2020 CONVERSATIONS WITH COLLEEN: The Halloween Special with AUTHOR, C. S. Boyack, @VIRGILANTE

Posted on October 31, 2020 by

62 Comments

My yearly Halloween celebration includes C. S. Boyack and his amazing collection of speculative fiction novels. I can’t imagine Halloween without hearing about his newest release in the Hat Series, “The Ballad of Mrs. Molony.”

First, let me introduce C. S. Boyack! Happy Halloween, Craig! I’m glad you’re here to celebrate the holiday and to tell us about your newest book, “The Ballad of Mrs. Molony,” book 3, in the Hat series.

I think this is the third, and possibly the fourth, Halloween we’ve spent together. October is my favorite month, and Halloween is my favorite celebration. This might stem from being a Nevada boy originally. It’s Nevada day for all our fans living there.

Well, you know that they say Craig… on Samhain (Halloween) the veil between our world and the otherworld thins. There are all kinds of magic afoot! What do you have for us today?

As an author, I think we should focus on books. Halloween books are fairly common, but you have to broaden your point of view. They start off for kids, with things like Goosebumps or even Scooby Doo cartoons. Nothing too horrifying, but the mystery and odd things are present.

At the far end we have outright horror and even splatter-punk. My own preference is somewhere in the middle, but the point is there’s something for everyone. If you expand your horizons, you can shoehorn in an alien invasion, Harry Potter, or even the Classical Greek stories.

This year, Halloween probably won’t have a ton of parties, and trick or treating might be somewhat reserved. Maybe some reading would be a good way to spend the season.

That’s my idea of the perfect holiday. Cuddle up with a blanket, something warm to drink, and start reading! What do you recommend?

I offer a lot of selections that could fit the bill. I call my newest, The Hat Series. This is the story of a young girl who has a symbiotic relationship with a being from another dimension. This being is trapped in the form of a hat, but as long as he’s taken the form of headgear of some kind, he can change his shape.

The original Hat story is my most popular title to date, so I turned it into one of those series where you don’t absolutely have to read them in order. My plan is to keep them going as long as I have decent ideas.

While Lizzie is a normal person, the hat has special powers. He can find people he’s met before, transport them magically to an old cabin in the woods that becomes a secret lair, and provide eyes in the back of her head. These are handy traits, because Lizzie and the hat are monster hunters.

The symbiosis is important, because they can do things together that neither of them could do by themselves. One example is the hat plays the upright bass. He’s powerless without Lizzie’s hands and fingers for him to manipulate. This was a neat trick for an author, because they formed a small cover band. The band gets them out at night when the monsters are out, and it allows them to travel a little bit. The band is kind of a ticket to keep the stories coming.

There is a certain amount of snarky, dark comedy to this series. This doesn’t mean it doesn’t get “wet” in some scenes, because killing monsters isn’t a particularly clean business. I suppose it’s corny and stupid on purpose, but it has some scary scenes and a little blood and gore.

If your style leans toward “Ash vs. The Evil Dead,” or your superhero style is “Guardians of the Galaxy” or “Deadpool,” The Hat Series might be for you. They’re also short reads, at about half the length of a standard novel. I think this is part of their appeal. You can read a complete story in one Saturday afternoon.

I’ve enjoyed all three of the Hat series books, Craig. Tell us a bit about them.

Here’s how they break down:

The Hat is the origin story. You’ll meet Lizzie, a hardworking college dropout who is down on her luck. She comes into possession of an old hat that completely changes her life. In this story, they’re chasing the worst monsters of all – humans.

Viral Blues is my team up story. Lizzie and the hat get summoned to a meeting by the head of a secret society. All the main and supporting characters appeared previously in books I’ve published. I went out of my way to make sure you don’t have to read those books to have fun with this tale.

These kinds of tales are all the rage at the box office, so why not in one of my books? It keeps the corny vibe going, and this time there are real monsters. (And a devil.)

International BOOK LINK

The Ballad of Mrs. Molony is my newest one. It’s less than 30 days old and could use some early sales and reviews. This time, Lizzie and the hat are chasing a couple of vampires across the country music scene. With this in mind, I priced it at 99¢ until November.

Click the link above to grab this book!

That’s a fabulous value for a book, Craig! What else do you have up your sleeve for us?

I have three more storyboards in the works for future tales in this series, so it isn’t going away anytime soon.

Halloween might have to be a little more reserved this year. In books, you can go as crazy as you want, get as terrified as your preference will allow. Enjoy the season with a book, even if it isn’t one of mine.

I’ve read and reviewed “The Hat,” “Viral Blues, & “The Balad of Mrs. Molony—find those reviews below.

Book Reviews

Colleen’s 2018 #Book #Reviews – “The Hat,” by C. S. Boyack

Title: The Hat, A Novella Amazon Author Page: C. S. Boyack Goodreads Publication Date: January 11, 2018 Formats: Paperback & Kindle Genres: Science fiction & fantasy, Superheros, Paranormal & Urban   IN THE AUTHOR’S WORDS: Lizzie St. Laurent is dealing with many of the struggles of young life. She lost her grandmother, and her living arrangements. Her new roommate abandoned her,…

by Colleen M. Chesebro
Book Reviews

COLLEEN’S 2020 #BOOK #REVIEWS – “Viral Blues,” BY AUTHOR, C. S. Boyack, @virgilante

Featuring Your Next Weekend Read! About this Book 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…

by Colleen M. Chesebro

About the Author

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~

Tell C. S. Boyack to write a story about witches… or we’ll have to put a spell on him!

How to Connect with the Author

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Thanks for stopping by to spend Halloween with us!

Category: author interviewsTags: , , , , , ,

62 Comments on “2020 CONVERSATIONS WITH COLLEEN: The Halloween Special with AUTHOR, C. S. Boyack, @VIRGILANTE”

  2. Couldn’t have imagined a better Halloween post! Congratulations, Craig, and cheers to Colleen. Bravo to you both! 👻👽💀😁

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  4. Oh, my gosh, you went all out with this. Love all the graphics and fun inclusions. Hope you have a happy and safe Halloween. We’ll have to have you at my place one of these times.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Great interview, Colleen, familiarizing people with all the magic in the Hat Series, sharing the quirky fun and highlighting Craig’s talents. I’ve read all three in the series and just finished The Ballad of Mrs. Malony this morning and I really like all three books a lot. The hat and Lizzie are terrific characters and the ingenuity in their symbiotic relationship is extraordinary. I like how cheeky they get with each other, too. The Mrs. Malony story moves at a great pace, has fun and mystery, and the music and activities are entertaining. Craig pulled off another winner, and we are lucky to have his creativity spinning around on this Halloween. Thanks for featuring him.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  9. A great post on the perfect day for it! Thanks for helping Craig spread the word, Colleen! And Craig, I’m nearing the 75% mark in Mrs. Molony, and loving every minute of it. Kevin slays me–in a totally non-bloody, pain-free way. He’s hilarious! And I do think the hat is one of the cleverest characters I’ve ever seen. Good on you! Great post, and my continued best wishes for a kajillion sales of this one, and all the others in this series, as well! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  11. Mrs. Molony was a fun read, but Craig mentioned witches coming up sometime again. They’re my favorites. I’m looking forward to them. But there are enough monsters to fight for many, many more books. A great Halloween post, Craig and Colleen!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  17. Fun post, perfect for Halloween, which I’m late for (because I don’t go online on the weekends). I love the hat series. Congratulations, Craig. Thanks for hosting, Colleen.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

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Colleen M. Chesebro: Prose-Metrist, Novelist, & Word Witch
Colleen M. Chesebro

Colleen M. Chesebro

Colleen M. Chesebro is a Michigan Poet who loves crafting syllabic poetry, flash fiction, and creative fiction and 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, shadorma, Badger’s hexastich, Abhanga, and diatelle poetry. Colleen's syllabic poetry has appeared in the Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal, and in “Hedgerow, a journal of small poems,” and in various other online publications. She’s won numerous awards from participating in the Carrot Ranch Rodeo, a yearly 99-word flash fiction contest sponsored by carrotranch.com, an online writing community. Recently, she created the Double Ennead, a 99-syllable poetry form for Carrot Ranch. Colleen has published a collection of poetry, flash fiction, and short stories called, “Fairies, Myths & Magic: A Summer Celebration,” dedicated to the Summer Solstice. She contributed a short story called “The Changeling,” in the “Ghostly Rites Anthology 2020” published by Plaisted Publishing House. Colleen Chesebro’s poetry blog is called Word Craft – Prose & Poetry at https://wordcraftpoetry.com/ Her author blog is found at https://colleenchesebro.com where you will find her poetry and short stories.

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