Hey, everyone. Today it’s a pleasure to welcome back fellow-author, friend, and Story Empire collaborator C. S. Boyack. Here’s here to talk about his latest release Good Liniment, a part of the The Hat Series. Craig, take it away!
Thanks for the invitation to promote my wares to your fans. Good Liniment is the newest entry in The Hat Series. While this is a series, I’ve worked to keep them all readable as stand-alone titles. If someone were to start here, I don’t think they’d feel lost at all.
Good Liniment came with a few issues for me to sort out. Because it circles back to witchcraft, I couldn’t ignore what I’d previously introduced. There are fans who’ve read every book in this series, and I want to respect them. I also decided I needed a split narrative for part of this story.
I solved the split narrative by using two different herald characters. The first one is Joe Yoder. Readers of Lunar Boogie might remember him as an aging cop who carries on conversations with his ghostly wife. What they might not remember, is that Joe’s father is a witch. I made sure to go over that again for those who start with Good Liniment.
Growing up in that environment gave Joe knowledge about the supernatural world, even though he isn’t part of it.
Joe arrests a young man named Dash Goodman and recognizes him as a witch. Rather than taking him to the station, he delivers Dash to his father, Cyrus.
This gave me a way to introduce witchcraft to the readers through the eyes of Dash. Joe was the herald that made it all happen.
It was important to me to not have a special school for witches. I think that one’s been grossly overused, so I went with more of a Jedi Council approach. Dash has some special skills and he’s picked up by the local coven.
This leaves my main characters, Lizzie and the hat, needing a way to get involved in the action here. I used one of my legacy characters named Patty Hall to bring them on board. Long-term fans will remember a story from Patty’s teenage years called Will O’ the Wisp. She is an associate member of the coven because she’s not a natural-born witch. She’s what they call an adapter. In doing this, I added a bit of closure to her story. She never did get to be an astronaut, but has a pretty high-ranking status at NASA in Houston.
Patty isn’t just a herald for this story, she’s also what’s known as an Easter Egg. This is something I love for this series. Long-term fans get to have a bit of fun, but new readers won’t miss a beat the way I introduced her.
In both narratives, they learn that someone is murdering members of the coven. The witches decide to hire Lizzie and the hat to deal with the killer. It seems they have more faith in the hat than even Lizzie does.
If you like a little blood with your humor, add a sampling of pop culture, some rock and roll, and you might be a fan of this series. I’d appreciate everyone checking out Good Liniment. It’s short enough to read in an afternoon, and I hope you’ll get a laugh or two along the way.
Blurb
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.
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68 Responses
Good Liniment is definitely a fun book and the mash-up of legacy characters with plenty of new and interesting (erm….highly colorful) characters works great.
Nice to see Craig here today. Wishing him all the best. Thanks for hosting, Joan!
Thanks for those kind words, Mae.
It does sound like fun. Thanks for visiting, Mae.
Craig seems to have excelled with this latest Hat story! can’t wait to read it!
Thanks for the reblog, and for faith in my stories.
Your stories are just too good to ignore, Craig…
The Hat stories seem to be pretty popular. Thanks for stopping by.
They are so unusual, and that makes them really special, Joan… 💕
Reblogged this on anitadawesauthor.com.
Thanks for the share!
I’m putting this latest book on my TBR list. Thanks for hosting, Joan.
Thank you, Karen. hope you have fun with it.
Thank you for stopping by, Karen.
You convinced me, Craig! I just grabbed a copy!
I’m honored. Hope you enjoy the tale.
Thanks for visiting, Priscilla.
I’m very curious about the Good Liniment title.
Thanks, Liz. I like the title a lot. It’s the name of a tavern owned by the coven.
You’re welcome, Craig. It is a very intriguing title.
I could use some good liniment from time to time, Liz. Medicinal purposes, of course. 🙂
Of course! 😀
Reblogged this on Entertaining Stories and commented:
I’m over at Joan Hall’s place today to talk about Good Liniment. Joan is one of my Story Empire partners, and a good friend. She writes incredible mystery stories with a small town feel to them. Make sure you check out her offerings while you’re over there.
Thanks for sharing and for the shout out!
Reblogged this on NEW BLOG HERE >> https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
Thanks for sharing!
With a great pleasure, and thank you for the information. xx Michael
Thanks for posting this very informative and also appreciated introduction to Craig, and his new book! xx Michael
Thanks for sharing the post, Michael.
Thanks for visiting, Michael.
Thats always a great pleasure to me, Joan! xx Michael
The split narrative sounds like a fun approach. I look forward to reading this one! Best of luck with your new book, Craig. Thanks for sharing, Joan 💕🙂
I had to do that to delve into the coven. A lot of people asked for more witches, but it all seems to work in the scope of the story.
Thanks for stopping by, Harmony!
When I first read the name Patty I said, wait a minute, is that the same? And it is – how cool! I also love the idea of a Jedi council of witches.
This is the series for those legacy characters to pop up. Glad the tour is intriguing you.
The Jedi council is a neat idea, Teri. Thanks for visiting.
Wonderful showcase, Joan. Thank you. Congratulations, Craig! I’m fascinated by your story and I’m looking forward to the read. 😊
Hope it provides a good time for an afternoon.
Thanks so much for stopping by, Gwen.
I love the underground world and twists of magic and other supernatural mixing with the human world. Congratulations on the release. It’s on the TBR list!
Thank you, Michele. Hope it’s fun for you once it rises to the top.
Thanks for the visit, Michele!
I love how you can bring characters from previous books into a new story in a different way. I remember Joe quite well and will be happy to see him again. 🙂 Well, not literally, but you get it. Congrats on this new release, Craig and best wishes for tons of sales! Thank you, Joan, for hosting!
Because of the way this series works, I still have to reintroduce them. I just don’t spend as much time on that if they aren’t an important part of the current tale.
I liked Joe as well. Thanks for stopping by, Jan.
Witches, Jedi Council style teaching, and an Easter Egg. Sounds like a winner! Thank you, Joan, for sharing your site with Craig today! Congratulations on the new release, Craig!
Thanks you, Mar. I’m glad to have it out there now.
Thanks for the visit, Mar!
Congratulations, Craig on your latest. Thanks Joan for hosting.
Thanks for reading it, John.
😊
Thank you for visiting, John!
😊
I love the Jedi Council approach and the Patty Easter egg. Wishing you much success with your release, Craig.
Thanks for hosting, Joan.
Thanks, Staci. I just felt like there were enough special schools in the fictional world.
Thanks for stopping by, Staci.
Sounds like a great addition to the series and congratulations Craig.. thanks Joan for showcasing.
Thanks so much for stopping by, Sally!
Have a good weekend Joan..hugs
You too, Sally!
Thanks for checking it out, Sally.
I remember Patty from Will ‘O the Wisp, that was the first book of Craig’s I read. Thanks for hosting Craig and sharing about his new book, Joan.
Thanks. This is the series to do all the crazy things like use my legacy characters.
Will O’ the Wisp was also one of the first ones I read. Thanks for stopping by, Robbie.
It was great to see Patty included 🙂 I loved this story, a fun vacation read!
Thanks, for hosting, Joan.
I liked that he included Patty as well.
Many congrats to Craig on the latest in the Hat series. I really liked Joe from Lunar Boogie, and it’s nice to see him getting a story. I still have to read Ms. Mahoney, but will get to this one too. Great guest post, Joan. 😀
Joe was a favorite character for me as well. Thanks for stopping by, Diana!