BARB BARRETT/The Luminary Chantal Gadoury of Muncy Creek Township has two published novels and a third on the way. She has a book signing scheduled at the Muncy Public Library for their upcoming 80th anniversary in January 2018.

MUNCY – From start to finish, author Chantal Gadoury develops her fictional characters to appeal to a young audience that enjoys romance, fantasy and adventure all in one story.

She has been succuessful in publishing two novels so far, and working on three more. Chantal lives in Muncy Creek Township and graduated from Muncy High School in 2007. She is on Amazon’s bestseller list.

In her heart, Gadboury said she always wanted to be an author. “But it was just a dream then, and I started writing more for fun.”

While she was a junior in a creative writing class at Susquehanna University, Gadoury wrote a story based on Greek mythology “Seven Seeds of Summer.” It was a retelling of Poseidon & Hades and the gods of the underworld, “but I created a modern version for my class.”

Gadoury graduated from college with a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing in 2011 and in 2014 “Seeds of Summer” was published. Now she is turning the story into a trilogy. She became a self-publisher in 2015.

This was the first published novel for Chantal Gadoury of Muncy.

Recently she used the internet to find a publisher and it didn’t take long for her manuscript to be accepted. A new book was just published this year, “Allerleirauh”, a kingdom story where a king promises his dying wife that he’ll only remarry a woman who possesses her golden hair. Risking everything, Princess Allerleirauh must face her troubled past and her fears of the future along her journey to self-acceptance in this triumphant retelling of the classic Grimm Fairy Tale.

The Parliament House in Florida purchased her novels, and contracted to split the royalties. Gadoury says she writes about what she loves, and that is romance fiction. She said the stories and scenes just “fall out of her”. The local countryside with its natural beauty is a source of inspiration for her as she spends her evenings writing at home. “I try to take at least 3-4 hours a night,” said the writer who is also a full time academic assistant at Bucknell University.

Instagram and social media have helped her sell and market her books. Young adults are looking for new books often through websites like ‘Good Reads’ and Facebook according to Gadoury.

A third book has been printed, “The Songs of Our Hearts” and Chantal said she based it on her experiences during her high school years at Muncy High.

After a broken engagement in 2014, Gadoury attended “Grief Share” a support group at the First United Methodist Church in Muncy. “I wrote the book in one month,” she said. It is a contemporary romance about a girl’s first crush at the age of 16.

“The Songs in Our Hearts” hit the Top 100 list in a sub-category listing on the Amazon Kindle Store on Saturday, September 30th and Sunday, October 1st. It first ranked at 79, than 73. It is listed among major authors like Sarah Dessen according to Gadoury. “A sequel will be coming soon,” she said. She was 26 years old when she wrote the story.

Now she is 28 and wants to continue writing full time. It is her passion, she declares. “This is the end game for me. This is what I want to do.”

The Muncy high school graduate contributes much of her success to her high school English teacher, Ms. Pauza, now Mrs. Gottschall. “She was the most influential to me.” She held the first senior elective writing class which led Chantal to major in English and Creative Writing. “My English teacher in 8th grade also noticed my writing style and asked if I would share my stories.” In 9th grade she wrote for the Blue Arrowhead literary magazine at the school. Two of her stories were published. “We did journal rounds with other classmates, and we created a world of different characters,” she added. “Fairy tales were my favorite.” Beauty and the Beast is her very favorite, and she admits to viewing the movie six times. Mr. Henry’s music class was another big motivation while in high school. “I liked how music influenced my emotions.”

Her favorite book was “Once Upon a Golden Apple” which she discovered in grade school. Her mother would take her to the Muncy Library every Saturday where she loved pondering over book covers and titles. In 6th grade her parents bought her a journal and she immediately started writing stories.

“I’ll be a part of the Muncy Public Library’s 80th anniversary,” she said and has a book signing scheduled for January 28, 2018 from 1-4 p.m. An Author Talk will be held at the James V. Brown library on Wednesday, January 31st at 6 p.m. She will have her books available for purchase and signing.