How to Succeed in Evil

Unkillable Preview (Subscribe to PatrickeMcLean.com

Patrick — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 19:25:55 +0000

The full thing novel available at http://www.PatrickEMcLean.com/unkillable

PatrickEMcLean.com feed right here:

HtSiE:tN — Epilogue

Patrick — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:17:34 +0000

In which all the loose ends are tied up.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 70: The Only Sane Thing to Do.

Patrick — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:56:41 +0000

It all becomes clear.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 69: Negatively Buoyant

Patrick — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:55:45 +0000

Edwin takes action.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 68: Edwin Dresses for the Funeral

Patrick — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:53:54 +0000

Elegant sadness.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 67: You Want Evil?

Patrick — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:52:47 +0000

Edwin turns a corner.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 66: From a Higher Place

Patrick — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:08:26 +0000

Aren’t you afraid of me?

HtSiE:tN Chapter 65: Out of Business?

Patrick — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:06:59 +0000

Is this the end?

HtSiE:tN Chapter 64: The Last Hole

Patrick — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:05:43 +0000

Playing by the rules.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 63: The Back Nine

Patrick — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:05:17 +0000

Topper can’t stand it.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 62: The Turn

Patrick — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:25:39 +0000

A reversal of fortune.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 61: The Front Nine

Patrick — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:08:29 +0000

Maybe golf just isn’t his game?

HtSiE:tN Chapter 60: Henchcaddy

Patrick — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:20:03 +0000

The fateful day begins

HtSiE:tN Chapter 59: Excelsior Throws the Gauntlet

Patrick — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:15:55 +0000

Edwin picks it up?

HtSiE:tN Chapter 58: Gus in the Hospital

Patrick — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:12:46 +0000

Director Smiles front and center

HtSiE:tN Chapter 57: Get Him to Pop

Patrick — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:11:17 +0000

Overcome a strong body through a weak mind.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 56: A Reasonable Disagreement

Patrick — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:09:23 +0000

Arguments are opened.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 55: A Tale of Two Back Rooms

Patrick — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:27:03 +0000

Justice isn’t made out in the open air.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 54: An Angle

Patrick — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:10:01 +0000

Every good lawyer needs one.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 53: Serving a Process

Patrick — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:09:29 +0000

It’s hard to catch up with a guy who can fly.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 52: A Score to Settle

Patrick — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:32:48 +0000

Topper searches for base motives.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 51: The Death of Culture

Patrick — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:58:49 +0000

It was inevitable.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 50: Agnes vs. Mistevio

Patrick — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:56:55 +0000

Master of Darkness?

HtSiE:tN Chapter 49: Mr. The Magnificent

Patrick — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:48:05 +0000

Stay with the numbers Lifto.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 48: Somewhere Over Kansas

Patrick — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:46:30 +0000

Victory is hollow after all.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 47: A Giant Illusion in Space

Patrick — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:42:16 +0000

Dr. Loeb gets his laser.

Chapter 46: The Man Who Pulls the Strings

Patrick — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:44:51 +0000

Why talk to the Puppet?

HtSiE:tN Chapter 45: Excelsior Speaks

Patrick — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:43:39 +0000

I just flew in from Cleveland…

HtSiE:tN Chapter 44: The Pitch

Patrick — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:42:09 +0000

Edwin sells a scheme.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 43: Getting the Best of A Bad Bounce

Patrick — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:48:51 +0000

The Cromoglodon is a hit.

HtSiE: tN Chapter 42: The Cromoglodon is Born

Patrick — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:45:05 +0000

An innocent seduced?

HtSiE:tN Chapter 41: Down But Not Out

Patrick — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:41:51 +0000

Excelsior is surprised by defeat.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 40: How to Make Advantage from Avalanche

Patrick — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:40:30 +0000

Edwin figures it out.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 39: Topper Detects

Patrick — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:33:10 +0000

Topper finds more than he bargained for.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 38: Calling Forth Nemesis

Patrick — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:43:33 +0000

Excelsior is called in to deal with Barry.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 37: Topper Gives a Pep Talk

Patrick — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:39:05 +0000

Trying to talk Edwin out of a funk.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 36: A Blackjack Toting Angel

Patrick — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:46:00 +0000

Agnes restores order

HtSiE:tN Chapter 35: Barry Bash

Patrick — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:36:16 +0000

Barry BASH Architecture.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 34: Reasoning with Barry

Patrick — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:34:49 +0000

Not a good idea.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 33: Clarence Gets Scared

Patrick — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:27:31 +0000

Clarence gets a visit from Topper.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 32: Enlisting the Little Savage

Patrick — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:24:46 +0000

Topper’s the man for the job.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 31: Barry BASH

Patrick — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:06:15 +0000

The one thing he’s good at.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 30: Cotton Candy

Patrick — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:03:57 +0000

Enter a poor little boy named Barry.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 29 : A New Suit

Patrick — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:55:01 +0000

Edwin recovers himself.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 28: 23 seconds

Patrick — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:49:21 +0000

The duration of Dr. Loeb’s success?

HtSiE:tN Chapter 27: The Rescue

Patrick — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 16:43:56 +0000

Topper wants credit for the win.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 26: Marauding through the Night

Patrick — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:42:33 +0000

Everything comes apart at the seams.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 25: Excelsior Fights the Hurricane

Patrick — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:42:22 +0000

Superpowered Man vs Nature

HtSiE:tN Chapter 24: How it Happened

Patrick — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:11:02 +0000

How things went horrifyingly wrong.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 23: How Did This Happen?

Patrick — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:09:33 +0000

Things go horrifyingly wrong.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 22: The Demands of Dr. Loeb

Patrick — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:08:57 +0000

Edwin twists Eustace

HtSiE:tN Chapter 21: Strip Club/Truck Stop

Patrick — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:19:13 +0000

Topper vs. the locals.

HtSiE: tN Chapter 20: Search your Feelings

Patrick — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:17:43 +0000

Does Edwin regret spurning Iphagenia?

HtSiE:tN Chapter 19: Nothing Right for Agnes

Patrick — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:15:19 +0000

Restraint and perseverance aren’t paying off.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 18: Edwin Makes his Pitch

Patrick — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:11:52 +0000

Why fight for it when you can simply buy it?

HtSiE: tN Chapter 17: Using the Asset

Patrick — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:46:57 +0000

The world ain’t what it used to be.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 16: Just a Consultant

Patrick — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:12:34 +0000

Edwin does what he does best.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 15: Following the Protocol

Patrick — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:09:48 +0000

Agnes does her job. Topper attempts to swing into action.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 14: Empress Josephine?

Patrick — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:05:54 +0000

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 13: Edwin Dresses for Dinner

Patrick — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:01:45 +0000

Can a mere garment encompass all of civilzation?

HtSiE:tN Chapter 12: Cindi with an ‘i’

Patrick — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:59:36 +0000

Excelsior tries to take a night off.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 11: Calling Home

Patrick — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:52:44 +0000

Edwin checks in.

HtSiE:tN Chapter 10: Cassette Girl

Patrick — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:51:23 +0000

Edwin learns far more than he wanted to about Iphagenia Rielly

HtSiE:tN Chapter Nine: What Do You Want Mr. Windsor?

Patrick — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:04:13 +0000

Edwin meets the Not-So-Sinister Dr. Loeb’s mother, Iphagenia.

HtSiE:tN Chapter Eight: A Giant Laser in Space

Patrick — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:02:40 +0000

The one scheme that can’t possibly work.

HtSiE:tN Chapter Seven: Excelsior on the Beach

Patrick — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:59:03 +0000

Gus gives the big guy a pep talk.

HtSiE:tN Chapter Six: There’s Money…

Patrick — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:56:25 +0000

Edwin plots, schemes and puts up with Topper.

HtSiE Chapter Five: A Par Four Life

Patrick — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:48:58 +0000

Edwin and Topper hit the links.

HtSiE:tN Chapter Four: A Child of Faded Empire

Patrick — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:46:42 +0000

Enter Agnes, Edwin’s formidable secretary.

HtSiE:tN Chapter Three: Edwin Walking the Hallway (corrected)

Patrick — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:02:31 +0000

Edwin walks down memory lane. This is not my beautiful house. This is notmy beautiful wife. How did I get here?

HtSiE:tN Chapter Two: Vorld Domination

Patrick — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:41:29 +0000

Edwin meets the not-so-sinister Dr. Loeb.

HtSiE:tN Chapter One: A Lot of Words He Doesn’t Know.

Patrick — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:41:02 +0000

Excelsior races to the rescue?

How to Succeed in Evil: the Novel — Prologue

Patrick — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:36:02 +0000

In which a brave pilot fights to save his plane and all on-board.

El Justiador Part V

Patrick — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 14:16:49 +0000

Edwin confronts the Matador of Justice.

El Justiador Part IV

Patrick — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 18:45:57 +0000

A reversal of fortune and an unexpected surprise.

El Justiador Part III

Patrick — Wed, 30 May 2007 20:15:53 +0000

Topper tries to reason with his captors.

El Justiador Part II

Patrick — Sat, 12 May 2007 22:51:17 +0000

The inexplicable march of El Justiador marches on.

El Justiador Part I

Patrick — Sat, 05 May 2007 15:47:54 +0000

This is qualifies as prequel territory. As the characters have been evolving (and as I’ve been developing ‘Evil for television) I have discovered that the sweet spot of the story is Edwin as a consultant. There’s just no end of fun to be had pitting him against inane villian after inane villian.

So with that, enjoy the first part of Edwin’s involvement with El Justiador!

technorati tags:Patrick E. McLean, How to Succeed in Evil, Edwin Windsor, The Seanachai Podcast, El Justiador, comics, evil

The Death of Edwin 2.0

Patrick — Fri, 04 May 2007 15:37:48 +0000

After much soul searching, I found I was changing my character for external reasons, rather than for the demands of the story. And I also discovered that, in doing so, I run the risk of destroying what made the the character and the story work in the first place — Edwin’s unique Edwin-ness.

To be a little clearer, people like the podcast because it’s fresh and original. But if I take a piece of feedback like, “He’s really not an active enough character for a TV series” and change him, well, I just lose what made him interesting to begin with.

And he’s plenty active. He’s plenty a lot of things. And what your insightful comments have helped me see is that my job is to make it good. If some TV exec doesn’t see how it fits into television, or some movie guy doesn’t see how the third act works, well, they just don’t.

And some of these people know things I don’t. But unless they have “, Creator” after their name, I’m going assume their difficulties with anything I write are precisely that – their difficulties.

To do anything else is to throw my sanity and whatever generative power I have into a swirling abyss of entertainment industry pimpery. And you guys really helped me learn that. Thanks.

Edwin 2.0

Patrick — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:25:11 +0000

I’ve been having trouble writing stories for How to Succeed in Evil because Edwin is too perfect and too laconic. In fact, the way he is in the podcast, he’s kind of unsuitable for a main character. So I’ve done some thinking and some writing and here’s what I’ve come up with.

It’s a heavily rewritten version of Episode VI that explains Edwin’s origin and gives him time to try out his new voice. This voice is important, because he didn’t really have one before. He’d always been so above the action — so estranged from the real world and human passions — that I couldn’t put him in a situation and get him to say much of anything.

It’s truly a terrifying positon to have all this interest in the property and be a little shakey on your main character. But I think I’ve got him nailed down and this podcast is my way of testing him out.

So give a listen and please let me know what you think in the comments.

Episode XII – Topper In Charge

Patrick — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:13:37 +0000

Edwin’s former employees get a surprise visit.

Episode XI – Going Out of Business

Patrick — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 02:43:40 +0000

Edwin settles the accounts and slips away.

Cheap Labor Pt. III

Patrick — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 23:05:08 +0000

Edwin makes a deal with the VP.

And hey, buy a comic here.

Cheap Labor Pt. II

Patrick — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 17:26:55 +0000

“Let me see if I understand this. Your company is overrun by Zombies of your own making?”

Cheap Labor Pt. I

Patrick — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 17:17:09 +0000

Edwin offers a brilliant evil scheme, but his client is wooed by a guy with a magic rattle.

Episode X – Betrayal!

Patrick — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 01:38:01 +0000

Topper takes matters into his own hands.

Episode IX – So They’ll Know

Patrick — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 01:36:14 +0000

Sometimes dirty work is good for business.

Episode VIII – Contingency Plan

Patrick — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 01:34:31 +0000

Topper wants to know why they don’t get to have bitches and bling. He doesn’t use those words to ask Edwin – but that’s what he’s wondering.

Episode VII – The Henchman’s Molars

Patrick — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 01:31:22 +0000

Talk about your dead-end jobs. You think Henchmen get full dental. You think they get any dental? Let’s see what happens when Edwin runs the show.

Episode VI – Edwin vs. the FBI

Patrick — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 01:29:02 +0000

Complicity is the best defense. Edwin co-ops Agent Tupwaddle with the force of truth.

Episode V – Open for Business

Patrick — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 01:22:37 +0000

What’s more evil than an insurance company? Well, nothing.

Episode IV – The Cromoglodon Falls!

Patrick — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 01:21:01 +0000

Edwin revenges himself upon the Cromoglodon. (And revenge is a dish best served profitable.)

Episode III – A Round of Golf

Patrick — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 01:18:19 +0000

Not even a beloved sport can offer Edwin a respite from his clients. Topper lives up to his reputation.

Episode II – The Less-than-Sinister Dr. Loeb

Patrick — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 01:15:47 +0000

Evil Masterminds – don’t fool yourselves, they’re not that smart. Edwin finally gets to play golf.

Episode I – A Thursday Without Golf

Patrick — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 01:11:25 +0000

Edwin struggles with the lunacy of Brainitar, Amazing Man and the indignities of wrongful arrest.