Jennie for agreeing to stock my novel.

It’s an indie bookshop called The Book Nook Bakery & Coffee Shop at 4-6, Bolebridge Mews, Bolebridge St. in Tamworth, UK. You can findout more about the place by taking a look at: https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Book-Nook-Bakery-Coffee-Shop/61582058774345/

This story was originally written for the Novel November challenge where the aim is to write a 50,000-word story within the 30 days of November. Some elements of the story mirror real life events which were being featured in the news at the time the story was written.

About the Title of the Book