Lunar Boogie (The Hat Series) by C S Boyack @Virgilante #NewBook

Hi everyone. Today, it gives me great pleasure to host fellow author and friend and Story Empire writer, Craig Boyack, with his latest book in the wonderful The Hat Series, Lunar Boogie. I read and loved The Hat and really need to catch up on the later books in the series. Here’s a link to my 5 star review for The Hat back in January 2018 … https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2255844603.

 As well as action and adventure, a wonderful thread of humour runs through Craig’s writing, and never more so than in The Hat. I’ll let Craig tell you all about his latest book, Lunar Boogie >>>


I appreciate you loaning me your space, Harmony. Means a lot to me to gain access to your fans. I’m here to talk about my latest called, “Lunar Boogie.” This is the fourth book in The Hat Series, but don’t let that scare you away. I worked to keep each of them capable of standing alone. Meaning, this one makes a great jumping on point.

I’ll let the cover and blurb tell you about this story. Today I want to talk about some of the things I’ve learned by writing an ongoing series. The thing about those is that each story has to be a closed loop. If we have too much of a cliff hanger, it becomes more of a serial and that’s not the goal here.

 If you’re familiar with James Bond, Miss Marples, or Conan the Barbarian,Book Cover for Lunar Boogie by C S Boyack. Shows werewolf in ripped clothing you have experience with ongoing series. The trick is to avoid a massive character arc where personal demons must be overcome to reach a successful ending. You can really only do that once and have it stay credible.

This means, I have to add my emotional bits a different way. Supporting characters are great for that. When my MC, Lizzie, interacts with them I can still get some emotional tug. Lizzie and her drummer, Tanith, have a couple such moments in the current story. They’ve become great friends. There are some new characters, Joe and Meg, who provide some of that, but they get their own post along the tour.

 I can also have my supporting characters get an arc, and there are enough of them that it won’t get repetitive. The point is, the main characters have to remain available for the next book. It’s hard to take the street urchin out of the palace, then plunk him back on the street. Leaving him on the street makes him more available for future adventures.

 Lizzie has a bit of a breakdown at the end of this story. That’s an emotional tug, but doesn’t require her to rewrite her personal creed to bring resolution. People dealing with issues is pretty true to life.

“Happily ever after,” also can’t happen in these stories. I always avoided that anyway, because it’s not realistic. I adopted the “happy for now,” rule years ago. This really plays out in an ongoing series. A successful conclusion should bring some happiness, or pride, or whatever. Life goes on and there will be more challenges. (As the author, I hope they have a lot more challenges.)

 Supporting characters can carry across from story to story. It worked for Sherlock Homes with Gregson and Lestrade. Bond had Q and M. It will work here, too. I try to give them decent introductions in their first appearances. After that, they get an intro, but not maybe to the extent as the first time. If someone picks up a subsequent book, they won’t miss much by not having read the first one. They’ll get enough data to not feel lost.

 If you’ve ever become a fan of an ongoing series, like Bones or even Perry Mason, I’d appreciate you checking out The Hat series. Even if you haven’t, you might find you like a shorter novel that has enough going for it to extend into more stories.

 

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About the Book:

Lizzie and the hat are back in action, only this time they’re up against the most tragic monster of all, a werewolf.

 This adventure is more like hunting an animal, and the werewolf is unlikely to come to any of their musical performances. This puts Lizzie out in the dark corners and wooded areas of the city. It may be more beneficial to get the monster to hunt Lizzie than to stalk him on his own turf. All she has to do is be quicker on the trigger than the wolf is on his feet.

 At the same time, the police think they’re after a serial killer. Lizzie tries to keep them alive while also keeping them out of her way. As the body count rises, so do the pressures. It doesn’t help that people are blaming Lizzie and the hat for the killings. This involves an urban myth about them that the locals call Hellpox.

 Pull on your boogie shoes and join the hunt. Designed as an afternoon read, this one is tons of supernatural fun.

 

Purchase Link:

http://mybook.to/LunarBoogie

 

About the Author:

Author photo of Craig Boyack ... head and shoulders on a pedestalI’m on the verge of being an empty nester, and I like to write fiction. This blog is to share ideas with readers and writers. I have a decent body of work on Amazon, and I hope you’ll check some of them out. They are all speculative fiction, but seem to stay closest to science fiction, paranormal, and fantasy.

I have other interests that may sneak in from time to time. I like the great outdoors and all it has to offer. Morels and huckleberrys are particularly fun. I once caught and released a 7 foot white sturgeon from the Snake River.

Bio Box for Craig Boyack

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42 Comments on “Lunar Boogie (The Hat Series) by C S Boyack @Virgilante #NewBook

  1. I like how you create each Lizzie story to stand on its own within the series, Craig. It reminds me of a graphic comic series. Have you considered going in that direction?

    • I would love to do this with one of my stories, but it is prohibitively expensive. The man who makes all my covers and Lisa Burton posters gives me a great price, but I would spend much more than sales would ever return.

  2. I enjoyed Lunar Boogie and one of the things I noted in my review is that we get to see a softer more vulnerable side to Lizzie that we hadn’t seen before. She became more human. Great job, Craig! Thank you for hosting, Harmony!

  3. I started reading Lunar Boogie last night, and your opening chapter was SO touching, it made me love Joe right away. I’m already worried for the nice cop who’s working with him. I hope he survives what they’re up against. Great description of a blood bath. (squirm) I only read a little bit before I go to bed, but you’ve hooked me already.

    • I like hearing that. Dark humor has to have the dark part to work correctly. It creates that sine wave in readers’ brains. Enjoy the roller coaster.

  4. Thanks for letting me haunt your house today. We’re getting some nice comments, and I’ll be following along.

    • It’s great fun having you haunt my house today, Craig! 😁Yep, wonderful comments 💕

  5. I do like Bones and Perry Mason. (Did you happen to catch the reboot on HBO? I really liked it.) Those are great examples of supporting characters and ongoing series. Not much overlap into the speculative fiction genre, but who cares? The concept transfers.

    I enjoy your hat series and am glad the world is expanding and the series is continuing. Wishing you all the best with it.

    Thanks, Harmony.

    • Some of my favorites were ongoing series. It’s a concept I always wanted to try. It’s fun seeing it all happen now. Thanks, Staci.

  6. I think it’s important that secondary characters have their own archs. Those are the series I enjoy the most. Great post, Craig. Thanks for sharing your space, Harmony. 🙂

    • I think readers connect with the secondary characters and love when they reappear. Thanks, Yvi 🙂

    • Thank you. It’s important here, because my main characters have to remain what they always were. I can make cosmetic changes, but not huge ones. Lizzie can change her hair or get a new apartment without causing a problem. Fighting monsters while she’s eight months pregnant might not come across as well. (Might be interesting once, but then I have to live with the results in subsequent books.)

  7. I’ve enjoyed the Hat books. This one is on my TBR list. Best of luck, Craig, and a big thanks to Harmony for hosting today.

  8. I just finished reading this last night, and I think it’s Craig’s best Lizzie and the Hat to date. I hope to have my review up later today. Definitely a 5-star story!

    • It’s a great tool to have in the kit. In this series, the plots are fairly basic. It challenges me to find ways of including more character and emotions. This is a good thing.

  9. Great points here, Craig about how to approach writing a series. I’ve enjoyed each book and look forward to reading more!
    Thanks for hosting, Harmony:)

  10. Hi Harmony
    Craig makes some interesting points about using the same characters without creating a series. It’s an unusual way of launching a new book, and successful; it kept me reading. I’m off to Goodreads to read the review.

    • That’s great. Craig sure does have a way with words. Thanks, Sarah 🙂

    • I like to challenge myself. This was something I always wanted to try, and it is different than, say, a classic trilogy with its multiple arcs. I have to lean on other bits of story craft here.

  11. I learn a lot from Craig’s posts and insights for these tours, Harmony. I do enjoy The Hat series and will get to this one in due course. Craig writes faster than I can read.