The Orphan and the Thief :: The Making Of, Part 4
Welcome to Part 4 in the making of my novel, THE ORPHAN AND THE THIEF. You can find Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.
THE ORPHAN AND THE THIEF is now published! Get it in paperback and ebook. Currently FREE on Kindle. Jan. 9 — Jan. 13.
The Bewitched Beer Mug of Thieves
I feel that I cannot take full credit for the most bizarre character I have yet to have penned as he is currently sitting on my bookshelf. (I may be creative, but I’m not THAT creative.) A long time ago, my grandfather bought the most repulsive beer mug — it was a burst of brilliance that I am eternally grateful for.
Isn’t it terrifying? This isn’t the sort of thing you’d take around to your dinner party.
When I decided to make the spectacular mug a character, I literally took every detail from the physical mug that I could, including his one missing tooth.
From the book:
Toad opened his coat and withdrew the most bizarre—thing—Melena had ever seen.
It was a beer mug. The ugliest, foulest beer mug in Calendula, and yet Melena couldn’t stop staring at it. It had been fashioned to look like a human face. The color of its ‘skin’ was a sickly tan with a splattering of pale spots all over, like the skin of someone who had baked in the sun one time too many. It had tiny, striped, glass blue marbles for eyes that spun about in a frenzy, making Melena’s stomach twist sickly at the sight. A beaked nose sat above an enormous mouth and that mouth was what she couldn’t stop staring at, even more so than the spinning eyes, for it took up half its face.
With its spotted skin, frightful eyes, and long white teeth that jutted out and curved like the bars of a birdcage, it looked like something that belonged to a freak show. Or something that danced about in nightmares. And even worse: it was talking.
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In THE ORPHAN AND THE THIEF, Ol’ Joe is a bewitched beer mug who talks, sings, whistles, and expels embarrassing noises, all for his own amusement. Toad spies Ol’ Joe in the wagon of a traveling fortuneteller and steals the mug, for he realizes his value. In the world of thieves, Ol’ Joe is a legend: whoever possess the mug is the Thief Lord.
Melena is repulsed by the mug and finds him obnoxious, rude, and downright annoying. But Toad harbors a deep affection for his grinning beverage glass and will not contemplate tossing him out.
When I started writing Ol’ Joe, I wanted him to be outrageous. In the beginning, I thought about making him manipulative and crazy, leading the children on a dangerous path to find his original owner, but as I wrote, he developed into a more fully fleshed character and the manipulative side plot was dropped for something far, far better.
I had a slight worry about including such an important character (who happens to be a beer mug) into a childrens book. Personally, I had no problems with it. I’ve never found issue with the mention of mead, beer, and brandy in books for kids — consider Redwall and The Last Unicorn. I also felt that given the large number of thieves in my book, it wouldn’t make sense to call Joe anything that he was not — a beer mug, so I hope Joe doesn’t rub too many people the wrong way. Plus the title is just too fabulous: The Bewitched Beer Mug of Thieves. I could have used the Goblet of Thieves or the Cup of Thieves, but those just don’t have the same ring.
And anyway, Joe is never once used as a drinking glass. It would be highly insulting to do so.
Now in paperback. Joe seems pleased with the final product.
