Please introduce yourself, who are you and what do you do?
Hi my name is Chantal Noordeloos, and when I grow up I want to be a mermaid… wait… uhm, that’s not right.. I grew up and I became the next best thing: I started writing. Most people ask me what genre I write and I tend to get a little evasive about that, because *sigh followed by a dramatic pause*… I may as well admit it now, I’m a genre floozy. I write anything from fantasy to sci-fi to horror, and I tend to be a little slipstream (mixing up the genres as I go along.) My latest love is Steampunk, which I like to mix up with the weird west and a bit of science fiction. I think my go to genre is Horror. I don’t know what it says about me that I find it easiest to write scary things.
Once upon a time I had a very interesting life (most of this was before I became published) and I had a ton of wacky hobbies. Nowadays I mostly draw, once a year I still organize LARP events and on Friday nights we role play with friends.
What first inspired you to start writing?
That’s a difficult question to answer. Technically I’ve been writing since I knew how to make words, and I’ve been creating stories for as long as I remember. But I never saw myself as a writer, or even realized I had writing ambition until I turned fifteen. I had a wonderful English teacher who said: “This year we’re going to do a lot of creative writing.” I think I actually sighed and rolled my eyes. A week later I knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.
And what attracted you to writing dark fiction?
Not a clue. I wanted to be a children’s book writer… I have no idea why I write so much horror. Like I said, it comes easy to me. Maybe behind my fluffy demeanor lays a black heart… though I doubt it, I think I’m rainbows and kittens most of the time. I think what helps me in writing dark fiction is that I’m scared of everything. And it helps thinking of scary things when you’re easily frightened.
If you could spend a day with anyone from history who would it be and why?
Since I’m not particularly politically inclined, I would have to go with Dorothy Parker. That lady’s writing got me through some very dark teenage angst moments, and I would love to hang out with someone as eloquent, sarcastic and witty as her.
What makes your stories stand out from other books?
This is an evil question. I don’t think I’m particularly into comparing my stories to other books. All I can say is that I have my own voice, and I like to think that I’m as original as I can be. Everything has been written before, it’s true, but I write things in ‘my way’ and give them my own twist. I like to surprise my readers and take them on a journey with me through the worlds I create. One of the things I hear a lot from my readers is that my work feels ‘real’, and that I write things as if they actually happened. I have to say that I didn’t hate hearing that.
Every writer values a good review, what has been your favourite so far?
You ask me to choose between my babies? *gasp*… how horrid! I don’t have a favourite, but I guess that the most recent one I got, really blew my socks off: http://bookjunkiereviews.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/deeply-twisted-by-chantal-noordeloos-reviewed-by-brittany/
What was the last book you enjoyed?
Hmmm, I’m a rather critical reader. And though I think a lot of books are ‘okay’, there are only a few that really rock my world. The last book I read was Good Omens (I loved that, but I doubt it counts because I’ve read it at least 5 times before) The last new book I enjoyed had to be Ocean’s at the end of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman.
What are you working on at the moment?
This question made me smirk a bit, because I tend to work on a lot of different things at the same time. So bear with me, okay? I suspect I might be a little ADD. Right now I’m working on a high fantasy novel called Alleria, on a paranormal (angels and demons) novel called Celestials (it’ll be the first book from a series of 3) and the first installment (novelette size) of my ‘Even Hell Has Standards’ series (horror) called Pride (there will be seven short books, each representing one of the sins). I’m also working on part two of Coyote, called “The Clockwork Dragonfly”. And I’m working on several short stories.
Tell us about your latest release and how we can find out more.
My latest release was my horror collection ‘Deeply Twisted.’ It can be found in all the usual ‘book hang outs’ online, like Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords etc. If you want a bit more personal information you can connect with me on my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ChantalNoordeloosStoryteller
Or find me at the www.coyotethebooks.com where there is more information about the Coyote series as well. These series are a bit different, because not only is there a book, the written part is accompanied by a second screen website that, and gives little extras like background music and short stories to add to the content.
Click here to purchase Deeply Twisted from Amazon
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