Author Michell Plested held hostage

It is rumoured Calgary-based
author Michell Plested has fallen afoul of forces greater than he anticipated.




The crisis started in 2012
when a conclave of The Super Evil convened at a secret lair in North America to
create a guide book for aspiring ne’er-do-wells. The result? A collection of
papers known generally as A Method to the Madness: a Guide to the Super Evil,
a collection destined to become the international handbook of every evil genius
come June 1, 2013.












It was agreed such an
undertaking required hiring of minion editors, as such a task is beneath the
genius of an Arch Villain. And who better to fill those two editorial positions
than Jeffrey Hite and Michell Plested?




Jeffrey Hite is co-founder
and editor at Flying Island Press,
and an author in his own right. Michell Plested is the author of Mik
Murdoch: Boy Superhero, podcaster of Get Published, and GalaxyBillies.






Now, however, because of his
involvement in the Mik Murdoch project, it would appear The Conclave has seized
Michell Plested and his family. He made the following statement on his blog,
April 6, 2013:




As
many of you witnessed a few days ago, the young superhero, Mik Murdoch (whose
adventures are documented in  Mik
Murdoch, Boy Superhero ) posted an opinion piece on this website
decrying the bully tactics of certain villains. He had heard through trusted
sources that the super-villains of the world (many of whom have written
articles for A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil )
were out to get him.




I
saw no harm is allowing Mr. Murdoch to post his thoughts on this website. After
all, he has allowed me to document his adventures thus far. What could be the
worst that could happen?




That
is a question I probably should have explored in greater detail. You see, I was
chosen/coerced/press-ganged/drafted by the aforementioned villains to act as an
editor for their how-to book (in case you missed it the first time, it is
titled: A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil and is
available for pre-order until June 30th (don’t hate me, I was promised mercy if
I pimped the book in this post.) Myself and Jeffrey Hite were to gather the
articles and assemble them into a pleasing book that is to be made available to
all wannabe villains.




You
might see where my roles as editor for villains and documenter of deeds for Mik
Murdoch might be slightly at odds with each other.




Apparently,
some of the contributors to the Guide took exception to Mr. Murdoch’s comments
and to me allowing him to post them on my website. Late last night, my family
and I were relocated to the secret undersea volcano lair of the self-styled Lord Aquarius, Master of Oceans.
Lord Aquarius has made it very clear to me that in order for my family to
continue breathing air (not water or liquid-hot magma), I must cooperate fully
with the wishes of the super-villain community.




As
such, I feel compelled to state, that while Mik Murdoch, Boy Superhero is the
kind of person I always hoped to become, and that his adventures are awesome, I
must label him as the worst kind of goodie-two-shoes, interferer there is. Mr.
Murdoch must, in the opinion of my self-preserving self, retire from the
superhero game effective immediately. To do otherwise will result in the pain
and suffering of innocents everywhere (me, for example).




Give
it up, Mik! I’m begging you!




Publisher Lorina Stephens, at
Five Rivers Publishing, stated
she has had no recent contact with Michell Plested or Mik Murdoch, although
does admit the collection of articles written by The Conclave is nearing
completion and should be ready for the printer tomorrow, April 5, 2013. 




“I can
only hope cool heads will prevail,” she said. “It is our sincere wish to avoid
any untoward confrontation.” 




Editor-in-Chief at Five Rivers, Dr. Robert Runté, was unavailable for comment. It is alleged
he is planning several trips in the next few weeks, to where and for what
reason remains unclear.