An Interview with Monster Hunters (Guest post by D. C. McGannon and C. Michael McGannon)
D.C.: Thanks for having us guys! D.C. McGannon here with my coauthor and son, C. Michael McGannon.
Michael: Greetings, earthlings!
D.C.: [Chuckles] We’re on the set of our second book, Charlie Sullivan and the Monster Hunters: Witch Moon, which is just about wrapped up and ready to ship out this fall. Everyone is pretty busy with fight scenes and plot twists, but we were able to pull Darcy Witherington, one of the main characters from both books, away for a short interview.
Michael: As well, we have here with us a special guest from Book 1: The Varcolac’s Diary. Kerinnon. As you all should remember, Kerinnon was the legendary and spooky ferryman from the first book, and was able to step away from his busy schedule of ferrying people between magical worlds to meet with us today.
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Kerinnon: ….
Michael: Kerinnon?
Kerinnon: ….
Michael: [Shrugs at D.C.]
D.C.: KERINNON, how are you doing today?
Kerinnon: OH, ARE WE ON? [Taps on lapel mic] BONJOUR, Y’ALL! HOW’RE ALL YOU THIS FINE DAY?
D.C.: There you are….
Michael: Hey, Kerinnon, glad you could visit with us today.
Kerinnon: [In a groovy, bluesy voice] PLEASE, CALL ME BONE DADDY, Y’ALL.
Michael: Oh…o-okay. Bone Daddy….
D.C.: Darcy, it looks like you and the other Monster Hunters have been put through a lot lately in the new book. How are you all faring on the set of Book 2?
Darcy: [Laughs sarcastically] Well, D.C., I can say it’s sure been loads of fun, thanks in no small part to you, cough, cough. [D.C. smiles sheepishly] Travelling non-stop, eating stale bread, some really gross soup, and trail-mix. None of us have had a proper meal or a shower in days. I’d kill for a hot shower right now! So, I’m pretty tired, bruises everywhere from all the fight scenes, I’m in another country, and I smell. How does it sound like we’re doing to you?
Michael: You and the other Monster Hunters do look pretty rough. Is this just from the journey or—
Darcy: Oh no, there has been a lot of fighting. Totally brutal! You know, battling for our lives, unheard of monsters, foreign lands that are nothing but magic and danger…and dangerous magic…that kind of thing. Know what I mean? Thanks for the macchiato by the way. It’s been too long!
D.C.: No problem, I remembered from the first book how much you loved them. Correct me if I’m wrong, but part of the difficulty you are having in Book 2, and one of the biggest reasons it is so much more dangerous for you, is because you guys are not in the Otherworld this time, like in Book 1: The Varcolac’s Diary, right? You’re fighting in our world, without the power of the Otherworld to help you get over small cuts and bruises.
Darcy: Are you saying I can’t handle a few cuts and bruises? Really?
D.C.: Well, no, I mean—
Darcy: Listen. Lisa, Aisling, and me are in this group full of guys, but truth be told we’re doing a lot more of the hard fights. We’ve faced off against wolves, kelpie, I personally dealt with this giant…gross…monster-thing – I don’t know what that thing was actually – and Lisa was telling me about the powrie she went one-on-one with. And where were the boys? Can you tell me that? Where are the guys and who are they fighting this time around? Huh?
Bone Daddy: I THINK Y’ALL MADE THE LADY UPSET.
Darcy: I don’t think it’s so much that our powers are not enhanced by being in the Otherworld. I think it’s because we are being separated and facing a lot more crazy stuff without all of us right next to each other. You kinda’ get used to fighting with the team. Now, with Liev…. Oh, wait, I’m not supposed to talk about that am I? Sorry.
Michael: [Laughing nervously] Moving on, you mentioned Aisling. For those in the audience, Aisling is a local girl the Monster Hunters have met. And she’s not the only new addition to the team. How is it, working with these new characters?
Darcy: It’s been great. Aisling’s really smart and fun. I think she’s sweet on Charlie, too, which has stirred a certain other person up, but I won’t get into that either, even though I absolutely love watching it all [Giggles]. There’s Priest and Chen, of course. Those two are really cool to work with, for old people. And Maurie too, she’s got to be one of the strongest women I’ve ever met.
D.C.: Priest and Chen aren’t that old, are they?
Darcy: Well, yeah, they totally are. Besides Priest having gray hair, he and Chen both were frozen in time for, like, two-hundred years or so. I’d say that’s old.
D.C: True, I had forgotten about that. Still, from what I saw earlier today Priest still knows how to hold a sword, and Chen could probably kick even my butt. [Laughs]
Michael: That’s all I think we can say about Witch Moon without giving too much away. Darcy, Kerinnon—
Bone Daddy: YOU MEAN BONE DADDY?
Michael: Er, yes, Bone Daddy. Darcy, Bone Daddy, how do you feel about the re-release of The Varcolac’s Diary this month just before Book 2 comes out?
Darcy: I think it’s great! Totally excited about it.
Bone Daddy: IT’S JAZZALICIOUS, MAN. I’M READING THROUGH DEM PAGES AGAIN, REALLY DIGGING IT.
D.C.: While it’s probably a little ways off, if there was ever a Monster Hunters movie made, what movie stars could you two see filling your roles?
Bone Daddy: WELL, DAT’S A TRICKY ONE, D.C., MON AMI. Y’SEE, I’D HAVE LOVED FOR SOMEBODY LIKE KIETH DAVID TO PLAY ME. HE’S GOT A FAAANTASTIC VOICE AND COULD REALLY GET THAT CAJUN VIBE DOWN, I THINK. THEN I REMEMBER Y’ALL WANTED NO ACCENT FOR THE BOOK, SO MY OWN GROOVY LOUISIANA DRAWL PROBABLY WON’T BE SHOWIN’ UP IN NONE DEM MOVIES EITHER, AM I RIGHT?
Michael: Kerinno—Bone Daddy, I apologize, I just thought it would seem kind of silly in the book to have this skeleton dude in a magical, legendary world with a French Quarter accent.
Bone Daddy: YEAH. SO, I’M THINKIN’ IF A MONSTER HUNTERS MOVIE DOES GET MADE, I’M GONNA WANT SOMEONE WITH A BRITISH ACCENT PLAY THE ROLE.
D.C.: A British accent?
Bone Daddy: DAT’S RIGHT, MY MAN. A COOL, SEXY BRITISH SOUND. LIKE BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, OR MAYBE IAN MCKELLEN OR ALAN RICKMAN. YEEAAH MAN, OL’ ALAN’S GOT DAT DEEP SOUND, SOOTHES MY SOUL. HE COULD DO IT.
D.C.: Alan Rickman?
Bone Daddy: YEAH, YA KNOW, BRITISH ACCENTS ARE ALL THE RAGE THESE DAYS. SEEMS LIKE IF YA WANNA BE FUNNY, BRITISH ACCENT. YOU WANNA BE HOT LIKE A BAYOU BREEZE, BRITISH ACCENT. DON’T KNOW WHAT’S ALL TO DO WITH DEM BRITISH ACCENTS AND ALL, BUT I GUESS IF I WANNA LOOK SMOOTH IN MY MOVIE, IT’S A BRITISH ACCENT ALL THE WAY!
Michael: Actually, that’s a pretty good idea.
D.C.: Darcy, are there any stars that you think could portray you well?
Darcy: Well, me of course. Whenever you get the ball rolling on the movie deal, I’ll start my career in acting.
Michael: But you’re a Monster Hunter. Wouldn’t schedules clash from time to time?
Darcy: [Flipping her hair over her shoulder] Oh I’m sure we could work it out. Who better to play me, than me, right?
D.C.: Sure, right, I suppose. Who am I to argue?
Darcy: Right! Who are you to argue?
D.C.: Moving on… Is there a message in either book that you feel is important for people to hear, or is this just about monsters and adventures in magical worlds?
Darcy: No, no. I think, even though there are some really freaky monsters, we do some amazing stunts, and, of course, with our newly discovered “gifts”, the message you find in the story is much bigger. The Monster Hunters as a team are made up of so many different types of people and personalities. I mean, we didn’t even like each other before all this began. When you really break it down, the cliques we were hanging out in, and the things we were doing in school every day was probably not the best way to be acting. I think people like Nash, Lisa, her brother Liev, and even Charlie probably didn’t have a whole lot of fun at school. They were always being ridiculed, or at least talked about, and a lot of times getting in trouble for things they didn’t do….
Bone Daddy: NO GOOD, JUS’ NO GOOD AT ALL!
Darcy: Yeah, totally, so… You know, I think there are a lot of people that get picked on that we don’t even realize. And we definitely don’t know just how bad it makes them feel. What’s worse is when I started hanging out with the other Monster Hunters, I realized just how much of a jerk I was being to others. I never really meant it, but I was just so caught up with myself and my friends and what people thought about me, that I would treat others like dirt sometimes….
Bone Daddy: NO GOOD, JUS’ NO GOOD AT ALL!
Darcy: [Giving Bone Daddy a nasty sideways glance] SO…. I think a message we’ve all heard loud and clear is that we definitely need to treat each other better. Be nicer to people and just figure out how to do the right thing, regardless of who it is and even, especially, if they are different than you.
Bone Daddy: DATS GOOOOD, DATS REAAAAL GOOD!
Darcy: Yeah, and totally, like, another great message I think is teamwork. There are really big things we can do in life. Significant things. But you can’t do it all by yourself. It takes working together. A lot of what we figured out during the writing of Book 1 is that we really needed each other. And the more different we were, the more we didn’t understand each other, the more, we realized, we needed each other’s help. It was really cool. And you know what? Some of my best friends now are Charlie, Lisa, Liev, Nash, Fish, and Dink!
Bone Daddy: SWEEEEET, LIKE BUBBLIN’ JUMBALAYA!
Darcy: Really?! Jumbalaya? Bone Daddy you are one freaky…skeleton…type…monster, thingy.
Bone Daddy: THANK YOU. YOU ARE ONE COOL CAT YOURSELF!
[Awkward glances all around…]
D.C.: OK…. Well, Darcy, those are really good insights to think about. Thank you. As an author, I do think it is important to treat others right and do the right thing, no matter what. And life is much bigger than just one of us. We are all here for a reason, and we need to realize that about each other.
Michael: I agree. Personally a huge message I see in the books is Good wins! No matter the sacrifice – and you all have had some pretty big sacrifices so far – do the right thing and stick together, and Good will win. Say, Bone Daddy, in all of your travels and all the lands you’ve served as a Ferryman, what is the most interesting thing you’ve seen on your Ferry?
Bone Daddy: HMMM…. PROLLY DEM CRAZY TEENAGERS WHO STOOD UP TO DAT CRAZY WITCH WOMAN IN BOOK 1. I THINK THEY CALLED HER THE SAGEMISTRESS OR SOMETHIN’. SHE WAS ONE BAD JUJU KIND OF WOMAN. NO GOOD AT ALL! THEN DEM MONSTER HUNTERS [Points thumb toward Darcy] CAME ALONG, PAID ME MY FARE AND JUS’ ABOUT GOT US ALL KILLED! SHE WAS A BAD ONE, DAT WITCH WOMAN. AND DEM MONSTER HUNTERS, WITH CHARLIE AND THOSE CRAZY RED EYES OF HIS, NOW DAT DUDE WAS SPOOKY…MAYBE A LITTLE TOO CRAZY FOR MY GUMBO!
[Darcy flashes a proud smile to both of us]
[Nash Stormstepper, from off screen: Darcy! You done yet? The full moon is up tonight, we kinda’ need to hurry! World to save and all….]
Darcy: I’ll be right there guys! Sorry, guys, I gotta go. They are waiting on me to write the next scene. Deadlines and all….
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D.C.: Well, Darcy, Bone Daddy, we won’t keep you. I know you’ve got to get to Drakauragh before the full moon, Darcy. And, Bone Daddy, I’m sure there are monsters and souls waiting for your ferry service.
Darcy: It’s been a pleasure!
Bone Daddy: A REAL PLEASURE! Y’ALL HAVE SOME GOOD JUJU GOIN’ ON HERE.
Michael: Thank you, Kerinnon! I think….
D.C.: I wish you both the best of luck! And to everyone out there watching or reading this, we hope you’re as excited as we are for the release of Charlie Sullivan and the Monster Hunters: Witch Moon, book 2 in the series.
Michael: And for the second edition of book 1, The Varcolac’s Diary! If you haven’t read the first book in Charlie Sullivan and the Monster Hunters, be sure to grab the second edition this Fall! Action, adventure, romance, aliens…!
D.C.: We don’t have aliens in our book, Michael.
Michael: Right, action, adventure, monsters…!
D.C.: I think they get the point.
Michael: Oh. Okay.
D.C.: Right, so check it all out at www.MonsterHunters-TheBook.com, and be sure to keep checking through the Fall for updates and news! Thanks for having us and we’ll see you next time.
Michael: Seeya!
[D.C., Michael, and Darcy all appear courtesy of Wyvern’s Peak Publishing & Entertainment, LLC. Bone Daddy / Kerinnon appears courtesy of his legendary status.]
Our links:
www.MonsterHunters-TheBook.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DCMcGannon
www.facebook.com/CMichaelMcGannon
Twitter: www.twitter.com/DCMcGannon
www.twitter.com/MichaelMcGannon
GoodReads:
www.goodreads.com/DCMcGannon
www.goodreads.com/cmichaelmcgannon
About Karen Jensen, MLS
Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).
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