Amazon Best Selling Author, Chantal Gadoury, is a 2011 graduate from Susquehanna University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing. Since graduation, she has published The Songs in Our Hearts with 48Fourteen Publishing, and Allerleirauh with Parliament House Press, with future titles to follow. Chantal first started writing stories at the age of seven and continues with that love of writing today.
Writing novels for Chantal has become a life-long dream come true! When she’s not writing, she enjoys painting, drinking lots of DD Iced Coffee, and watching Disney classics. Chantal lives in Muncy, Pennsylvania with her Mom and furry-‘brother’ Taran.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself! Where do you call home and what do you write?
Well, to start, I live in a lovely little town of Muncy, in Pennsylvania with my mom, and our family yorkie—Taran. Primarily, I write fantasy YA/NA fiction, but I have delved into the Contemporary YA genre with two of my novels. I'm a huge fan of BTS (Yes! I am Army!), and I've been working on a weight-loss journey for well over a year now with some amazing successes. When I have the time, I love to read (Erin Craig, Sarah J. Maas, and Kelly Creagh are just a few of my favorite authors), watch Korean Dramas, Documentaries, and Murder Mysteries.
2. What drew you to that particular genre and/or age group?
I've always enjoyed reading Young Adult novels—primarily fantasy and fairytale retellings. I grew up loving Disney and fairytales, and when I first discovered that authors were actually re-writing or retelling these fantastic tales, I wanted to do the same.
3. What’s your best known work?
I'm not entirely sure what my best known work is. I'm sure more readers are familiar with my Hades and Persephone retelling: Blinding Night and Gilded Ruins, or my mermaid retelling, Between the Sea and Stars, with the sequel Beyond the Shore and Shadows. I am, however, currently working on a new fairytale retelling, which is a mixture of quite a few beloved tales!
4. What inspired you to write it?
I'm inspired to write about the things that I love or have fascinated me in my life. For Blinding Night, it was wanting to write a story about lost love and rediscovering that love. For the Lena series, it was taking an experience that I'd had on a social media platform, and creating a new version of the events that had occured. As for the new project that I'm working on—my love for all things fairy tales, books, The Pagemaster, The Princess Bride, Shrek. . . it's all inspired me to write what I'm currently working on. I know that doesn't give a lot away . . . but it's probably better that way!
5. Tell us about your writing process. Are you a plotter, pantser or somewhere in between? How do you research?
Over the years, I've experimented with different processes. I've plotted before, and while it was helpful in my contemporary story, I don't find it helpful in writing fantasy. (I find that I get too bored of it.) Sometimes I'm a complete pantser, and even then I struggle to find the story and keep to it. So, in all, I think I'm a mix of both. I plan, but leave space to explore and change. I can't have everything drawn on a map . . . because then where's the fun in it? And more often than not, my characters are changing their minds or redirecting where I want the story to go. . . and I'm completely at their mercy.
I do some initial research when I begin a project: looking up names, face characters, pinterest boards. But I do a lot of research as I go as well. My search history probably looks a little crazy right now.
6. What’s the strangest or most interesting thing you’ve researched for your writing?
I think medieval underwear has always been my most memorable. When I was writing the sequel Beyond the Shore and Shadows, it was "can you blow up a wooden boat with dynamite?" Currently, in my project, it was probably "food items that would keep a gingerbread house standing" and/or images of a "tall-oven like the one in Sweeney Todd."
7. What’s the most personal story/scene you’ve written and why?
Easily in The Songs We Remember, I write about the death of my Dad, and my experience with it. It was very personal to write about that time, and to write about how I felt afterwards. Grief is extremely personal. There's one other scene that has always stuck with me from Blinding Night, when Summer gets to see a parent in the Underworld. . . And I did that for more of myself than anything. (If you know, you know.)
8. Who are your literary influences? In what way?
Robin McKinley really was a huge author for me as I was a young teenager. Her ability to write beautifully crafted retellings drew me in with books like Beauty and Rose Daughter. I'd say currently, Sarah J. Maas is such an influence to me, along with Erin Craig. A House of Salt and Sorrow stayed with me for ages, and I'm always looking at her social media to see the sorts of things she's sharing with her readers. I love how interactive she is, how engaging she is, the way she teases her future books. . . I hope I can be just like Erin Craig someday.
9. What books are on your bedside table right now?
Well, this may say a lot about me right now . . . but nothing. I have a few books on my phone that I want to read, one of which being All the Feels by Olivia Dade. But there just hasn't been a book that's called out to me recently. (I do miss reading)
10. Last and most important, where can we find your books/stories?
You can find all of my books on Amazon, iBooks, several can be found on Audible, and on their respective Publishers' websites, whether that being 48Fourteen or the Parliament House Press.
Thank you again for the opportunity to come talk about my books with you!
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