#CharacterInterview Chantel Rhondeau spars with Madeline Scott from Crime & Passion #romanticsuspense

Author vs Character Interview

Book Name: Crime & Passion

Author Name: Chantel Rhondeau

Character Name: Madeline Scott

Rachelle: Chantel, I'm so happy your book is finally out! And Madeline, I loved reading your inner thoughts. So, Chantel and Madeline, how did you two meet and how long ago was it?

Chantel: Madeline came to me in the end of 2011, when I was trying to finish writing Always & Forever. She was standing on a beach over a dead body and would not quit pestering me to tell her story.

Madeline: Hey, I wasn’t pestering you, but you were rather rude ignoring me the way you did.

Chantel: Be fair, I had to finish the other book before starting yours.

Madeline: So you just left me on the beach with a dead body? **rolls eyes** Classy.

Rachelle: What was your first impression of each other?

Madeline: I think I’ve adequately explained my impression of her.

Chantel: **sighing** Yes, you’ve certainly said enough on that subject. Actually, I really liked Madeline from the start. She is sarcastic but in a funny way, and she keeps her most hurtful thoughts to herself because she actually does care about other people’s feelings. Except mine, apparently.

Madeline: Oh, come on. I was frustrated with you, but you’ve been pretty decent most of the time. Well, except when you weren’t. There’ve been a few times I wished a nicer author had decided to tell my story.

Rachelle: Chantel, speaking of which, what does Madeline do that annoys you the most?

Chantel: She has a tendency to jump to conclusions based on very little evidence. Especially concerning the hero, Donovan.

Madeline: Hey, if your ex cheated on you the night before your wedding--with your best friend and maid of honor, no less--you wouldn’t be all gung ho for a man everyone keeps telling you is a womanizing jerk either.

Chantel: Point taken. I did understand why you had a hard time trusting Donovan’s motives, but it made my life more difficult sometimes. I didn’t mean you weren’t justified in guarding yourself against being hurt.

Rachelle: I agree. Chantel has a kind heart and it was just as hard for her as it was for you. Madeline, if you could say just one thing to Chantel, what would it be?

Madeline: Even though I’m happy with how things turned out, I wish you’d given me a little better heads up about who to trust. Talk about complications.

Chantel: You brought some of the biggest problems down on yourself. I did give you warnings about certain people before you were attacked. You opened that front door even though Donovan did everything he could to keep you safe.

Madeline: **snorts** The person on the other side of that door was pretty darn manipulative. I thought I was doing the right thing.

Chantel: I’m just saying, you can’t blame me for all of it.

Rachelle: Well, it was definitely more exciting the way it came out. What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s happened between you two?

Chantel:  I can’t really think of anything embarrassing.

Madeline: Oh, really? You worked your author voodoo and had me convinced for a while that Donovan did something to my apartment! I’m still embarrassed that the world knows I ran around like an idiot searching for hidden cameras or something.

Rachelle: You really thought Donovan might have hidden a camera in your place? I thought it was something I suspected while critiquing.

Madeline: **shakes her head** Either that or a bomb. I think I knew all along he didn’t do anything wrong, but I had to check. It wouldn’t have been the first time a man tricked me. And Donovan has had a lot of practice convincing women he has what they need, even if all he wants is to bounce with them in bed before dumping them.

Chantel: Madeline! Be fair. You understand why he was that way before.

Madeline: **shrugs** I’m not saying he didn’t have a rough childhood, but he still made his own choices as an adult. I love him, but I can’t say I’m happy with the way he’s treated women in the past.

Chantel: A good-looking man like him would’ve been off the market before even meeting you if he hadn’t been so emotionally unavailable.

Madeline: And then you could have found me a sweet jokester, kind of like Lucas Knight from Rachelle’s new book, Hidden Under Her Heart.  He’s nice.

Chantel: You would have eaten a ‘nice’ guy alive, Madeline. You are way too feisty. Do you want to try it though? I could rewrite the book and get rid of Donovan if that’s really what you want.

Madeline: Good heavens. Don’t be such a pain in the a…um, rear. You know I’m happy with Donovan. He needed some work, but he’s great. Perfect for me, actually.

Chantel: That’s good to hear. And I’m sure Maryanne will be glad to know you aren’t coming after her man. Lucas is safe.

Rachelle: I'm glad for both Maryanne and Lucas. Ahem, Chantel, what do you feel the worst about doing to Madeline?

Chantel: I really pushed Madeline to her breaking point a few times. Once, she even felt down enough to eat frosting right out of the container. I knew she was strong enough to handle things, but she was pretty down that day.

Madeline: You feel bad about that? Out of everything you put me through, you’re worried I broke my diet for a few days and wallowed in self-pity? Thanks, Chantel, you’re such a caring author. Let’s not even talk about how you made me think Donovan was sleeping with someone else or how you put me in the hospital or about the time you had me held at gunpoint. No, the worst thing was turning me back into Maddie McFatty.

Chantel: Wow! Simmer down, girl. I think I touched a nerve. I’m just saying, I know how hard you worked to get rid of your extra weight and I felt bad for adding so much stress. I’m working on losing weight myself, so I understand how hard it is to do.

Madeline: You’re right. I’m touchy about that. Sorry.

Rachelle: Wow, an apology. Do you think you two will meet again in the future?

Chantel: I’ve already put Madeline through so much, I think I should just let her have her happily ever after. I might have her over for a short cameo in a future book, but her story is pretty much done.

Madeline: Thank goodness. I don’t think I could handle more of your crazy plots.

Chantel: You’ll miss me when your life becomes ordinary.

Madeline: With a house full of kids, life will never be ordinary!

Chantel:  Too true. Speaking of that, we’d better get out of here so you can get home. Thanks for inviting us over, Rachelle.

Madeline: Yeah, thanks, Rachelle. **grins** It was nice to be able to tell Chantel off a bit for all the crap she put me through. 

Rachelle: Well, it was nice to meet you too, although me and Chantel have more things to run by each other about our new characters.

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