Discovering Magic in Everyday Creativity with Lara d'Entremont

Lara d'Entremont shares the inspiration and artistic challenge woven into her YA Portal fantasy, The Painted Fairytale.

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This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity but reflects the full conversation from the BookWorthy Podcast. Grab a cup of coffee, listen, and read along. This post does contain affiliate links. Thanks for your support.

Valerie - Welcome to Bookworthy, where we talk about the heart behind the books your kids are reading. Today, we're talking with our author, Lara d’Entremont, about her YA novel, The Painted Fairy Tale. This YA fantasy novel follows 17-year-old Wren as she navigates grief and discovers that her paintings can open portals to other worlds, leading her on an adventure that will stretch her heart and her newfound abilities. Welcome to Bookworthy, Lara.

Lara - Thanks so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here.

Valerie, it's a pleasure to have you. We're going to start our time with the random question of the week, which is What is a unique thing on your bucket list?

Lara – I don’t know how unique it is, but as a fantasy author, I really want to go somewhere like Ireland and walk in an actual castle. Because every castle I've created in my brain has come from my own imagination and research, so it'd be nice to have a bit more of a grasp on something like that.

Valerie - That would be fun. Know what it is? Every castle is different, and every one is like, it's amazing the differences in all of them. And so yeah, to walk in one is very interesting. I took a few trips to Europe in high school, and there was always a cannon pointed at a window, almost every castle I visited. I have a series of photos of me next to the cannon in several locations across Europe, which is fun. I hope you get to do that one day.

Lara - Ha, I love that. Yes.

Valerie - Too fun. Well, Lara, tell us a little bit about your book, The Painted Fairy Tale.

Lara - Yeah, this is my first novel. I had written a more nonfiction book before this, but my heart has always been for fiction, especially fantasy. And so, as you said, this novel follows an 18-year-old girl named Wren, and I call her a closet artist. She loves the paint and is good at it, but she won't let anyone else see it or know about it; she hates to talk about it. And so her mother decides, without telling her, to send you on a mentorship to develop your art and build confidence in it. On this trip, she learns that her art is more than just something she creates; it also has a magical element, and she can step through to other worlds through it.

Valerie - And she does seem to step into a bit of trouble, doesn't she?

Lara - Yes, there's a bit of trouble, and I'm not going to say it all, but there are some pirates and a sea dragon, and yeah, things get messy real quick.

Valerie - It does get messy really fast. But I think that was one thing when I, I've only read this, I think the first third of it. And it was a little jarring between, you know, because you do have a dual POV. I was, cause I was like, okay, where does this, I think it's Stefan? Is that right? How does he fit in with Wren's story? And it took a while for those to connect, and I was like, okay. You kept me guessing, which was very helpful.

Lara - Yeah, that was something, it was something I worried about and like I worked like through several drafts of like getting feedback from people trying to make sure like this isn't too jarring and yeah that was, it was fun to kind of braid their stories together because originally it was just Wren's story but then in other drafts it became also Stefan's story too.

Valerie- And they definitely go on a whirlwind adventure for certain. Well, what was the inspiration behind this story?

Lara- So I like to say I have a graveyard of manuscripts and book proposals on my computer of things that just never have seen the light of day as of yet. This was my third novel at this point. And whenever I set out to write something, I have a few challenges for myself if I want to trythis time. And so I told myself that my next manuscript, I want it to take place in modern day. I want it to be contemporary, and I want it to be a portal fantasy, and I want to deal with pirates. So I set out with a few challenges, and these are the things I want to try. Like these are the things I want to try, and you know, I started thinking of some different ideas I had had in the past. How can I maybe incorporate them into these kinds of challenges I had for myself, and this is what came out.

Valerie - That's fun to challenge yourself to do new things with what you're writing. I don't think I've ever heard of an author say, Okay, I want to try this. Usually, the idea comes, and you're like, all right, I have to do this. So I like how you're pushing yourself, pushing boundaries. And you definitely do that in the book with what both the characters are kind of walking through, what they're dealing with in their hearts and in their minds. And I love that journey that you take them on. Now, are you a bit of an artist yourself, Lara?

Lara - No, I am a terrible artist, so my art is my writing, but I knew people who had done, like, who do painting and that sort of thing. And I decided I'm just going to try it so I can kind of get into my character's head. So the only reason I had any kind of terminology from this stuff was talking to other artists and then also, like, playing around with the form, too, in my most terrible way possible.

Valerie - Now, what medium does Wren use in the book?

Lara - Typically, she works with more acrylic paint, but she has also done some dabbling in watercolor, and she really doesn't like sketching. And that's gonna come up later in the book that she's gonna be challenged. She has to do that. So yeah, that's her primary art form.

Valerie - It's what it is like. I can see the acrylic part, and what is it? Watercolors. I've dabbled in that, and it is an unforgiving medium for certain. Well, Lara, what do you hope kids walk away from this book with? You're kind of in that young adult age bracket. So what do you hope they walk away with?

Lara - I really wanted them to walk away believing their art does matter. Because I think especially when you're getting to that age of you're looking to graduate and you can have a lot of pressure from, I think it's good intentions, pressure from parents and teachers and mentors and other people who are like, do something super practical, like go be a doctor, go be a nurse. And I think a lot of students feel like, you know, my art, it's kind of meaningless. It doesn't really serve any purpose. I'll never be able to do anything with it. And while I don't want to be like the person, I realize art is a hard thing to get into. And I know it can be, you know, for a lot of people, it's not their primary income. And so I'm not telling kids, yeah, just go be an artist and you'll be completely successful. But I want them to walk away knowing that your art does serve a purpose because we'll find with Wren, she's, you know, that's her thing. She's like, I need to live up and be practical and to be this brilliant person like my sister was because she lost her sister and she always felt like she was in the shadow of her sister. Her sister was going to go into the medical field, and now she's like, you know, that's what I have to do, even though she has zero interest in it. And her mother can see that, and her mother's trying to push her towards, know, what do you want, Wren? What are you good at? And so she thinks her art doesn't serve any great purpose, and it's meaningless. But she's going to see that as she goes through really hard times in this book, she's going to regularly turn back to the art in her own life from other people that carries her through these difficult times. It gives her hope, which gives her inspiration. And I really want kids to see that art does have a place in our lives and a powerful place at that.

Valerie - I love that message because, you know, like you said, we're, we gear kids to be practical and make money and, you know, be successful, but there is just this need inside of us as just human beings to be creative because we're made in the image of a creator and just that drive to create, whether it's funny videos, uh, you know, art, you know, sculpting, math problems. Mean, I have a kid that's really math oriented, and he can get really creative with math, and I'm like, I never thought that would be something you could be creative with, but I'm wrong. But it's, I've also seen like, you know, at, you know, people in my own life who have, have those practical doctor jobs that they find ways to be creative because it fills a bit of their soul. And I think that that's something unique we can tell our kids and our modern era that, you know, it may not be your livelihood that you're an artist, but it doesn't mean you don't have to, or you can't be creative in whatever form you choose.

Lara - Exactly, yeah, and that's what I really want them to see, that they can still be creative in any pursuit and not think of their art as less than.

Valerie - Yes, most definitely. Now, Lara, when did your writing journey begin?

Lara - I have been writing since very early elementary school, probably like grade one or two, when my teacher actually reached out to my mother to say, She is a terrible writer. She needs to practice at home. And so it took off from there that I just never stopped writing because at school I had all these constraints and felt like I was trying to meet all these standards and these deadlines. And you have 10 minutes in class, write a little short story. And it's like, I can't possibly do that. But then at home, where I had that like, there's no pressure, no one's grading this, there's no time limit, I fell in love with the form.

Valerie - I don't think I've ever heard a story like that. Usually, it's like, I started writing in second grade, and I just couldn't stop. But I love how you were challenged. And with that challenge, you kind of rose above what the expectation was or what was, you know, the classroom was asking of you. And I love that because it shows a lot in your story with Wren, also just kind of accepting oneself and stepping into a challenge.

Lara - Yes, exactly. And there definitely is a lot of me in her, even though our forms of art are very different.

Valerie - It shows for certain. Now, with that, writing began. Did you ever think that writing would turn into being an author one day? Or was that something that came along?

Lara - Definitely something that came along, because again, like Wren, I was the kid who felt like I needed to do something super practical. And I was thinking about all the various kinds of different jobs in the medical field, or just various practical jobs, and counseling. And eventually, as I was at Bible College and thinking a lot about what I was learning, I ended up starting a blog where I started writing about the things I was learning. And from there, it just kind of...

Went forward and I never stopped. It was just something I kept doing and I eventually came back to writing those stories that I had written in like when I was younger because younger I wrote just primarily fiction but then you know as I got older it's like I got to do mature thing and you know write about non-fiction and the things I'm learning in the Bible but I came back to that when I had kids and I was reading stories to them and realizing Stories are important and they're formative. You know, at first it was something; this is a new creative outlet for me in the midst of motherhood, when it's like all I'm seeing is bottles and baby rattles, and it became a creative outlet. But then it became something that was a way for me to have a good kind of escape and to feel human again, for lack of a better word.

Valerie – I love how fiction can do that. And I think, you know, in motherhood, you know, cause we grow up and we think we're too old for fiction. And we are supposed to be reading all these nonfiction books now and to be wise and know, whatever. But it is neat when you have kids and you see the power that fiction has and the power that a story can really take you to a deeper level of context, instead of just the information or the facts. So I love that element of fiction for certain.

Lara - Yeah, that was definitely it for me because also like motherhood's hard and know, fiction actually became a way of sorting through the various hard things I was going through. And as I was, even though my characters weren't parents necessarily, they had struggles that were the same and different, and I was able to sort through the things I was facing through my characters.

Valerie – Writing becomes a very therapeutic practice, and surprise what you find out both about yourself and your characters in the process, right?

Lara - Right, exactly!

Valerie - Well, Lara, what is your favorite book?

Lara - My favorite, this question I find so hard because I'm like, what kind of book are we talking about? What genre, what author? Like, I think honestly, The Lord of the Rings has a

special place in my heart because that is what prompted me to get back into writing fiction as a mother. Because, along with reading stories to my kids, when I read that, that was the first novel I had read in years, because again, I had been so focused on the nonfiction part. And when I just became so immersed in this magical world and I was underlining things like crazy, I didn't realize, I'm like, there's so much wisdom packed into this story, but it's not like it's being served to me on a silver platter. I'm having to think about it and dig for it. And I was like, this is the power of a story. And I want to pick up that part of me again, and I want to be able to share the things I've learned, not just in the plain spoken way of nonfiction, but in this more beautiful storytelling way that fiction offers.

Valerie - That's amazing. I love the story, not just Lord of the Rings itself, but the story of J.R.R. Tolkien's writing of Lord of the Rings. It kind of gives me hope in my own writing because it took him 17 years to write The Lord of the Rings, like the whole series. And I'm like, okay, I got to be persistent like Tolkien and just keep going.

Lara - Right, like just the amount of dedication he had, like to stick with this world, and to be like, like also the dedication, like I want to put my best foot forward. I want to create the best thing possible. And that he was like, I'm going to build this world to make it as realistic and lived-in as possible so that other people can experience it like I am.

Valerie - I think that's why the book has just stood the test of time and will still kind of be the marker of a good fantasy book from now till eternity, probably just because he did spend his whole life developing this world and languages, and just, but all from a place of faith. Like his own faith is so woven within these pages. That even if you do not have faith, you will glean just so many sweet little truths from that. But even if you do have faith, you'll just fall in love with God even more.

Lara - I completely agree.

Valerie - That's too fun. Now, you said you have kids. So what are your kids enjoying reading right now?

Lara - My kids, they really love the nature stories like Brambly Hedge Beatrix Potter, you

know, nature, and talking animals, but also they love trucks. So we got a lot of truck books. And they also really love things like, they really like learning about bugs and animals. And so, we got a bit of variety here.

Valerie - I know what it is. I have three boys. So my knowledge of construction vehicles is very high. Like I never thought I would need to know so much about construction vehicles. But bugs and animals, I mean, as a girl, I've always loved those things too. So that's kind of fun.

Lara -Yeah. Exactly.

Valerie - Wonderful. Well, Lara, tell us what we can expect next from you.

Lara - Yeah, I'm currently working on another fantasy novel, more towards the upper middle grade age range, but not portal fantasy. Definitely more of a medieval kind of vibe in the fantasy world. But yeah, still a work in progress.

Valerie - You’re seeing a lot of those happen in both adult and YA and middle grade, which is kind of, again, a classic to turn back to. We all like to go back in time a little bit and be knights and princesses in our own right. Lara, where can people find out more about you and your books?

Lara -Yeah, you can find me over at Substack, where you can find me most regularly, www.laradontremont.substack.com. You can also find all my books listed on my author website www.laradontremont.com. But yeah, those are the two main places where you can learn more about me and my work.

Valerie - And you have a lot of links to all the other articles that you've done too, kind of more on the nonfiction side. So that was fun to peruse and see all the places that you've written there, too. So I encourage people to check that out, and we'll have those in the show notes for sure. Thank you so much for joining me today, Lara.

Lara - Thanks so much for having me. This has been a lot of fun.

Valerie - It's been a joy, and thank you for joining Lara and me on this episode of the Bookworthy Podcast. Let us know in the comments what's something unique on your bucket list, and be sure to join in the middle grade madness over on Instagram as we get closer to choosing the number one middle grade novel. You can help decide and possibly win a whole host of prizes. So find out more in the show notes or over on Instagram at Bookworthy underscore podcast.

Happy reading.