Goodbye Old Paint is getting some love

Teri posted her wonderful review today, and I want to share it far and wide. Some of the comments are making me very happy. Let’s drive Teri some traffic. She does so much for the author community.

Goodbye Old Paint (The Hat #7) by C.S. Boyack #bookreview #urbanfantasy #paranormal

Swarms

Time to throw some more bait in the water and see what rises. I’m talking about my newest release, Goodbye Old Paint. This time I wanted a monster that was more like a swarm of little monsters.

Lizzie and the hat are chasing gremlins in a server farm owned by the United States Government. You might think, okay, go for it. This wasn’t all that easy for me to pull off.

There is a realistic obstacle in that Lizzie isn’t equipped to deal with something like this. Her .357 Magnum revolvers are designed for something a bit more substantial. Lizzie needed something a little more toned down in the power department, and a lot faster. I dealt with that by applying a bit of imagination.

Then I had another obstacle that nobody else would have had. When I started drafting this one, I had an incredible amount of rewriting when it came to the gremlins. This is because after a couple of paragraphs they turned in to root monsters from a different series altogether. For those who don’t know, the root monsters are some of my most popular characters, ever.

The root monsters wound up stealing the show in the Lanternfish Trilogy. Their scampish way of looking at the world, and their Pidgin English somehow worked for everyone.

This was far from my intent with the gremlins. I just needed monsters to deal with, and a degree of risk to make sure there were stakes. No big deal, just the compromise of the entire American Intelligence Community. Add in a personal risk to Lizzie and all the boxes got checked.

Maybe the North Koreans won’t nuke us with our own missiles. Maybe the Russians won’t take down NORAD. It all depends on Lizzie and the hat. Check this one out for a bit of Halloween fun.

Blurb: Lizzie and the hat haven’t been as careful as they think. When the FBI comes knocking, they know all about their nighttime pursuits.

Who even knew we had a Geospatial Intelligence Agency? This obscure part of the intelligence community has a problem that requires a special skillset. Lizzie and the hat are tasked with ridding the intelligence server farm of a gremlin infestation. They’re ill prepared for this one, because .357 magnum revolvers are designed to deal with larger and hairier problems.

The Feds aren’t giving Lizzie much chance to weasel out of the assignment, and they reluctantly accept the job. Lizzie faces some unique trials and has to make new friends to get through the assignment, and avoid a debilitating curse at the same time.

It’s been a hard road for Lizzie during this series, and she’s due for a couple of small upgrades. These are solo titles in a larger series, and you should be able to read any individual one without feeling lost. The series is dark humor at its base, but this one tends a little more toward the humor.

Purchase link. https://mybook.to/6Yp95

Series Link. https://mybook.to/TheHatSeries

Meet the Main Characters

Hi, all. Time for a bit more promo for Goodbye Old Paint. This time I want to talk about my duo of main characters. Let’s start off with Elizabeth “Lizzie” St. Laurent.

She’s a regular girl who struggles with the circumstances of everyday life. She’s from California and her parents are a pair to draw to. Daddy is a conservative attorney who was running for state senator when we last included him. Her mother is an old hippie. She loves California and has a fun vibe about her.

Lizzie falls somewhere in the middle. I try to have her stumbling and fumbling with something at all times. She has to use Daddy’s credit card more than once. She works odd jobs, waiting tables, landscaping, and even cut a deal with her apartment complex that covers her utilities in exchange for labor.

She has outstanding student loans, a well-used car, and sometimes struggles to cover the rent. I put her through a huge flood event, and occasionally leave her stuck in the snow somewhere. It’s a goal to have her face a lot of reality, because there are a few extraordinary events that make it into her stories.

This brings us to her partner, the hat. He’s a creature from another dimension who was summoned here by witchcraft, back in the days of the Greek City States. An old warrior was looking for an edge, and liked the idea of eyes in the back of his head. He paid the witch, and here we are.

The hat showed up with a few more tools at his disposal than opticals. He can transport his host to the last couple of places they transported from. He synthesizes with his host, so they can use his vision, be he can also manipulate the host’s body. He’s been used to mind control other people in a pinch, and a few other things.

He can change shapes, but must always be a hat. He’s bound to Lizzie’s bloodline for as long as it lasts. Surnames come and go, but bloodlines go on. This is how we got from Greece to Lizzie’s last name that sounds somewhat French.

Lizzie is the first woman he’s ever partnered up with. This leads to some misunderstandings along the way. Prior to Lizzie, he spent twenty years in a box. He missed nearly the entire technological revolution and this leads to a few foibles as well. No use partnering up with children, but once Lizzie came of age he found her.

When Lizzie wears the hat, there are some convenient things that happen. For one, by controlling her hands and fingers, the hat plays the upright bass. Lizzie is a good singer and they formed a small cover band, which is yet another of her odd jobs. She can sleep behind the wheel and the hat can drive her car.

On the other hand, the hat is a confirmed monster hunter, and he needs Lizzie to complete his goals. Things will get crazy from this point. The hat knows the family’s secret history, and has an extensive library of stories to share.

Technological differences, generational differences, male vs female points of view, and there is an opportunity for a few disagreements between the partners. They happen… frequently.

If all this sounds like fun to you, please check out The Hat Series. The newest volume is called Goodbye Old Paint.

Blurb: Lizzie and the hat haven’t been as careful as they think. When the FBI comes knocking, they know all about their nighttime pursuits.

Who even knew we had a Geospatial Intelligence Agency? This obscure part of the intelligence community has a problem that requires a special skillset. Lizzie and the hat are tasked with ridding the intelligence server farm of a gremlin infestation. They’re ill prepared for this one, because .357 magnum revolvers are designed to deal with larger and hairier problems.

The Feds aren’t giving Lizzie much chance to weasel out of the assignment, and they reluctantly accept the job. Lizzie faces some unique trials and has to make new friends to get through the assignment, and avoid a debilitating curse at the same time.

It’s been a hard road for Lizzie during this series, and she’s due for a couple of small upgrades. These are solo titles in a larger series, and you should be able to read any individual one without feeling lost. The series is dark humor at its base, but this one tends a little more toward the humor.

Purchase link. https://mybook.to/6Yp95

Series Link. https://mybook.to/TheHatSeries

Coffee with Colleen Chesebro

I’m visiting with Colleen today in what’s become a Halloween tradition for us. Colleen is a prolific lady who runs the largest poetry blog I know of. She’s always been a big supporter of independent authors, and I’m proud to consider her a friend. While you’re over there, please check out all she has to offer and consider following her interesting blogs.

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Halloween edition of Colleen’s Coffee Klatch. Since at least 2016, C. S. Boyack has spent every Halloween with me on the blog. He usually has a new book to discuss, and this year is no different.

Keep reading here. https://colleenmchesebro.com/2022/10/31/colleens-happy-halloween-coffee-klatch-the-hat-series-with-virgilante/

Visiting with D. L. Finn

I’m over at Denise’s place today. The topic is the recurring characters in The Hat Series.

Denise is a Story Empire partner and a wonderful author. Please take a moment to check out her site and wares while you’re over there.

I’m thrilled to have a friend and fellow Story Empire Contributor here, C. S. Boyack. I have read and loved all six of The Hat Series. My review of The Midnight Rambler: LINK

It means a lot to me that you’d open your doors to my blog tour, Denise. I’d love to help you promote your next publication whenever that might be. Keep reading here.

Come visit me at Harmony Kent’s blog

I’m over at Harmony’s place this morning with my first stop on the tour. This is all about The Midnight Rambler, and the topic is keeping the humor in this series.

Harmony is a multi-genre author, and you should check out her books. She’s a prolific blogger and one of my partners at Story Empire. Check out her site and consider following her blog while you’re there.

I’ll be checking in when I can to keep up with comments, so don’t be afraid to leave one.

Continue reading here: https://harmonykent.co.uk/newbook-the-midnight-rambler-wonderful-darkhumour-from-author-c-s-boyack-virgilante-storyempire-lizzieandthehat-series/

Something for Halloween

October is nearly upon us, and in typical fashion I have something to share with everyone.

Life has been busy, and I’ve had to target what I can do as opposed to what I’d like to do. I still have company, and I’ve dedicated a large portion of time to being a good son.

One of the things I did was to silently publish The Midnight Rambler last weekend. I didn’t make a big deal about it, because all my promo posts are targeting the month of October. What I really wanted was the purchase link to send out with my tour posts.

Old What’s Her Face is taking Mom home tomorrow, meaning I’ll have the whole house to myself. I sent out the first week of promo posts to make sure I didn’t drop the ball.

This weekend I’m going to send something to everyone I have scheduled. I think I have a couple of extra posts and might contact some of you directly to see if I can put them to good use.

If you’d like like to go hunting for an ancient monster with Lizzie and the hat, I’d appreciate everyone giving it a chance. This one goes down during a major flood event, and Lizzie might even have a pseudo-boyfriend out of the deal.

This series involves stand alone stories that make sure you don’t have to read the predecessors to enjoy the story. They’re also short novel length and readers seem to appreciate that, too.

I’ll be sharing the blurb and a bunch of points about the book during my tour. For tonight, you get a cover and a purchase link. Then I’m going back to being a good son for one more night.

Get your copy here: https://mybook.to/TheMidnightRambler

It’s a new book #bookrelease

My path for the last couple of years has been weird. I get sporadic writing time, and try to make the best of it. Eventually, those sessions add up, which is why I’m posting today.

My work schedule put me in a strange place, because I could publish last weekend, then not talk about it all week, or publish this weekend and have the same problem ahead of me. I went ahead and ran it through Amazon’s mill last Sunday.

Good Liniment is now available on Amazon and has been for a couple of days now. I’ll be taking it out on tour for a few weeks to give it a good launch, and will be reblogging the posts here as a way to support my hosts and hopefully drive a bit of traffic. Lisa Burton, spokesmodel for my career, will be out there too handing out some book specific posters.

Getting sick didn’t help matters along. I missed a bunch of work this week with something like the flu on steroids. (I got the flu shot, so it’s probably something else.) At one point I was feverish and slept for 20 straight hours. The other four were spent in the bathroom.

That doesn’t leave a lot to talk about in a blog post, so let’s make this about the new book.

Someone is murdering members of the local witches coven. They turn to Lizzie and the hat for their unique skills that might help eliminate the killers.

A religious zealot might be a monster, but is still a human being. This task isn’t the same as staking vampires or shooting zombies. It isn’t the usual project Lizzie takes on for her night work.

This all takes place during a recovery period for Lizzie. She needs to keep her cover band together and find a new way of getting them gigs. More bands and less venues are making finances tight. The hat didn’t make things easier during her absence, by spreading rumors about why she took her sabbatical.

Someone killing others over a point of view insults Lizzie’s sensibilities. She has secrets to keep. Her employers have secrets, too. It doesn’t make for a comfortable working environment, but she agrees to do what she can.

Convincing her strong-willed employers to stay indoors during all this poses another problem. Can she keep them alive long enough to finish her task?

Good Liniment is full of magic, magical creatures, and an entire underground community living amongst us.

The Hat Series consists of short novels that can be read in a single afternoon. They’re full of snarky dark humor and can be easily read out of order.

Purchase Link: http://mybook.to/Good_Liniment

Series Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KTQY1XJ?ref_=dbs_p_mng_rwt_ser_shvlr&storeType=ebooks

I hope to give this one a good launch. It expands the world of Lizzie and the hat exponentially, and provides a base the next few stories will feed off of. I plan on making minor introductions in subsequent stories so you can still read them out of order should one grab your attention more than another.

I also have a finished manuscript for The Midnight Rambler that glances off some things in Good Liniment. Probably hold that one for the Halloween season.

I’m scheduling this post ahead of time and hope to be back at work by the time you read it. I might have to catch up with comments after hours.

So, there you have it. A new book in The Hat Series. Do all the things authors dream of. Pick up a copy, have fun, tell your friends, maybe share it on social media. Watch for the tour posts. I made every one of them unique and I think it will be a good tour.

New Release! “Wreck of the Lanterfish” by C. S. Boyack @Virgilante #newrelease #whattoread #writingcommunity #mustread

D. L. Finn is a wonderful author and one of my Story Empire colleagues. She’s generously offered to lend me her site today to talk about Wreck of the Lanternfish. While you’re there, check out her site and offerings. Denise is someone you ought to be following and reading.

***

I’m thrilled to welcome fellow Story Empire Author, C. S. Boyack here today to celebrate the release of Wreck of Lanternfish. I’ve been looking forward to the final book in this series and here’s my review.

Thanks so much for lending me your space today. Spreading the word about a new book is so important. Today is all about concluding my Lanternfish trilogy with ‘Wreck of the Lanternfish.’ Keep reading here…

Some statistics for you

Hi, everyone. I’ve neglected this site again, but there were tour posts all over the place. Thanks to the group of you that followed along. This post is for my fellow writers out there, and you might find it interesting.

The tour ended prematurely, but one of my potential hosts is quite ill. I have her in my thoughts, and you didn’t miss a lot. If you feel like you missed something, check out Lunar Boogie in the sidebar. It was the book of the day.

To recap, I toured each book in The Hat Series for one week during October. Books one & three had free days, and to support those, I hired Fussy Librarian for some extra push. Let’s look at a visual.

I doubt you can read that, but it’s the image that helps anyway. The blue graph above shows my free promotion days. You can see the pattern is almost identical. Day one hit nearly a thousand free copies, after that it trailed off.

If I turn off the freebies, the graph shows book sales, but at best there were ten one day. That’s why they don’t show up with the freebies turned on.

The lower graphic is pages read via Kindle Unlimited. To me it’s more important. Most of my book earnings have been via this platform for a couple of years now. The patterns are similar, and not different enough to determine why. The better days were around 500 pages per day, with one that broke 1000. I’m not getting rich here, but I’m calling the promo a success. Nearly all of those pages were in the The Hat Series. In fact you can see a small bit of action on the far left before the promotion started. That’s what my graph normally looks like.

So far, I’ve gained two star-reviews where they rated the book worthy of five stars, and one actual review. I love both of those formats, so thank you whoever you are.

This also happened.

Yup, that’s Mrs. Molony in the #1 spot. It held onto the top ten throughout the free period.

There’s one post left that relates to the promotion. It’s my annual visit at Colleen Chesebro’s place on Halloween. It’s about the series, but it’s also about what comes next for Lizzie and the hat. I’ll be checking in on Sunday, so make sure to visit me.