Crafting Poetry One Syllable at a Time
Posted on October 14, 2020 by Colleen M. Chesebro
Someone knows about the hat. The creature from another dimension that helps Lizzie fight against the creatures of darkness.
They are summoned to a cryptic meeting with a secret society, where they meet other people with enhanced skills. It turns out someone, or something, has been tampering with the world’s vaccine supply. The goal doesn’t appear to be political or financial, but biblical pestilence.
Can this group of loners come together in time to make a difference when even the proper authorities are obstacles?
Check out Viral Blues, for your dose of paranormal adventure, with a strong sample of dark humor. And in recent superhero style, don’t miss the secret last chapter after the back material.
Amazon.com
Someone is tampering with the world’s vaccine supply, replacing life-saving therapies with virulent viruses that threaten to overtake the earth’s population. Sound familiar? Now, who’s going to fix this mess?
Remember the superhero comics you read as a kid? Personally, I loved the Fantastic Four! How can you forget the iconic figure of “The Thing?” So, now that you have that visual in your mind, imagine a group of unlikely players, an extra-terrestrial disguised as a hat who is an ancient monster hunter, a sexy robot-girl, a guy who can turn into fog, and a normal American girl named Lizzie who sings in a band. They all unite to combine their magical gifts to fight a bunch of zombies! Throw in some great music and you have everything you need to save the world.
Boyack’s characters are always fun. He lets them be who they are, playing up their paranormal abilities along with their inner strengths. This time, the heros rise to the occasion as they battle supernatural villains, swarms of zombies, and even some mob bosses. Be ready for surprise shoot-outs and a few near misses as the non-stop action ramps up to a fever pitch.
Just like in the first book, “The Hat,” the dialog between Lisa and the Hat is full of cynical humor that will leave you quaking with laughter. Their banter is always magical. They behave like two old friends who know each other so well; they know what they can get away with. As usual, the Hat steals the show.
“Viral Blues” is a fun read and perfect for the Halloween season. It’s filled with amazing characters and I found the story highly entertaining. Not my usual read, but the holiday calls for stepping out of your comfort zone, if you catch my drift!
I was born in a town called Elko, Nevada. I like to tell everyone I was born in a small town in the 1940s. I’m not quite that old, but Elko has always been a little behind the times. This gives me a unique perspective of earlier times, and other ways of getting by. Some of this bleeds through into my fiction.
I moved to Idaho right after the turn of the century and never looked back. My writing career was born here, with access to other writers and critique groups I jumped in with both feet.
I like to write about things that have something unusual. My works are in the realm of science fiction, paranormal, and fantasy. The goal is to entertain you for a few hours. I hope you enjoy the ride.
~Craig~
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Category: Book ReviewsTags: Book Reviews, C. S. Boyack, fantasy, mosters, science fiction, speculative fiction, The Hat, Viral Blues, zombies
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“A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone’s knowledge of himself and the world around him.”
—Dylan Thomas
Click: What is a Rhyme Scheme?
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Colleen M. Chesebro is an American Poet who loves crafting paranormal fantasy and magical realism, cross-genre flash fiction, syllabic poetry, and creative nonfiction. Colleen sponsors a weekly syllabic poetry challenge, called Tanka Tuesday, on wordcraftpoetry.com where participants learn how to write traditional and current forms of haiku, senryu, haiga, tanka, gogyohka, tanka prose, renga, solo-renga, haibun, cinquain, Etheree, nonet, and shadorma poetry. Colleen's syllabic poetry has appeared in the Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal, and in “Hedgerow, a journal of small poems.” She’s won numerous awards from participating in the Carrot Ranch Rodeo, a yearly flash fiction contest sponsored by carrotranch.com. In 2020, she won first place in the Carrot Ranch Folk Tale or Fable category, with her story called “Why Wolf Howls at the Moon.” Colleen is a Sister of the Fey, where she pursues a pagan path through her writing. When she is not writing, she is reading. She also loves gardening and crocheting old-fashioned doilies into works of art.
A great review of Craig’s book, Colleen. Sharing.
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Thanks for sharing this post.
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Thanks, Robbie. This was a good one! 🎃✨🎃
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Fantastic review, Colleen. Congratulations, Craig!
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Thank you, Gwen.
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Thanks, Gwen. I do enjoy Craig’s stories. 🎃✨🎃
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Pingback: COLLEEN’S 2020 #BOOK #REVIEWS – “Viral Blues,” BY AUTHOR, C. S. Boyack, @virgilante | Legends of Windemere
A enjoyed this book. Nice revew.
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Thanks for saying so here, Joan.
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Thanks. The Hat is one of my favorites. 🎃✨🎃
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What a wonderful surprise this morning. So glad you enjoyed Viral Blues, and elected to post about it.
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This was a lot of Halloween fun, Craig! It was a great read! ✨🎃✨
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Makes my day.
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Well deserved! This was one of your best. The 🎩is such a great character! 😂
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Ha! I love your graphic.
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LOL! It’s Halloween! My favorite month! LOL! 😀
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Mine, too.
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Reblogged this on Entertaining Stories and commented:
I woke up to this wonderful surprise. Viral Blues has a wonderful review up at Colleen Chesebro’s place. Colleen is a great supporter and runs an active blog. Surf around while you’re there. You might meet a new favorite author or want to participate in her poetry challenges.
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Thanks so much, Craig! ❤️
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Love this review, Colleen. It’s one of my favorites of Craig’s works. Great cast of characters, and perfect for the Halloween season.
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Thank you for saying so here, Staci.
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I really enjoyed this installment as well. The music was great. ❤️🎃✨
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Great review, Colleen! Viral Blues was so much fun. I loved the mash-up of characters in this book, and the hat is one of my favorite Boyack characters. Gotta love that snark, LOL!
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Fun is the goal with these. If readers have fun, it’s a win for me.
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Oh, my goodness! I love his snark! An alien monster hunter is brilliant! 😂
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Enjoyed your review. I love Craig’s humor, and this book sounds like he let it loose on the world. Fun!
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Halloween is the perfect time for these books! Craig always interjects some great humor in his characters! 😂
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Thank you. I hope the world is ready.
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Wonderful review, Colleen, and I couldn’t agree more. The Hat and Lizzie make quite a team and the entire team is a hoot. Craig has a great imagination. 🙂
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Diana, I love the addition of music in these books as well. Knowing the songs adds to my enjoyment. 🎃✨🎃
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Don’t get a lot of musical comments, but it’s nice to know someone gets it. It’s hard to include without Copyright risks.
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I thought about that. The songs are a great addition!
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Thanks for commenting today. Glad your enjoying my characters.
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Super review, Coleen. I enjoyed this book as well. 😀
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Thank you, John.
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Thanks. John, I need to read some of your books, as well. I’m trying to keep up with up TBR pile. It overtakes me at times. ❤
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Thank you, Colleen. I would please me if you did. 😁
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I’ll do it, for sure.
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😁
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A fantastic review for “Viral Blues,” Colleen! I thoroughly enjoyed this book from Craig and it is perfect for the Halloween Spooky season!
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Careful, these kind of comments will make me feel good about the stories.
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LOL! Well, you better get busy and write some more than! I heard the werewolves were unhappy that you left them out! 😀
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Soon. Could be a winter project, but I have to wiggle Lanternfish in there somewhere.
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I’m behind on many of your books. I’ll catch up. 😀
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Don’t feel like it’s an obligation. Read what you might enjoy. I’ll write more. I promise.
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Oh, I do. Your books are always great reads. 😀
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The month of October is always reserved for Craig and his books on my blog. We’ve been featuring his reads and interviews for about four years, I think. He gets Halloween like I do. LOL! 😀
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We’ve been doing this for a long time. I look forward to it, and hope your fans do too. You’re always welcome to use my space if you like.
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Absolutely! It’s a Halloween tradition! 😀
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Great review, Colleen:) this was a book I thoroughly enjoyed.
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Thanks for saying so here. Those comments really help.
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Right? It’s the perfect Halloween read. I’m almost done with the next book. LOL! 😀
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Argh! My WP is acting up today!! I just left a comment about Viral Blues over at Jan Sikes’ blog. Sigh. Sorry all – I’m giving up today!
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Awww, no worries. We’re all friends here. Thanks for your popping in. Craig’s books, rock, don’t they? ❤
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So much! He has one of the best imaginations I’ve come across 😊
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Have you read Panama? That’s still one of my all-time favorites. LOL!
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It’s on my list!! I loved the first Experimental Notebook too (the second is also on my list) 😁
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Excellent! I also loved Will O the Wisp. He nailed the girl character!
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Yeah, he writes a female character so well doesn’t he? I love how Lizzie and Lisa are all obsessed about the right look when they go shopping 😁
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Right? Lisa has awesome taste! 😀
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I loved Panama, but I’m afraid to look at it today. It could probably use a good editor. I’ve learned so much since then.
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I know, but I loved the characters. The hoo-doo stuff was so spot on! 😂
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Geez all these wonderful comments. Where do I send the check? Ha ha!
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LOL! 😂
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Shhh! That was supposed to be a private deal!
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Oops!
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Maybe Jan can come to my blog and leave a comment about Guns of Perdition. That way we balance WordPress out. (I’m just teasing you.)
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LOL! Hey, be glad you have a fan club! 🎃✨🎃
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Snort!
It was such a bad technology day for me today. WP issues, internet dropped out, and my kindle forgot what page I was on. I ended up watching the idiot box for a while.
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Tech seems to have those days. TV doesn’t always work for me either.
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No, don’t speak about TV that way!!
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Okay. TV is our friend. TV is good.
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Fab review Sis. Craig does write with a whimsical flair to his stories. Interesting topic too -vaccines. 🙂 ❤
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LOL! I think he wrote this before the virus. But it was really fun. Funny zombies I can do. 😂
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Lol, kind of like Orwell writing decades ago. 🙂 x
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Right? That’s a good analogy! 😀
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🙂 x
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My life has been so strange on that front. I published this in September of 2019. I remember it was a Friday the 13th. Then I published Grinders right before the world went crazy and it’s almost prophetic now. My newest book has a reference to Eddie Van Halen. (Maybe I ought to write about us all winning the lottery or something next time.)
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Yes! Do that! Make sure there’s a witch in the next book! 😂😝🧙🏻♀️🔮👻
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There will be a lot of them in Lizzie’s world, but that’s two down the line.
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Well, it’s about time! 😂😂
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OMG Craig, you’re a fortune teller lol. Seriously, I’m putting you up there with Orwell! LOL 🙂 Yes! Please write about how money falls from the sky upon everyone LOL 🙂
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And don’t forget to add the witches! LOL! 😀
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LOL 🙂 x
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It’s been insane. I’d like to get more eyes on these tales, but that seems to be just out of my reach. Maybe I should write about authorly success while we’re all showered in money. Ha ha!
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Hey, you know what they say about the universe – you get what you focus on, so yes, please write a book about authorly success 🙂 LOL
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Fantastic review for a terrific book… will share in an update anon.. nice one Colleen ♥ Congratulations Craig..
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Thanks so much, Sally. ❤️ I really enjoyed this one. ❤️🎃
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Thank you so much.
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An absolutely sterling review of Viral Blues, Colleen! And I agree with every word. What a fun book it was, and one of the rare cases where the sequel was even more fun than the first one. I loved all the characters coming together, and in general, enjoyed the entire romp. Can’t wait to read the next one, now: Mrs. Molony! I know it’s going to be great before I even get started on it!
Congratulations on receiving such a stellar review, Craig! You earned it, for sure! 🙂
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Marcia, you’re so sweet! Thanks tons! I’ve just finished Mrs. Molina but my lips are sealed! Next week… 😂🎃😂
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I’m biting my nails now.
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😂👻😝
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Thank you, Marcia. Your positive comments here really help.
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You’re welcome, Craig. I meant every one of them! 🙂
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Fab review of Craig’s book, Colleen! I had so much fun with this one – almost like having a team of Avengers.
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I thought so too, Teri. These books have really taken on a personality of their own! ❤
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