I am very pleased that Lisa Burton the Robot assistant has stopped by Fiction Favorites on behalf of her boss C. S. Boyack author of The Playground to discuss his new release which can be preordered now for delivery on April 4th. Here is the link http://a-fwd.com/asin=B01D6EF6RI
“So Lisa it is so good to see you again.”
“Thanks for inviting me over, John. As you know, Craig has a new novel out, and part of my job is to promote it. I also brought you a poster that has a bit of popularity going for it, but this one was pure accident.”
“How’s that, Lisa?”
“Craig likes to include animals in his stories. He hasn’t done this every time, but this story has a dog in it. A bad dog, I might add.”
“Pets can add…. What’s so special about this dog?”
“This dog takes up with a character named Clovis. Clovis is a brutal thug, hired to retrieve some unique computer programming. The dog is kind of pushy, and I think Clovis likes that. Clovis is a loner, and the dog makes him a little bit more human, but just a bit.”
“What can you tell us without giving too much away?”
“Clovis and the dog make a trip to New Orleans to catch the IT man before he leaves the country on a ship. I won’t say that Clovis takes care of the dog, they’re more like partners. Having a friend, of sorts, changes Clovis. It’s subtle, and comes on slowly, but by the end of the story, I wound up liking Clovis.”
“Craig said the story is a paranormal tale with some science fiction sprinkles. What does that mean?”
“This story explores the dangers of the Internet upon children. We all know the Internet is great. I’m a robot girl, and couldn’t function without it, but what our children do should be supervised. A greedy businessman develops a social network for children called The Playground Network.”
“Thus the name of the book.”
“Right, but he builds the devices into toys like dolls, plush animals, and action heroes designed to capture the eyes of children. He plans to use our own children as a personal military of sorts. The toys are brainwashing our children while the parents aren’t watching. To reach his goals, the businessman turns to the occult, and that’s where it gets really strange.”
“Well, it is one of Craig’s stories.”
“Exactly. When it comes time to choose the promotional posters, we always have options. We decided that people love dogs, and the artist thought a day at the beach would be fun. I love animals, and thought hugging a big old squishy dog would be a fun way to spend the afternoon.”
“That sounds sweet, I suppose.”
“That’s what I thought too. Except he’s a bad dog. The artist laughed until he fell over, then told me it was a great poster. I have to agree with him, but it ruined my swag deal.”
“What’s a swag deal?”
“I get to keep all the stuff from my promotional work. All I got out of the deal was a swimsuit top. A top that doesn’t match anything else, I might add. The dog ate the other part.”
“Did you keep the dog?”
“Heck no! My pet rabbit would be terrified. Clovis can have him back.”
“Thanks for coming by to tell us about The Playground.“
“Pleasure being back here, John. Enjoy the poster, and the book.”
“Oh, I will Lisa. Tell Craig hey for me.”
***
Fiction Favorites 
For some reason, I’m thinking of a criminal version of ‘Turner & Hooch’ after reading the Clovis and dog explanation. Not a comedy though.
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Some dark humor maybe.
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Love the dog.
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Thank you for this, John. Thanks for getting Lisa away from the cabin for a day too.
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Always a pleasure. (Who wouldn’t want Lisa to visit?)
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Lisa sure gets around. What a robot– um, maybe she’s more lady than robot. I’m not sure about the dog and Clovis sounds he may be interesting, but certainly nowhere near Lisa’s popularity, surely? 😀 😀
Love these type interviews.
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She’s out making the rounds right now. You could probably call Clovis my first anti-hero. I had a blast writing him. I knew John was a dog guy, so the topic was the dog from the story.
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Thanks Tess
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It’s a giggle when our characters have more of a social life than their writer’s do. 😀 😀 Too funny.
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Yes it is. Thanks
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That’s probably more common than we think.
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I know mine have a more interesting life.
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Thanks Tess.
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😀 😀 😀
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🙂
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Reblogged this on carsonrenomysteryseries.com.
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Thank you for the reblog Gerald
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I adore that cover – it’s about time we had a ‘good’ female alternative to Chuckie. Great concept as well Craig – going on my TBR as I write 😀
Thanks for getting us all over John 😉
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Thank you, Jan. It’s a fun story. Lisa is all over the internet today. There will be excerpts and characters from the story later this week.
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Thanks for the visit
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Thanks for the visit Jan.
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Reblogged this on Entertaining Stories and commented:
Lisa the robot girl is visiting with John W. Howell today to discuss my new book, The Playground. Find out about the dog in the story, and how Lisa’s swag deal got ruined. While you’re there, check out John’s novels, as featured on Lisa’s radio show.
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Thank you for the reblog and lovely words
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Great stop Lisa and that really is a bad dog! Grear to learn a bit more about the book, I’m looking forward to reading it!
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Thank you for the visit and the comment.
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You’re welcome 🙂
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🙂
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I’m so excited. There is a lot of interest in this one. We’ll see how it works out. I’m interested to see the Blake Harrington piece.
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Hetherington, sorry.
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No problem, fingers crossed he gets the word out for you 🙂
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[…] Quantrell John Howell Gigi Sedlmayer Annette Rochelle […]
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I love animals, but I’m not so sure about this dog. Of course, I can’t wait to find out all about it in the book. Loved the interview! And Craig, you owe Lisa a new swimsuit!
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Thanks for the visit Mae and yes he does.
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Geez. She already owns more clothes than my daughter.
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No woman EVER has enough clothes!! Or shoes. Or purses. Or jewelry, LOL!
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Baffling. At least she doesn’t collect cats.
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Can you imagine saying, “I was going to get you a bigger diamond but you have enough already.”
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Ha! And that would go over like a lead balloon, LOL!
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🙂
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Hang on to your hat Craig.
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