Well, for those of you who don’t know what Hot Rod Bunny is all about, it is about a girl making her splash in a man’s hobby. The first story takes place in 1964 when most young women thought about horses or husbands or college or whatever. Anything but cars!
The main character’s name is Beverly Moon and she has two close friends at the orphanage. Their names are Brunhilda and Cynthia. Beverly is very different from her friends though. She’s a genius with a photographic memory! I decided on those character traits because I wanted to break the stereotype of a good-looking blonde being considered dumb. She’s not a dumb-bunny but a smart one with a good heart. She is also what I call a “true innocent”. She doesn’t have a condescending “tone” to her voice or a sarcastic meaning in her words. She says exactly what she thinks and most of the time it is something good and wholesome. She never expects someone to lie to her. She thinks they made an honest mistake and she is willing to gently correct them in front of everyone! Much to their embarrassment!
Beverly, Brunhilda and Cynthia
When she looks at herself in the mirror she doesn’t see a beautiful blonde bunny. She sees what she would term, a “mal-proportioned” and “goofy-looking girl” with over-sized ears. She is convinced her friend Brunhilda, is the ideal for beauty in the bunny-girl world. Brunhilda is very attractive but basically average in body type. She’s built nice and slender and is certainly not invisible to boys!
While Beverly is a genius, she is also socially naïve. Those two opposite characteristics in her personality provide the foundation for some funny situations. She has no clue how to approach boys or talk to them. Most of the time she’s not interested because she is certain they’re a bit touched in the head. And the poor girl can’t make head or tail out of their compliments! She takes everything literally.
Since most boys and men act strange around her she thinks there was something wrong with them. But, the only thing wrong with them is the fact they are so taken by her beauty. Taken to the point of extreme distraction! They have a tough time forming sentences around her. They walk into benches and trip over things while gazing at her. In the bunny world, on a scale of one to ten…she’s an eleven! So, if you aren’t too distracted by her looks you may find her very entertaining and informative. The character knows a lot about automobiles and is happy to share it with an audience. Willing or not!
The whole book series deals with both her professional and personal lives. Here is how it was written; in book one, a heart of gold and a foot of lead, we start out in 1970 at a car show. The story “freeze frames” there while Beverly begins to tell her back-story. She briefly tells about her early her life as a small girl in an Indiana orphanage and growing up there. She answers the question on how she became a car nut! The bulk of the story takes place when she turns eighteen. She has to move out and be on her own so she gets a job at the local auto parts store. One thing leads to another and she is confronted with great opportunities to be around cars but unfortunately she has to be around boys too. She goes through some very rough times and the weird events actually lead her down the right path. At the end of the first book the story goes back to 1970 and the reader finds out who is married to whom and which of her friends is dating and which one is engaged. So the reader finds out how everything ends. In the rest of the books we find out how they got there. The strange circumstances surrounding the girl’s love lives and all the various cars Beverly bought and drove.
Beverly outta control!
Being the Hot Rod Bunny series, there are car chases in every book. Some very harrowing! There are many road trips and opportunities for her and her friends to get into trouble! My intent was to have them entertaining to both hot rodders and romance novel enthusiasts. Not that these are great books in the romance department but they are humorous. And they are written so kids can read them without any worries for parents.
Who is the target audience for Hot Rod Bunny? Well, men and boys who love cars and girls who like a good romantic comedy!