So, the Mayan hoopla is over...time to get back to work.
Today I am pleased to feature one of my favorite writers: Chantal Boudreau. She is not only very talented (all the drawing featured here are her work, which you can find more of in her FERVOR series), but extremely modest. So get to know a bit about her, and then check out some of her stuff. You won't be sorry.
You have been at this for a little while
now, what are some of the best and worst things about being an author?
The
best thing, for me, is having someone actually take the time to tell me how
much they’ve enjoyed one of my books or stories. There are little things too – like getting a
particular scene just right, seeing illustrations other people have done for
your work and knowing it’s so much better than anything you could have managed,
getting an acceptance letter from a publisher who has rejected you every other
time you’ve submitted to them and then there’s just getting to hold something
you’ve written in print. The worst
things are the hours you end up spending on things other than writing, like
editing, promotion and submissions, the frustration of a lack of consistent
submission standards, which means having to reformat stories when submitting
them more than once, the “expert” advice out there that is completely
contradictory, and how slow it is to gain exposure, acceptance and recognition.
What are some of the lessons you have
learned as a writer that caught you off guard?
I’ve
learned that established authors are just regular, albeit talented,
people. That research is an important
part of any story, truth of fiction. That success involves hard work but an
equal element of good fortune, which means your best chance to get anywhere is
to keep at it, until luck happens to run your way along with the hard work.
What can you share about your writing
process with new or up and coming writers?
I
think the best thing to share with them is that I had to figure out what worked
best for me and trying to write the way most others do didn’t work for me. I spent many years struggling with a variety
of formats, styles and processes before I came up with my current process, one
that I’m comfortable with. Not that it
is perfect. There is always room for
improvement, even with close to 20 novel manuscripts complete (I have four
chapters to go on novel #20). So far
I’ve figured out I have a mind that craves structure, so I work best with an
outline despite the fact that many peers shun me for it as being too rigid or uncreative. I need to see the big picture, which means I
have to know the ending before I start, and work towards it. I’m character-oriented – that’s what I value
as a reader, so that’s where my focus has to be as a writer. I had to figure these things out about myself
to understand what would work best for me and why. To know what writing process suits you, I
would advise an attempt at self-discovery – try different things, experiment.
It is no secret that I think you are the
best writer on our shelf. All it will take is the “right” person to discover
you and review your work and I think you could be the next Meyers or Rowling.
How do you see yourself as a writer, and what do you think it will take to get
you over that hump?
I
still have far too many doubts to think I’ll ever achieve that kind of success
– not that this would ever stop me from trying.
I guess I’m still coming to grips with identifying myself as a writer at
all. I’m older, I’m the main breadwinner
for my family, as an accountant, I’m a mom with a special needs child who
demands a lot of attention and I’ve lived my life as a square peg other people
have been trying to jam unpleasantly into their round holes. I’ve been writing since I was very young, but
didn’t have much luck with it and wasn’t at all prolific. I liked writing but I didn’t consider myself
a writer. Then something just seemed to
click a few years ago (about three and a half years, actually) and in that time
I’ve written 18 novels and more than 50 short stories. All I had to show for the more than three and
a half decades before that was one and a half novels (that needed a great deal
of editing) and a handful of shorts. Now
that I’ve had my work published and I’ve received plenty of encouragement, I’m
warming up to the idea, but I probably picked the worst possible time to make
my start. The industry is in a massive
state of flux, the market is flooded with indie writers, traditional publishing
is hesitant to welcome newbies aboard and the publishing scene is all about
marketing and promotion, not necessarily the quality of your work but its
market appeal. I’m horrible at selling
myself. I put in an earnest attempt, but
I think unless I get a lucky break it’s going to be a long hard trudge with
little in the way of sleep before I can drum up any amount of exposure and
recognition.
If you were to up and change genres,
what would be your next choice?
That’s
tough. I’ve dabbled in several speculative fiction genres, mainly horror,
fantasy and dark fantasy, with a little sci-fi in there. I’ve written some erotica, which I think I
could do, some romance, which is much more of a stretch for me, and thrillers,
which worked out okay. I’m probably most
inclined to thrillers after speculative fiction, but it’s not that far of a
leap between horror and thriller.
What could traditional publishing learn
from the Indies? And how about the other way around?
Oh, I hate getting tangled in the middle
of that mess. Everyone has their
opinions and they differ to extremes. Here’s
where I stand on this. The way I see it,
traditional publishing used to offer prestige, not so much now unless you
happen to be a bestseller, and they still offer better distribution, but they
are obsessed with existing trends and mass market appeal and trying to
standardize everything to what they deem “saleable”. It can kill (but not always) what makes a
writer’s work really special. What makes
it onto the shelves is dependent upon the tastes of a select few. And they treat authors (once again, unless
you are a bestseller) with little respect or value (“you are lucky that we are
willing to even look at your manuscript...”) With Indies there’s so much chaos
and volume. They come across as
inconsistent and unstable because, as a group, quality is all across the
board. Some Indie books are disastrous
and need a total make-over, inside and out.
Others look really pretty and have a great blurb, but the editing or
plot continuity or character development might be lacking. Then again, you’ll come across some real high-quality
gems that should be winning recognition and praise but have been tossed aside
by traditional publishing for being too unorthodox or counter-culture. A lot of times, they just get lost in the
mix. There should be a happy medium, a
“best of both worlds,” but there isn’t.
The writing community can be its own
worst enemy at times. What are some of the issues you see cropping up?
Solutions?
The
more I see the less I want to read about it.
You’ll see bickering over simple things like writing style and processes
such as pantsing vs plotting, marketing issues, spam, reviews – if and how to
respond to them and whether or not it’s okay to buy and sell them, critics,
traditional vs indie, complaints about distributors, agents, publishers and
paid services like proofreaders or editors, sometimes deserved, sometimes not. You see a lot of nitpicking, insistence that
“my way is the right way so you are wrong”, and badmouthing writers who are
successful, primarily because they are
successful, the result of jealousy, I would guess. I get tired of the arguing and bitching. It would be nice to see writers respecting
other people’s differences, recognizing their peers have value even if they
don’t agree on everything, and offering each other support where possible. You do see that, but just not enough of it.
The social media is…
A
blessing and a curse. I doubt I’d be
published or have any support system in place without it. It keeps me well-informed and allows me to
connect with people I wouldn’t be likely to otherwise meet. I have a lot of great new friends thanks to
social media. On the other hand, it is a
total time sink without the level of results one should expect for the amount
of time and effort most people put into it.
It’s a mixed bag of feedback where you can get well-presented praise or
uninspired flattery, constructive criticism or mean-spirited trollish bashing. It also exposes you to a lot of scam artists
and people trying to sell you something you don’t really want or need.
Share some information about your work
with us: (feel free to be as in depth as you like)
My first (and second) horror submission
ever went to May December Publications, but it actually ended up being my
second acceptance. In the interim
between submission and acceptance, I received an acceptance the same day I
submitted for another short story (my first sale.) That was my start. Since then, MDP has accepted almost
everything I’ve sent in, with only one exception so far. MDP gave me my first chance at publishing a
novel, beginning with my dystopian science fantasy series, Fervor (now with its
third release) and my first chance at sharing my standard fantasy work, my
Masters & Renegades series (a third book in this one coming soon.) It has been a great experience.
What is one question
you are sick of being asked—not in interviews, but by individuals who know you
write?
“When
am I going to see your books in local bookstores?” The local bookstores typically only offer
books from big traditional publishers and local small presses. Since my stories have been in books published
by small presses in the US and the UK, they aren’t exactly considered local
here in Nova Scotia. I have a couple of
recent acceptances by small presses in Canada, scheduled for release in 2013, but
they aren’t local to Nova Scotia either.
Unless there’s sufficient demand here for my work at the local
bookstores, you’re not going to be likely to see my books there.
How do you deal with
negative reviews?
I try to avoid reading them unless I’m
in the right mood. I find the really
negative ones rarely have any constructive criticism to offer. They usually go on about how your style
doesn’t match that of their favourite author or some other matter of taste –
not something you can put to good use.
The mixed reviews, part positive, part negative, are much more likely to
offer some useful criticism. I try to
take those in and then let the critique sit for a while so I can properly
absorb what was said. If a reviewer has
been particularly nasty, I’ll try to find a way to vent without naming names or
pointing elbows, just to get the frustration out of my system (go ahead and say
you don’t like my book, but personal attacks are uncalled for.)
How much reading do you
get in, and can a writer excel at his or her craft if they do not read?
I read, but about a quarter of what I
used to, and it’s not just because of the writing. There’s so much more to getting your work out
there that sucks away far too much of your spare time. I still make a point to read regularly, my
favourite authors and a sampling of things that are new to me, and I do think
it’s important for a writer to read.
There are always things you can learn from other writer’s writing.
When does self-promotion
cross the line and become a nuisance?
I can think of a few ways. If you friend or follow me on some social
media site and the only thing I ever hear from you is “buy my book,” that’s too
annoying. And people who invite you to
an event and then post two dozen promo posts within the first hour so that your
e-mail is full of their spam – that really drives me batty. I can guarantee I’ll be declining that event
and purging those e-mails the first chance I get. There should be a real effort to connect, a
little subtlety, and some give and take.
Constant, repetitive and in your face absolutely turns me off.
What projects are you
currently working on?
I’m finishing up a NaNoWriMo
project. I wrote 70,000 words in
November, but I still have 3 ½ chapters to go.
It’s a fantasy novel, called The Trading of Skin, based on Sami legend
(the aboriginals of northern Scandinavia.)
I have a couple of books waiting on edits (Providence and Victims of
Circumstance), I need to format the second book in my Snowy Barrens Trilogy and
I have a Christmas horror short story I actually wrote long-hand (I almost
never handwrite anything anymore) that I need to type up. I also have a fan fiction story request from
a writer friend that I need to work on.
And I’m always in the middle of some form of illustration.
What is one thing about
you that would surprise the readers who do not know you personally? I’m not really
sure. I’m not that outlandish. I have interesting hobbies and an ordinary
day-job. I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily
an open book but I don’t keep zombies in my basement either – despite what some
people may have you believe.
Is there anyone you’d
like to give a mention? A
shout out to some of my fellow MDP writers like DA Chaney, Bennie Newsome and
Rebecca Snow (there are many more but if I try to list them all I’ll be here
until next March.) My writer friend Ren
Garcia who is always supportive (which is fantastic because his work is
fabulous,) Robert J Sawyer for the occasional pep talk – for which I’m truly
grateful because he’s a very busy (and accomplished) man - and all my talented
friends at the Guild of Dreams. It’s
very inspiring to be surrounded by so many great writers.
What is in your “to be
read” pile right now?
I have a
stack of MDP books, I’m in the middle of “The Unwilling Warlord” by Lawrence
Watt-Evans, “The Onion Girl” by Charles de Lint and two different horror anthologies,
and then I have dozens of freebies I picked up on my Kindle. It’s so hard to decide what to read
first..next...well, you get my drift.
Links:
Website:
Facebook:
Amazon Author Page:
Scribd.com:
Goodreads Author Page:
Blog (Word Blurb):
Great interview! I just read Fervor last week and loved it. I can't wait to get started on the next book in the series. I wish you tons of success, Chantal!
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