Author Interview with C.B. Lyall, The Virus of Beauty Series

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

Welcome to one of the September 6th stops on the blog tour for The Virus of Beauty Series by C.B. Lyall with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, author guest posts & interviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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Author Interview

What group did you hang out with in high school?
I was bullied at school and spent most of my time floating between different groups. I was interested in horseback riding, Girl Guides, amateur dramatics, and trampolining.  Reading went from a nightmare to a love as I grew older. When my son was diagnosed with dyslexia, I recognized the signs and understood why reading had been a painful experience for me at school.

What are you passionate about these days?
I took up golf a few years ago and love the sport. More women are taking to the sport and are now the fastest growing group of new members. There are still barriers regulating women golfers, but we’re breaking them down one at a time.

I read a lot – mainly fantasy, historical fiction, suspense, and non-fiction. My husband and I like to walk, and we both play tennis. I also enjoy spending time with my children and grandson.

If you had to do your journey to getting published all over again, what would you do differently?
I would have started earlier. I’ve been writing for years but lacked the confidence to submit the books for publication.

Ebook or print? And why?
I’ve done both for my books. Some readers still like to hold a print version and are thrilled to receive a signed copy.

What is your favorite scene?
I think it must be the beginning of chapter three in the Virus of Beauty – Book 1. Ermentrude arrives at the souvenir store in Hong Kong and meets Wilf for the first time.

“Now, I don’t usually deal with wizards” – her face wrinkled the way Myra’s did when she took his soccer kit out of its bag for washing – “but this time I must. So, show me the rest of the place. We’ll need your father’s journal and then we’ll be on our way. There’s sure to be a portal nearby we can use. I can’t abide taking passengers on my broom. Although I’d rather not have to use the warehouse portals in Sha Tin, but if needs must…”

She’s all business and attitude. I adore her.

About the Books

The Virus of Beauty
Virus of Beauty Book One
by C.B. Lyall

Published 16 November 2020
Hazel Publishing Company, LLC

Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Count: 243
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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, 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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The Veil of Corruption
Virus of Beauty Book Two
by C.B. Lyall

Published 23 November 2020
Hazel Publishing Company, LLC

Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Count: 302
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

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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The Vassal of Magic
Virus of Beauty Book Three
by C.B. Lyall

Published 19 May 2022
Hazel Publishing Company, LLC

Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Count: 320
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

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

The Veil of Corruption – The Virus of Beauty Book 2

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.

About the Author

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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