Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Snuff The Magic Dragon, And Other Bombay Bedtime Stories...



First off - a HUGE shout-out to my KF colleagues Gemma and Christie for hitting the New York Times Bestseller List!!! It's so exciting! It'll be interesting to see who will be next...

As some of you know, I'm working on a collection of short stories featuring Bombays past. I'm calling it SNUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON, AND OTHER BOMBAY BEDTIME STORIES. Awesome title, right?

So the first story is called "Bombay - The First Bombay." It features an orphaned sixteen year old girl (not a kid in those days - practically long in the tooth) named Bombay living on the island of Crete in ancient Greece who takes on the very first assassination assignment. Well, not the first assassination assignment ever - just the first contract for the Bombay Family.

 I've got three other stories fleshed out. But I need your help. What historic eras or historic assassinations would you like to see in this collection? I'd like to have 10 in total. Here are a few other ideas:

Bethlehem Bombay (Beth) - biblical times - specializes in those bastard Pharisees

Macedonia Bombay (Mace) - Ancient Rome and secret mastermind behind Caesar's assassination

Castile Bombay (Not sure he needs a nickname) - Middle Ages in Europe - Assigned to snuff the magic dragon terrorizing a village.

I was thinking of doing something with the Inquisition - but that seems a bit dark - even for me. Oh, and vote on the three covers above - or tell me to come up with something completely different. Ignore the fuzziness - I haven't purchased the stock photos yet.

 I can't wait to see what you come up with...

 The Assassin

21 comments:

krisgils33 said...

I don't have any helpful ideas, but I like the blue cover best. :-)

Leslie Langtry said...

That is very helpful Kris! I can't even decide between the three!

Mitzi said...

I can't wait for the book but cover #1 caught my eye. Is there anyway you could have the sweet iguana holding the noose....bawhahahahahahahaha.

Mitzi

amp67 said...

I like the first cover best simply because I don't like the two partial pictures on the others. I love the title! How about a story from American history? Maybe pilgrims or what "really" happened at the OK Corrall shootout. Can't wait to read the new book!

PATRICIA said...

Leslie, have left you my ideas in a long email, way too long for the Blog, but history is so cool and what an opportunity to open times in history that maybe people aren't familiar with. (How's that for a run on sentence!) Crazy about the idea - not crazy about the covers.

Leslie Langtry said...

Mitzi - I wish I still had my six-foot long iguana, Cedric - then I could stage that. I'll look though!

Leslie Langtry said...

I could definitely do something with pilgrims - I'm a direct descendant of 4 passengers on the Mayflower - including the curmudgeon who was the first American executed by hanging. Hmmm...

Mr. Assassin would LOVE me to do something on the OK Corral!

Leslie Langtry said...

Patricia - I got your email and those are great ideas too! The Revolutionary War and War of 1812 would fit nicely.

I'm wondering if I need to do Vol. 1 covering early history, and another book for later history.

Terri Osburn said...

Clearly you need a 17th century Bombay who had to infiltrate a pirate ship to do away with the evil captain. And then take over the ship, of course.

Jamaica Bombay. She'd be called Jama for short. ;)

I think there's a better cover out there, but I have an aversion to lizards, so that might be my problem.

Leslie Langtry said...

Terri - I really like Jamaica Bombay, Pirate Assassin! This might be a long book.

Diane Kelly said...

Love the title! So clever! Gosh, I hate to admit how bad my grasp of history is. I keep thinking of assassinations I wish had happened, such as Hitler's! Of course I live near Dallas where the Kennedy assassination happened. Any chance they can go back in time and prevent that from happening? You have such original ideas!

Leslie Langtry said...

Thanks Diane! It looks like you do have a solid grasp of history!

Suzan Harden said...

I'm partial to the green cover. It gives an idea of the range of history.

What about the Mexican Revolution? The leaders were constantly knocking each other off.

Or Austin Bombay was hired to kill Lincoln and Booth beats him to it. How does Austin keep the family off his back for an amateur doing HIS job?

Or Queen Victoria realizes Jack the Ripper is one of her grandsons and hires a Bonbay to quietly take of the problem?

This is going to be a great book, Leslie!

Leslie Langtry said...

Suzan, I just did a Diet Coke spit take. They're all great suggestions - I especially love the Queen Victoria one! Thanks

Terri Osburn said...

I'm loving Suzan's suggestions. All of these would be fun.

After this you should do another incorporating Bombay's into classic fairy tales and lore. A Bombay took out Humpty Dumpty. Or is hired to kill Old King Cole. (That dude was evil if you read the original Grimm version.)

Back to this one, I'd love to see one set in the 70s. Could a Bombay be hired to kill Disco? Please?

Leslie Langtry said...

LOL! But Disco is dead, right? Fantastic idea with the fairy tales! I just might have to do that!

Mo said...

I have no suggestions of my own but I love the concept, love the title, love the blue cover and love all the suggestions so far. You go girl!!

Leslie Langtry said...

Thanks Mo!

Robin Kaye said...

Great ideas and I like the blue cover! What a concept and an awesome title! My daughter used to have a Bearded Dragon named Puff-- I laughed when I saw Suff. Too funny!

L. j. Charles said...

I like the 3rd one, but I want to see the "dragon's" head instead of his feet. The first one is nice, too.

Very excited about this new take on the Bombay family.
L. j.

Michele L. said...

Oh so wicked and creative Leslie! Gosh, what historical events could you write about using this bang-up theme? Sounds like a western would do nicely maybe starring Billy the Kid. The only assasination that popped into my head was when President Kennedy was shot. That was so sad! They don't have open convertibles anymore with the president riding in it. I like the blue cover the best! Cute picture of the lizard. I don't care for the chopped off pictures on the other covers.