We chat with debut author Pascale Lacelle about Curious Tides, which is a dark academia fantasy following a teen mage who must unravel the truth behind the secret society that may have been involved in her classmates’ deaths—think Ninth House meets A Deadly Education!
Hi, Pascale! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi! I’m Pascale, a French Canadian author from a small town just outside of Ottawa, the capital of Canada. I studied French literature in university, with what I like to call unofficial minors in English literature and translation. Besides my passion for the written word, I love food, travel, and my dog Roscoe.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’ve always been a voracious reader, but it wasn’t until the eighth grade that I discovered a love of writing. I remember my teacher back then encouraging me to write my own stories, and I instantly knew this was what I was meant to do. I actually found that very teacher and gifted her a copy of Curious Tides. Without her inspiring me to write all those years ago, I don’t know if I would have ever picked up a pen. I really owe it all to her.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
The first book I remember reading: I wish I had a more interesting answer, but it was an illustrated guidebook to dog breeds. I was (and still am) obsessed with dogs.
The book that made me want to become an author: Furyborn by Claire Legrand. This was the book that reignited my dream of wanting to become an author and pushed me to seriously pursue publishing.
A book I can’t stop thinking about: The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow. It’s an absolutely stunning novella that really sticks with you.
Your debut novel, Curious Tides, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Atmospheric, dreamy, immersive, dark, magical.
What can readers expect?
Curious Tides is a dark academia fantasy that takes place in a seaside college where students practice magic that draws on the the lunar cycle and tides, so expect plenty of moon and sea imagery! There are shady secret societies, mysterious sea caves where students have drowned and are now washing up ashore not quite dead, magical libraries, dangerous friendships, and a bit of romance.
Where did the inspiration for Curious Tides come from?
A few years ago, all I wanted to read were portal fantasies such as The Ten Thousand Doors of January, The Starless Sea and the Wayward Children series. I became obsessed with the idea of stories and worlds that might be more real than they seem, which became the inspiration behind ‘Song of the Drowned Gods’, the children’s book in Curious Tides that is a key element of the plot.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
There’s this one chapter at the end of the fourth part of Curious Tides that has always been fun to work on, because it involves a certain twist that I’m really proud of. Aside from that, a character I enjoyed writing is Kai. I think he’s becoming somewhat of a fan favorite, and I love that for him. I got to explore his point of view in a short story I wrote for the Barnes & Noble exclusive edition of Curious Tides, and that was really rewarding.
This is your debut novel! Can you tell us what the road to becoming a published author was like for you?
A long one, if you consider that I was actually meant to debut in my teens! At 16, I had an offer from a small French Canadian publisher to publish the first fantasy series I’d ever written. Circumstances led to me abandoning the whole thing, so that book never got published and I stopped writing for nearly a decade after that. I picked writing up again in 2019, with a book that I ended up shelving. Then I wrote Curious Tides in a frenzy during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) back in 2020. After revising it for nearly a year, I submitted it to Pitch Wars, a writing mentorship program that led to me signing with my literary agent in early 2022. A few months later, I went on submission and sold Curious Tides. And here we are!
What’s next for you?
I’m currently working on the sequel to Curious Tides, which is both daunting and rewarding at the same time. On the one hand, I get to finally write scenes that have been in my head for years, but on the other, there’s this enormous pressure to create something that lives up to the first book. Either way, I’m having fun diving deeper into this story and its characters. I can’t say much about it yet, except maybe that a cover exists and it is absolutely stunning. I’m so excited to share more!
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
If you’re looking for more dark academia books to read this autumn, I recommend The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew (one of my favorite reads this year), Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Modern Divination by Isabel Agajanian, Babel by R.F. Kuang, Everyone’s Thinking It by Aleema Omotoni, and The Society for Soulless Girls by Laura Steven.
