It’s been a long time, so I’m happy to introduce Lisa Burton the Robot Girl once more. She’s bringing us some news about C.S. Boyack’s ‘The Hat’ series, which is a funny adventure involving supernatural threats, a talking Hat, and the badass girl who is its partner . . . wearer? Look, this is a fun series and I highly recommend the books, which have been getting extra attention this month. Now, take it away, Ms. Burton.
Thanks for having me back, Charles. It’s been hard getting out during the past year. While robot girls don’t have to worry about some things, it’s better if I fit in. Wearing a mask soooooo isn’t my style.
Craig is trying something new. Now that he has a series, he wanted to do a series blog tour. Since it’s October, The Hat Series seemed like the way to go. He’s pushing the whole series, by doing one volume per week all month long. That’s a lot of bases to cover, so he sent me out to help with some of the stops.
I get to talk about The Ballad of Mrs. Molony. As the series lengthened, it occurred to Craig that the stories would need some recurring characters. He fleshed out the band members and expanded upon their personalities, but that only covers one aspect of these tales. There are times when the band isn’t involved in the scenes.
Enter Kevin Mugford. Kevin has to be the worst vampire of all time. He has deformed teeth that protrude through his gums, and a speech impediment. He also drools, and it’s kind of nasty. Kevin has a problem, so he turned to Lizzie and the hat for help.
Turns out Kevin’s sister has been kidnapped by a pair of vicious vampires. They use her like some kind of livestock to feed from when other options are limited. These vamps kill their victims, and even local vamps fear them.
Lizzie wants to help the girl, but the hat doesn’t trust Kevin. He wants to stake him, because he’s a vampire, too. This series has a lot of humor in it, so the hat pokes a lot of fun at Kevin’s expense.
The adventure involves a subculture of Americana, in that these vampires stalk the rodeo circuit. They used to be team ropers when they were alive. This forces Lizzie and The Pythons, to take up a new style of music. Rodeo dances make great places to hunt cowboy vampires.
They handle the music fairly well, but manage to slip some rockers into their playlist from time to time. It seems a lot of rockers had a tune with a country vibe. That is, until Lizzie gets fed up and goes total Van Halen one night.
This is Kevin’s entry point. He appears in subsequent books, and it’s kind of nice to have a street informant, even if he slobbers.
I should mention that The Ballad of Mrs. Molony has some free days this week. It’s all wrapping up today, so if you or your fans want a copy they should grab one PDQ. Don’t worry about it being the third book. Craig worked pretty hard to make sure each title stands alone. If this is your entry point, you’ll be just fine.
When I visit places, I always like to bring one of my posters. I pose as various characters for all of Craig’s publications. This one is from The Ballad of Mrs. Molony. You know with Craig’s kind of humor, there had to be a cowboy showdown somewhere along the line. I look like a total badass here. Anyhoooo, your readers should feel free to pin it, tweet it, or use it as a Halloween phone background.
Universal link for the series: http://mybook.to/The-Hat-Series
Blurb: The Hat Series is my opportunity to have a little fun, and readers seem to be enjoying themselves, too. The series fits into a variety of pigeonholes as all stories do. If you’re looking for supernatural, paranormal, or urban fantasy, with a dose of dark humor, this might be the series you’re looking for.
Lizzie St. Laurent is a hard working twenty-something. She’s struggling with the issues of being a young adult, but also dealing with the supernatural world. After her grandmother died, she tried to get a memento from the estate. Her greedy uncle refused to share, so in desperation, she stole a box from the moving van.
Her treasure turned out to be an old hat that belonged to her grandfather. Not exactly the knickknack she was hoping for. This isn’t any ordinary hat. He’s actually a being from another dimension who was brought here by witchcraft. He has a few magical skills, but also some more ordinary ones. He can transport her to a cabin, deep in the forest, among other things. A bit more ordinary is his ability to play the upright bass, but only if he has a human host to manipulate. He’s also a shapeshifter, but is limited to always being a hat of some kind.
The hat has been in Lizzie’s family for centuries, and all of his partners have been monster hunters. Their symbiotic relationship also created an additional income stream for Lizzie. They formed a small cover band, which tends gets them out at night when monster hunting is more productive.
I put all kinds of strange things into these stories to make them fun. My section breaks have all been replaced with a series of bass clefs. I also include silly graphics in various locations to enhance the tales. You’ll find tons of snark mixed in with your blood and adventure.
These are short novels, designed for a single afternoon. While it is a series, they can be read as stand-alone tales. If one of the other volumes is your entry-point, I don’t think you’ll feel lost.
If this sounds like something to make your October complete, I’d appreciate you checking it out.
Legends of Windemere 