Selfcontained Stories

I love villains. I mean, I don't admire them for their deeds (or do I?), but I love them. They're often fun, charismatic, charming, terrifying, and all that rolled into one being. And besides, a hero is just as good as their villain, right? If there's one thing more iconic than a hero victory, it's the villain's speeches. These long-winded, overly drawn speeches that probably costed them the final battle because they just wouldn't shut up! You know the one? But of course, it also provides an insight to their motivations - to their character's wants, needs, and desires. Done right, it will humanize them, make them feel more sympathetic or - better yet - real. That's what this is about - The Villain's Monologue. It'll be a collection of monologues I happen to think about or have written into my stories. Who knows, maybe it'll spark some inspiration on others too.

The title comes from Whitman's poem "O LIVING always-always dying! O the burials of me, past and present! O me, while I stride ahead, material, visible, imperious as ever! O me, what I was for years, now dead, (I lament not-I am content;) O to disengage myself from those corpses of me, which I turn and look at, where I cast them! 5 To pass on, (O living! always living!) and leave the corpses behind!" It's a test in writing simple and subtle. Let me know what you think.

A bizarre collection of short stories inspired by a single word (the title of each chapter). Lengths can vary and most are dark, but some are humorous with a little romance, and slice-of-life sprinkled in (genre in title).