TBR: Jillian Chantal

December 5, 2019 | 3 comments

Good Morning! Welcome to TBR Thursday–where I introduce you to a new author and book to add to your “to be read” pile. This week I welcome fellow Common Elements Romance Project author Jillian Chantal.

First, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I live in Florida – the panhandle- pretty close to the Alabama line heading toward Mobile. It’s a little slice of paradise. We have lots of wonderful weather and sandy beaches. I love to travel and am inspired by the places I go- I’m a huge fan of Europe and would like to spend several months there, if I could. I’m a lawyer in the day job and writing is my escape. To other lands and with friends in my head- it keeps me from stressing out. Fiction of any sort makes me smile. I write lots of different genres – to make myself happy- and to share with others- and all my books have some humor in them. How can you go through life without laughter?

Are you an only child or do you have siblings?

I have one sister. She was an art teacher for many years in the local school district. She took early retirement at the beginning of the summer and now works at World Market. It’s much more fun according to her. I can’t imagine doing either of those jobs. I admire her for being able to deal with large groups of children as well as retail customers. She’s a braver soul than I am!
 

Are you a morning or night person? 

I am more of a middle of the day kind of gal. I’ve always been an early to bed person. My parents never had to fight with me to get me to go (other than when I wanted to sit up and read! 🙂)-  I am not one to pop awake and be super ready to go first thing in the morning. I like to have quiet for a bit before I’m ready to communicate with other humans. Catch me from 9 am on and all is well. 🙂 Well, at least until about 9 pm.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

When I was in the 5th grade, I wrote a story that my teacher loved so much she made it into a small book and then I got to read it to the kids in first grade. That was pretty heady stuff.  LOL!  I didn’t really go back to it until my own kids were in school as I was too busy building my legal career and raising two boys. I did still make up little stories for friends a lot when I gave gifts. I’d make up a tale about the prior owner of the item- one example was a first aid kit I gave a friend when she had a baby. I made up a story about how the kit used to belong to a WWI nurse.  

Plotter, Panster, or Planster?

Pantser- I love the journey of the first draft- I tried plotting once but when the outline was done, I felt like the story had been told and I never wrote it. It killed the joy for me. I do admire people who can do the plotting thing. Just don’t ask me to. 🙂
 

Tell us about your Common Elements book.

It’s called Evil Wind Rising. It has paranormal elements and a ton of Beatles references. I wrote the whole thing with no title. It was time to publish and I still had no title. Thank God I have a good friend who I sent the blurb to and she came up with three ideas. I loved the one I chose.

Where did the idea come from for your Common Elements book?

I have always wanted to write a story with all the characters having names from Beatles songs- I have a list of the women named in Beatles songs that I’ve had on my phone for years. The fact that there had to be a character named Max made me think this was the time to dig out that note on my phone. Max Edison is the hero. And then I decided while I was doing the names, I’d get some more Beatles references in the story. That made it a lot of fun for me and some readers have commented they like the Easter eggs hidden in it.
 

How does it fit in with your other books?

This is a stand-alone book. There isn’t a series as the premise doesn’t stretch to a series. There are a minimal number of characters in the story.
 

Okay…time for the Hot Seat…

1. Tell us about a unique or quirky habit of yours.

I like to do Tarot and I also love Oracle cards. Want me to draw one for you? Just ask me on Facebook or Twitter. Be happy to do it. I am also a boot addict. I love them- being a Florida girl, I don’t get to wear them often – one of the reasons I like to travel, too.  I can pack my boots!!!

2. What was your best travel experience? Worst?

My best was my trip to Scotland. It was full of wonder and fun. My ancestors came from Scotland and I felt very at home there- I’d love to live there. Worst experience was when I went to Washington D.C. for a convention and one of the ladies I rode with was so unkind and hateful, I wanted to rent a car or hijack a plane and get myself home so I could get away from her. I vowed to never get in a car with her again….and I have not.
 

What is the best compliment you’ve received as a writer? 

That my work spoke to a reader’s heart. I try very hard to make my tales special and when I hear that someone loved one of my books, it makes me very happy.

 

What is the next project you’re working on?

I will be working on a story called Train Friends. My Daughter-in-law used to ride the train from Providence RI to Boston for work and was telling me about friends she only knew from the train. I loved that idea and started on a story about people on a train. I stopped for National Novel Writing Month to do the Regency story. I plan to finish that this week and then get back to the train story.

Where can we find out more about you and what you write?  

I am on Facebook, twitter, and also have a website. I am terrible about keeping my website up to date but I do have an Amazon page as well. I also post snippets of what I’m working on- on Tuesdays.

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/trkzvru

 

Wonderful! I can’t wait to see you around online. Thanks again for stopping by!

Categories: Blogging Along, TBR Thursday
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