Eliza: Your upcoming novel, Until the Last Page, is being published by Inimitable Books. But this isn’t your first book! Have all of your books been traditionally published or have you also self-published? What made you decide between indie or trad publishing?
Chantal: Great question! When I first started off, I had ventured a little bit into the self-publishing world, thinking “Oh, this is easy! I can just post this on Amazon, and everyone will flock to my book and I’ll be famous!” It was really naive of me to think anything in the publishing world is easy – the industry is filled with a lot of hard-working individuals. I quickly learned just how out of my depth I was, and when an acquaintance of mine presented a different avenue of publishing (like indie-publishing), I was really excited to work collaboratively with a team – and people who believed in my work, and wanted to see it succeed. It was definitely what I needed at the time, and I’ve really come to love the team aspect. I’ve certainly tried to query agents – and that is also a lot of hard work! For right now, indie publishing is what really speaks to me as an author, but I certainly wouldn’t turn down a chance to work with a trad publisher in the future.
Eliza: What would say are the benefits of working with a small press publisher vs. a larger publisher?
Chantal: I can’t really speak to working with a larger publisher, as I have zero experience! I do love working with a smaller press, in that I feel as though I get to be a part of the process, from beginning to end. I get to have a say in the cover, and how the final presentation will look to readers. I’d love to know what the experience is like with a larger publisher, and what the similarities are.
Eliza: I’m getting ready to release my first audiobook this year and the process has been so fun. It’s a totally different experience to be able to hear your own book read aloud! What was the experience like for you? Were you able to choose your narrator?
Chantal: Isn’t it so cool to hear your own work being read back to you? In my previous publishing experiences, I’ve always loved that final presentation of my audiobook. There is something so magical about listening to the words you wrote, and it’s coming from someone else entirely.
In my previous experiences – yes! I had the choice of the narrator. My publisher would let me listen to the options, and decide on the narrator. I developed such a close working relationship (and friendship) with one – Dollcie Webb – she narrated quite a few of my titles. I’m excited about the prospect of Until the Last Page being an audiobook – and I look forward to that process!
Eliza: Who are the main characters in Until the Last Page and what draws them together in the story?
Chantal: The main characters of Until the Last Page are Josephine and Prince Aneurin (or the frog, as readers will first know him as.)
Josephine is a woman from our modern world, who gets sucked into a book of fairytales, and Aneurin is a frog that she accidentally lands on, and agrees to help him find his kiss of true love, if he will help her get home. And that agreement is what initially draws them together for the first half of the book. It’s all the stuff they experience after that, that keeps them together. They both banter, they both get on each other’s nerves, but then. . . I think they start to understand one another, and realize they need each other more than they ever imagined.
Eliza: This is a fantasy/romance book. Are your other books also “romantasy” or are they more standard fantasy?
Chantal: Oh, I’d consider all of my books “romantic.” Two of my ten, are actually “contemporary romance” (as they were books based on a couple in high school), but the rest are all fantasy romance – and all of those, fairytale retellings! (They were Hades and Persephone, The Nutcracker, The Little Mermaid, and other tales.)
Eliza: Your book is a retelling of a fairytale. How did you decide which elements from the original story to keep and which to replace?
Chantal: Great question! I really had no idea what I was doing, until I started writing. I knew I wanted Jo to fall into a book of fairytales, and I wanted those tales to be completely different than how we know them. It was almost like a little nod to “The 10th Kingdom” (if anyone remembers that TV Mini-Series.) Things were familiar, but different. I knew I still wanted Snow White to live with seven men, but I changed them a bit (and their living situation.) I wanted Hansel and Gretel to still have to fight against the witch – but I dashed a bit more to that scene, in allowing Jo and Aneurin to make an appearance. It’s almost like Marty McFly showing up to his parents’ prom – it’s still happening, but the sequence is a bit different from how it originally occurred.
I decided to let myself have fun with it, and I hope readers experience that fun too!
Eliza: I know your book is on pre-order now, but can you give us a sneak peek into any future projects or sequels related to this book?
Chantal: Sure! Well, a slight spoiler alert – even though “Until the Last Page” is listed as “Book One” – so I’m not really sure how “spoiley” it really is — There will be a Book 2.
There will be some new fairytale interactions, some familiar, some bits in our modern world – and it’ll be fun!
I’m also planning out another novel – a genre that I haven’t really written before. While it’ll still be a “fairytale retelling” of sorts, I’m looking to dive into more of a horror/romance element. I’m excited to see if I can write something dark and twisted, but still romantic and meaningful.
Eliza: Your novel is coming out on October 1st! Please tell people where they can pre-order and where they can follow you on socials!
Chantal: I’ll make it super easy! You can find all the links on my linktree: https://linktr.ee/chantalgadoury
This is where you can preorder your own copy – and get free stickers as a thank you! You can find my Goodreads account, my instagram, twitter and tiktok, and find my playlist for “Until the Last Page.”
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