I am always thrilled to have a visit from Lisa Burton. As you may know, she is the robot spokesperson for Craig Boyack, the very talented author of a new release titled The Yak Guy Project, as well as, a host of other excellent books. My JohnKu is all about book launches.
Book Launch by John W. Howell © 2018
Much like a newborn,
Love is the main foundation . . .
Followed by much work.
Thanks for the invitation today, John. It’s nice to get out of the writing cabin even for a little while. Port Aransas is looking better than the last time I visited, and Twiggy is an adorable addition to your family.
My mission is to talk about The Yak Guy Project, Craig’s newest book. He gets all whiny if I don’t talk about the book.
This is an alternate world kind of story about a young man from our world. At the beginning, he’s helpless and near death. He’s rescued by a talking yak, who leads him on a journey of self-discovery. What can I say, it’s one of Craig’s stories, so you just kind of have to go with it.
During the writing process, we act out scenes and dialog that Craig comes up with. If something doesn’t ring true, he adjusts it, and we try again. Sometimes, we go back two chapters or more to weave in plants and payoffs.
This leads to a lot of downtime. I brought a poster over today that involves a few of us hanging out while Craig makes adjustments to the story. I hope your fans enjoy it.
The outfits and setting in the poster give a kind of Asian vibe, because that’s what this world is like. The people in the story have been at war for hundreds of years, basically destroyed everything, and are now fighting with pointy things. Yak Guy isn’t going to find any cell phones or video games here.
Writing is kind of a fluid thing. You have a decent plot, a few decent characters, and there is a story. When you start writing, things have a way of changing. One situation, leads to a better situation. Something cool, creates the demand for a plant several chapters back to set it all up.
Most people never see this side of writing. I think it’s because the actual commitment of writing provides a level of detail the daydreaming phase never gets. All of the scenes need to link together too. The detail, plus the scenes, cause even better ideas to come along. Then your personal assistant gets to act it all out to see if it works.
After that, my spokesmodel job kicks in, and I get to wear some of the outfits I used during the writing phase in my posters.
I’ll provide all the details so your fans can pick up a copy of The Yak Guy Project.
Imagine waking up in the desert with no idea what happened to you. You have clear memories of situations and places, but a complete loss in personal matters… like your own name. This situation is bad, and you have no idea how to get home.
When you’re rescued by a talking yak, the situation gets exponentially worse. You’ve obviously lost your mind. The immediate needs of a ride off the salt pan and searing heat, along with a drink of water, outweigh the concerns about your mental state.
This is exactly what happened to the Yak Guy. In fact he’s been placed in an alternate world and given a chance to start over in life.
Can this selfish, almost parasitic, young man learn to start over in a world where charity is hard to find? Life is brutal and short here, but he’s going to have to adapt or perish.
The Yak Guy project is loosely based around The Fool’s Journey from the Tarot. Those with experience in Tarot will spot people and situations from the Major Arcana.
Here is where to get the book on Amazon
Here is how to contact Craig
Fiction Favorites 
How intriguing! A talking yak, a mysterious alternate world, and the Tarot? It’s a must-read for sure. I’m headed to Amazon for this treasure. 🙂
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Yeah. I got mine too. Thank you, Gwen.
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Appreciate it, John.
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😀
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Thanks, Gwen. Hope you enjoy it.
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Congratulations to Craig!
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For sure. Thank you, Jill.
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Thanks, Jill.
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Reblogged this on Legends of Windemere.
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Thank you for the share, Charles. 😀
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You’re welcome
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I love the setting that you described. Having the world go backwards in technology opens the door for so many possibilities.
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I agree, Charles. This is going to be an exciting read. 😀
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It’s a cool environment to play with. I had to think about things like mass transportation that mingled the races, before it all came crashing down. Thanks for sharing this one too.
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You’re welcome. Never thought about mass transportation. Those usually just get used as underground communities.
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If everything shut down today, there would be clusters of military folks stranded all over the world. Vacationers, and everyone else would pepper the native populations. I tried to use some of that idea.
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What about people who were on the trains that stopped?
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Sure, same thing. Or the trains were bombed during the wars. This all happened prior to page one though.
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Reminds me of Bedlam. The big stuff happened before the story, so there’s some vagueness to it. Retains a good mystery for the overall world too.
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Good comparison. It also allows you to do some world building on the fly.
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That’s a big part of the fun. You aren’t restrained by reality as much as other stories too. And you know how much we authors don’t get along with reality. 😀
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Lisa’s looking good (as always). Nice to see the book making its rounds.
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Thank you for the visit, Staci.
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🙂
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Thanks, Staci.
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Thanks for inviting Lisa over today. I’ll share it all over the place and see if I can drive some traffic.
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Be careful in that traffic.
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I’ll put my helmet on.
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Reblogged this on Entertaining Stories and commented:
Lisa Burton is visiting with John Howell today, and handing out a new poster. The topic is The Yak Guy Project. While you’re visiting him, keep in mind that he and Gwen Plano have a new book out too. Here is the link if you’d like to check it out https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CZQ8WKH I was a beta reader on this one, and it’s outstanding.
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Thank you, Craig for The Contract mention
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Hope it helps.
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😀
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John, my experiment worked on my end, but it went into your spam filter over here. If you want it on your site, you’ll have to approve it.
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Done.
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It’s because I added a link.
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Love your JohnKu, and it’s so true. Congrats to Craig on his newborn book!!
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Thank you, Debbie.
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Thank you, Debbie. 😀
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Happy Friday, John! Love your Johnku as always 🙂 Congratulations, Craig, on your new book! This line from your post is so, so true: “the actual commitment of writing provides a level of detail the daydreaming phase never gets.” As a pantser, the daydreaming part is the most fun part. The rest is, well, labor … labor of love, but still labor 😉
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It’s the same way for non-pantsers. The daydreaming is fun. Putting it on paper is the beginning of commitment, and it eliminates some possibilities. This is a good thing, but that focus sometimes brings better possibilities into focus.
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Thank you for the comment, Marie.
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Yet another inspirational JohnKu to start the weekend. Have a good one, John.
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Thank you, Guy. Have a good one as well.
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John,
Loved the haiku AND a book review bonus! Excellent as per . . .
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🙂
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I loved Lisa’s comment “What can I say, it’s one of Craig’s stories, so you just kind of have to go with it.” That had me laughing out loud and nodding along.
All that quirkiness Craig weaves into his stories really pays off. The Yak Guy Project is my personal favorite of his longer works. Nice to see it getting so much attention!
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Makes my day that you feel that way. Thank you, Mae.
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I love this Lisa Burton poster! And, I always enjoy her interviews. I picked up my copy of The Yak Guy Project. Now I just need more time to read! 🙂
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Thank you, Jan.
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That rocks my world. Enjoy the story.
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Cute illustration!
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Thanks, Deby. It’s a casual moment.
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Congratulations to Craig. Sorry to be a little late to the party.
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Never late.
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Thanks, Dan. I have high hopes for it.
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Hello! Great job, Lisa, as always. Love your floral dress. I’ve got my copy. I go back and forth a great deal while writing also. I wish I had an assistant but I have to make due with reading out loud.😉 Great post!😁
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Thanks, Vashti. I always have to go back and forth in my drafting phase.
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