Interview+Giveaway: The Virus of Beauty Series by C.B. Lyall

An interview with C.B. Lyall, author of The Virus of Beauty YA fantasy series

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Ugliness is power, and the Virus of Beauty is spreading causing panic throughout the witch population.

Wilf Gilvary is a teenage wizard who is terrified of using magic. When his father dies under mysterious circumstances, the same day the Mages Crystal shatters, Wilf is plunged into the middle of a political struggle between the witches and wizards in the Magical Realm. He’d rather play soccer than practice magic, but he’s forced to make a choice between the life of a normal Hong Kong teen and one of wizardry after a powerful virus begins to decimate the witch community. The cure is spellbound in a journal Wilf inherited from his father and when his friend Katryna contracts the virus, Wilf understands that he must overcome his fear of magic to unlock the journal’s secrets – but will it be too late to save her?

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Witches and magic are taking over Wilf’s life.

After being thrust into a long-standing conflict between the witches and wizards that has destabilized the Magical Realm and finding the antidote for the Virus of Beauty, Wilf would like to return to his normal soccer playing teenage life. But he can’t rest until his stepsister, Myra, is caught and brought to justice. It’s been three days since Myra took to the skies above Hong Kong and disappeared. Now Wilf is accused of corrupting the Veil, a defensive barrier between the witch and wizard cities. As the spell expands throughout the magical realm it is attacking witches and wizards. But Wilf would rather embrace his witch friend, Katryna, than his wizard powers. When evil forces have other plans and they kidnap Katryna, Wilf realizes that he’d do anything to save her and the Magical Realm, even if it means risking his own life by connecting to the primary source of all magic.

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Wilf Gilvary is a slave to the magic he hates.

Yet his powers seem a solution for saving the Magical Realm and Katryna, the girl he loves. If only he could figure out how to tap his magic’s full potential.

As factions of witches and wizards vie for control of the Magical Realm, Wilf embarks on a harrowing journey that plunges him into the realm’s ancient secrets. At first, Wilf begins to doubt everything. His affection for Katryna might be the remnants of a broken love spell. And he still struggles to control his magic.

But Wilf risks his life to learn more about his powers and his destiny. It leaves him facing an impossible choice: forever abandon his dreams of life as a Normal in Hong Kong, or allow magic and the Magical Realm to perish from the world.

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Excerpt from Veil of Corruption

A green fissure burst open in the gray Hong Kong sky, and a constellation of tiny black stars spilled out. Wilf pushed off the wall and stared at the witches flying in a V configuration as they weaved in between the clouds. The pit in his stomach deepened. A plague of magic was entering this world, and he felt responsible.

The downward-spiraling fighter-plane formation of brooms swept over the Wan Chai sky, above the high-rise buildings and markets. Material from the witches’ robes rustled and flapped overhead as they made their last approach into Tai Wan Street. They peeled off into a single file, whooshing along the dead-end street past the Hung Shing Taoist Temple, until the brooms halted a few feet above the cobblestones. With a wave of her arm, the leader signaled, and the brooms floated down until the witches’ feet touched the ground. Another signal and the black brooms shrank to fit the small, cylindrical containers strapped to the riders’ belts. A thunderclap sounded as the Executrix Squad, the elite guards of the Witch Council, stamped to attention. The squad moved forward. An eerie silence surrounded their marching feet as they moved towards Wilf’s souvenir store, their non-reflective black uniforms absorbing the light.

Wilf leaned against the wall, merging his six-foot frame into the shadows. If only he could be like the locals who were oblivious to the steady stream of witches landing on Tai Wan Street from the Magical Realm.

Interview with C.B. Lyall

-Have you ever had an imaginary friend?

No, but I would play with my toys inventing situations and stories for them. I liked to build worlds for them with Lego. Now, I world build for my characters.

-Do you have any phobias?

I don’t like crawling bugs. One night my husband had to rescue me from our bathroom in Mumbai when a huge cockroach had me cornered. I’m fine with them outside, but don’t like them in the house with me. I’m okay with spiders though.

-Do you listen to music when you’re writing?

Yes, when I’m creating the first draft. I have a writing play list I create for general use, but also one or two that I use for mood setting. When I’m in the revision stage I usually don’t play music as I want to listen to the rhythm of the words.

-Do you ever read your stories out loud?

When I’m getting near to the final revision, I will then read the whole manuscript out loud a few times. You hear when sentences or words sound clunky.

-Tell us about your main character and who inspired him/her.

Wilf is the result of living with three boys as they went through their teenage years. I’m very pleased with the men my sons have become. I hope Wilf will overcome all his obstacles and make me equally.

About C.B. Lyall

Carolyn Lyall was born in Stockton-On-Tees, United Kingdom. As a child Carolyn growing up in Northern England in the sixties Carolyn loved sports, reading and amateur dramatics. She joined a renaissance group, practiced the broadsword and dreamed of visiting other worlds. Her passion for what could be drove her forward when faced with everyday struggles. Her first memorable skirmish with gender inequality came at nine-years old when she was told that only boys were allowed to play soccer. In response, she simply refused to do any classwork until they changed their old-fashioned policies. She won that battle.

At the age of 18, she took a role as typist for a nursing school in Middlesbrough. She then moved to London and enrolled in night school. She was quickly recognized for her ability to fit in anywhere and for not being afraid to push back on the predominantly male leadership. She eventually became a project manager in software development and micro-computers, bridging the gap between computer programmers and management.

Her dream to travel was finally realized in 1990 when she moved to New York City, USA with her husband and the first of three sons. This was the steppingstone to a lifelong adventure that has taken her and her family to India, Belgium and Hong Kong.

Raising her family in multiple countries around the world, she saw that each move, while a shock, was an opportunity for her sons to redefine themselves against new challenges and different cultural norms. Now, that her sons have left home, Carolyn has used her passion for the fantastic to create a world where every day gender inequalities are at the forefront of a world ending conflict. She shares this story through the eyes of a young man who is suddenly thrust into this new world along with all of his own woes and prejudices. The introduction to this world is in Carolyn’s debut YA fantasy novel, “The Virus of Beauty,” due to be released July 31, 2019 under C B Lyall.

Carolyn has published two short stories in an annual anthology by 25 Servings of Soop. She wrote a number of articles for the American Women’s Associates Magazine. Fueled by her love of the works of Terry Pratchett, Sarah J Maas, Cassandra Clare, Brandon Sanderson and others, Carolyn has completed a number of writing courses, which included a Master Fantasy/Science Fiction writers course with Gotham Writers’ Workshop, a YA Voice class and Advance Novel Writing course at Sarah Lawrence College’s Writing Institute.

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