- Recommended Age Range: 12 and up
- Formats: E-Book, Paperback
- Approx. Length: 73,550 Words, 532 Pages
- Volume 2 of the Poetic Reflections series.
- Interior: Black & White
- Dimensions: 6″ x 9″
- Trade Paperback ISBN: 9781502364760
A collection of very unusual verse, ranging from wacky to dark to narrative. Lori R. Lopez writes her own way, whether poetry or prose. This book contains both in an odd yet artful balance.
Volume Two of the Poetic Reflections book series, The Queen Of Hats is packed with craziness as well as eerie and thoughtful pieces. Chapters are framed by thirteen eccentric or brooding columns, followed by a rich array of additional content for each theme. Lori’s writing style is wildly original and evocative, providing much to think about in this sequel to Keep The Heart Of A Child. The print edition includes black-and-white illustrations done by the author.
The Queen Of Hats received Honorable Mention in Poetry from the 2015 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards and an Honorable Mention from the 2014 Halloween Book Festival.
This poetry collection, Volume Two in the Poetic Reflections Series, is currently being enhanced for a Second Edition!
Samples
“Should you find yourself packing a suitcase to be stranded on a deserted island, I suggest you think twice before including this book . . . It’s very strange.”
“Should you find yourself packing a suitcase to be stranded on a deserted island, I suggest you think twice before including this book . . . It’s very strange. And you might require your sanity. Then again, what book is brimming with as much about nothing? Not to mention funny-bone-tickling fancy, twists and turns of phrase, the purest whimsy, verse so dark you’ll have to read it by flashlight under the covers, and ideas so ponderous you will not be able to get them out of your head like one of those annoying broken-record songs! This is a book you are likely to read many times, from time to time, in good times or bad, even at the best and worst of times. It will haunt you until the end of time.”
~ from The Queen Of Hats
foreceps
and other ways to snag your curiosity or grab your attention, snatch your interest (I couldn’t decide so I called it all of the above since this is just a title and it doesn’t have to be short or long or anywhere in between; I think I’m done now)
Oh, I can’t just put a title as the preamble? Are you sure? Come on, you’re making that up, right? You’re not kidding? Really. Well, that is news to me. I saw nothing about this in the preamble for the monthly memo from The Preamble Society. I think they would have let me know if they were changing the rules. Not that I heed the rules, necessarily. I don’t find it necessary in either my poetry or my prose; why then would I begin in this preamble to my second collection of verse?
Actually, it contains some prose but that isn’t the point. I’ve lost track of the point at the moment. I’m sure it will return like a boomerang to whack me in the head. Probably just when I’ve finished preambling, but that’s beside the point too. Oh great, now I’ve broken the point like a pencil lead. I hate when that happens!
Excuse me while I go sharpen my point for the next preamble I might possibly wish to write. In the next volume of verse or other. I don’t know, it could happen. I may need a point eventually.
Sorry, we’ll have to skip the preamble entirely. It has gotten away from me, causing a good deal of wincing on my part I might add, perhaps even some eye-rolling or twitching or ticking or tickling, so I feel it is best to simply move on and get to the point elsewhere. Somewhere in this book. Keep turning pages and you could find it. Hopefully. Go ahead. Nobody’s stopping you. Hop along.
(I feel I need to clarify that this isn’t the preamble. I think you’ve missed the point. Wait, I forgot there is no point. Nevermind.)
foreceps . . .
1. unstructured
2. scrambled
3. hatitude
4. the root of all fear
5. gothic
6. tanks
7. yuleogy
8. the years
9. intricacies
10. happy endings
11. thoughtlessness
12. Nothing!
13. reverie
belated
(From the Illustrated Print Edition. Printed in black and white.)
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Honors & Praise
“Offbeat, original, intelligent, daring and downright dark at times, Lori R Lopez writes with unique flair and fervor. Her work delivers poetry and prose shot through with a Gothic sensibility, tempered by a mischievous and delectable humor.”
“Offbeat, original, intelligent, daring and downright dark at times, Lori R Lopez writes with unique flair and fervor. Her work delivers poetry and prose shot through with a Gothic sensibility, tempered by a mischievous and delectable humor. Satiate your soul and grab a copy now, you won’t be disappointed.”
William Cook, author of BLOOD RELATED and CORPUS DELICTI
♥
“An award-winning poet’s mind tumbles through a mirror universe; Lori Lopez grasps for reflections and finds the strands of language, poetics in shadow-form woven between her fingers and tapped onto the electronic page. Each poem is a personal rabbit hole filled not with darkness or madness, but emotional truths that resonate; the musings of a poet who looks into her heart and finds her soul and mind locked in eternal struggle. If you enjoy poetry, this one cannot be missed.”
Vincenzo Bilof, author of THE HORROR SHOW
♥
“In POETIC REFLECTIONS: THE QUEEN OF HATS, poet Lori R. Lopez presents herself as a kind of gothic empress of the spooky and macabre. It’s selling Lopez short to cast her only in that role. Her style is more a combination of Ogden Nash, Charles Addams, and the Edwards Lear and Gorey; this applies to her artwork as well as her writing. It’s hard to feel morbid when reading verses with such wit, humor, natural rhythm, and clever rhymes. Lopez is also a talented storyteller. The title poem is an epic that describes a coven of witches unleashed in Murgledoon and ultimately dispatched by Eldritch, the Hat Queen. The spooks-and-spirits poems are fun, but not all the poems are draped in mourning and cobwebs. For instance, “urban gothic” logs the desecration of the natural world as the honest horror it is; “poignant thoughts” shares the poets musings on one Mother’s Day. “fruitcake” is one of a series of poems that grafts images of Halloween with the Yuletide, often with hilarious rather than frightening results. . . . Lopez’s writing deserves a terrific showcase that gets her the enthusiastic readers she deserves.”
Judge, 23rd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards
♥
“If you want something predictable, mainstream and to get to bed early that night — do NOT pick this book up. If you want to make emotional faces while you read (laugh, frown, shudder, openeyeswide....) do read. If you want to feel like the author is having a conversation with you — preferably over wine — do read. Lori Lopez is a true original, writing & dancing across every genre and kicking over the fences as she goes. If there is not a word that fits, she makes it up. Dark, scary, twisted and foreboding? She can do that. Lighthearted and amusing? She can do that. Make you (gasp) think? Yes, even that. And she does it with style. And hats. Lots of hats. I would give Queen of Hats more stars if it was allowed and I will be ordering multiple copies to give to bookaholic friends.”
Jaye Tomas
Goodreads Review
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A part of Poetic Reflections Project by Lori R. Lopez
