Got this email from none other than the lovely Lisa Burton, the most advanced robot girl on Planet Earth, and spokesmodel for Craig Boyack.

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Hi, everyone, and thanks for having me over Chris.

I’m here promoting Craig’s newest book, The Hat.

This one is kind of a paranormal superhero origin story.

You have the cover and blurb to whet your appetite a bit.

One of the little games Craig and I fall into sometimes is casting the movie, if someone were ever to produce it. I’m sure all authors have this daydream at some point, but it’s fun to talk about. I mention this, because this story is a little bit different.

The main character, Lizzie St. Laurent, is also a singer, you know, eventually. This means if anyone were to play her in the movie, she would have to sing at some point. Craig thinks maybe a Disney alum of some kind could fill the role. The only physical descriptions are brunette and a long face.

The long face might be the hard part, but there have been plenty of attractive actresses who fit this description. Lizzie is in her early twenties, but Hollywood can add or remove a few years. They can also create brunette hair with ease. Our only holdup was most of the Disney alum have chubby cheeks, like Brenda Song, or Selina Gomez.

The Hat himself is a creature from another dimension. About all we would need is a voice of some kind for him. Maybe a Steve Buscemi or Nicholas Cage. Bruce Willis would be pretty good too.

Lizzie and The Hat actually fight like an old married couple at first, and the way they interact is half the fun. There were a lot of generational differences explored too, like the appearance of cellphones and the Internet since the last time anyone adopted The Hat.

Together, they form a symbiotic relationship. The Hat can do things Lizzie can’t do. Lizzie can do things The Hat can’t. Together they can accomplish so much more.

Part of this leads to the musical part of the story. The Hat owns and plays an upright bass. He has all of the talent, but does not have the fingers and hands. Those are provided by Lizzie. This helps them learn to work together.

In some ways, it’s more fun to talk about the musical score for this movie. The Hat’s preferred style is rockabilly, blues, even a bit of country music. We spent many days researching songs with great bass lines. Crazy Little Thing Called Love, or Pink Cadillac anyone?

When Craig wrote Will O’ the Wisp, he actually obtained a license to quote some song lyrics. This new story would have been perfect for that, but the effort and expense are prohibitive. Since many of the songs mentioned are so well known, he simply elected to mention the titles.

I have an uber-cool poster of me, with The Hat, playing the upright bass. I’d like to share it with everyone today. Enjoy the poster, you can set it as your phone background or whatever you like.

Take a chance on The Hat. It get’s pretty crazy. It’s novella length, so you can read it in an afternoon. At 99¢ you really don’t have anything to lose here.

Thanks again for having me over, and enjoy your poster. Is there a beach anywhere in this jungle, Chris?

Blurb:

Lizzie St. Laurent is dealing with many of the struggles of young life. She lost her grandmother, and her living arrangements. Her new roommate abandoned her, and she’s working multiple jobs just to keep her head above water.

She inherits an old hat from her grandmother’s estate, but it belonged to her grandfather. This is no ordinary hat, but a being from an alternate dimension. One with special powers.

Lizzie and the hat don’t exactly hit it off right away, but when her best friend’s newborn is kidnapped by a ring of baby traffickers, Lizzie turns to the hat for help. This leads her deep into her family history and a world she’s never known.

Lizzie gives up everything to rescue the babies. She loses her jobs, and may wind up in jail before it’s over. Along the way, she and the hat may have a new way of making ends meet.

Humorous and fun, The Hat is novella length. Wonderful escapism for an afternoon.

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Craig Boyack

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