The Chimera and The Grail Tree’

An interview about The Chronicles of Noe: The Chimera and The Grail Tree with Corlis C Fraga in partnership with The Children’s Book Review.

We’re excited to chat with Corlis C. Fraga, author of The Chronicles of Noe: The Chimera & The Grail Tree, a myth-bending fantasy that explores identity, hidden histories, and the courage it takes to question the world as it’s been written.

Author Corlis C. Fraga joins us to discuss The Chronicles of Noe: The Chimera & The Grail Tree, a richly layered fantasy that reimagines myth through a world where magic is elemental and history is anything but straightforward. In this interview, Corlis reflects on the beauty of hybrid identities, the necessity of questioning inherited narratives, and the fierce, sometimes messy courage it takes to reshape a world that was never built for you.

Your protagonist Enee doesn’t resemble the traditional three-headed monster of Greek mythology. What inspired you to reimagine the Chimera in this way, and how does this divergence from expectation reflect the themes of your story?

Corlis C Fraga (CCF): The Chimera, like most mythological creatures, reaches us through fragments scattered across time. It has persisted in the sweeping epics that have weathered centuries, medieval encyclopedias, and even geomythological theories linking its legend to the burning rocks of Yanartaş. Among these sources and their modern interpretations, one idea seems to persist: the Chimera is a hybrid.

I’ve always found profound meaning in creatures that embody impossibility, the breaking down of boundaries, and are labeled monstrous for it. In The Chronicles of Noe, I could explore what it means to live with that conflicting hybridity, and examine the connections between themes of legacy, personhood, and the power of myth itself. What are we, after all, but an amalgam of our world, our lineage, and our choices?

So, while Enee may not resemble the traditional Chimera, she epitomizes its essence as a hybrid of the past, the present, and the potential of what the future might become.

Enee is a character as stubborn as the challenges she faces. In what ways does her stubborn nature become both her greatest asset and her biggest obstacle?

CCF: Enee’s stubbornness gives her the kind of resilience that enables her to fight, fall, and start again in a world that would be more than happy to see her erased. But the same quality that fuels her determination also blinds her to what she might gain by adapting. Change can feel like betrayal, especially when the act of compromise has historically meant gain for some and profound loss for others. So, while her tenacity helps her endure, it also risks turning into rigidity. She must learn how to distinguish between loyalty and stubbornness, and recognize the point when her conviction becomes the very thing that holds her back. Only then can she see what she’s truly fighting for, and face a struggle that has been generations in the making.

Enee’s mission centers on creating a better life for her family. How do the relationships within her family evolve throughout the story, and what does loyalty truly mean when the people you love might not understand the choices you have to make?

CCF: Loyalty is shaped by what feeds it. Enee’s love for her family inspires a warrior-like devotion that reflects the fierce stoicism her parent harbors when trying to hide their own struggles. Sadly, much of what fuels her loyalty and drives her to such extremes is fear. 

Fear of not being enough to prevent the threat of profound loss.

Fear of being a burden.

Fear that, no matter how fiercely she fights, being herself might be what endangers those she’s trying to protect. 

Eventually, the consequences of holding onto this mindset force Enee and those closest to her to face how they’ve managed their circumstances. Only through honest reflection on their secrets and well-intentioned mistakes can her family understand that true loyalty to each other isn’t meant to be rigid. It’s adaptable, vulnerable, and deeply resilient when grounded in trust. Trust that when everything collapses, regardless of the reason, they are strong enough to show up and do their best to mend what’s broken. And the best part? They don’t have to do that work alone.

The Chronicles of Noe isn’t about solving problems but about finding the heart to question them. Can you talk about why questioning is more important than answering in Enee’s journey, and how this philosophy shapes the narrative?

CCF: From the very first chapter, we see Enee in motion, executing her plan with the lionhearted determination that defines much of her character throughout the book. However, her reliance on a set of “certainties” is the kind of trap many of us, fictional or otherwise, fall into. Life is too complex for all-encompassing answers, despite people’s tendency to elevate absolutes to a royal-like status. Sure, we can argue that Enee debuts with a view that already conflicts with the systems governing her world, but the story only truly gains momentum when her own expectations are challenged. Is this messy, even painful? Of course. There’s comfort in conviction, after all. There is strength in believing you know what’s right. But if there’s fear surrounding the simple act of questioning what you’re fighting for, that conviction becomes brittle. Ultimately, in The Chronicles of Noe, questioning is the catalyst for narrative and personal change. Enee doesn’t realize this right away. Who does? But the moment she starts asking is the moment the story cracks open to new possibilities.

A history of forgotten horrors reshapes Enee’s understanding of the world. Without spoilers, what drew you to explore themes of concealed or rewritten history in a fantasy setting?

CCF: The rewriting of history is universal. Every compendium of knowledge, every storybook retelling, is a version shaped by one person’s, or a collective’s, perspective. The idea that the past can be concealed or rewritten to maintain control isn’t just thematic; it’s inevitable. Exploring that dynamic in a fantasy setting allowed me to play with the complexities of our own world, one that can be traced through the development of book culture itself. It helped me add texture and realism to The Chronicles of Noe because, even in imagined realms, truth is never neutral. 

Enee gains a power unheard of among Chimeras. Can you tell us about how you developed the magic system in this world, and what makes Chimera’s abilities unique compared to other fantasy creatures?

CCF: In the Mundus, magic isn’t something supernatural beings create. It’s something citizens of this particular world are inherently connected to, like oxygen or gravity. I wanted magic to feel ecological, to be the ecosystem rather than an exception to it.

As the story developed, magic became a reflection of power dynamics: evident in how it is taught, distributed, and, most pointedly, abused. Those who manipulate it shape civilization itself, often at the expense of those left to live with the fallout. For the Chimeras, that means carrying the burden of a world built by others’ rules. Magic is just as ancient and vital to them as it is to any other fantastical creature, but past horrors and the decisions of a select few have uniquely dictated their role. With that said, as the series unfolds, readers will learn that the Chimeras’ place in the world is far more integral than anyone, including themselves, realizes.

While the book is marketed for 12–15-year-olds, you’ve said you’ll leave it to readers of any age to decide what it means to them. What do you think young readers will take away from Enee’s story that might differ from adult readers?

CCF: Young readers will likely experience the story, its world, and its heroine with the magic of pure immediacy. That wholehearted immersion is what makes them such remarkable readers. They live the story as it unfolds, without overanalyzing its layers. In doing so, they discover the heart of why I started writing the book. If I’m lucky, some might see themselves in Enee’s courage, her messiness, and her determination to figure things out as she goes. Adults, meanwhile, may recognize the more profound messages about legacy, resilience, and history repeating itself. Both experiences are valid, and both are essential to how the story is meant to be told.

You yourself have lived amid the old magic of Connecticut’s wetlands. How has your physical environment and background—from rare book preservation to working with Tibetan texts to greenhouse cultivation—influenced the world you created for this story?

CCF: Enee’s world emerged from what I see as the ultimate feedback loop: imagination feeding the physical world, and the physical world feeding imagination. Every job, every place, every odd task I’ve taken on has contributed to building a kind of creative compost. Whether I was learning about book culture thousands of miles from home, scrubbing printing plates etched with a typeface developed for the preservation of sacred Tibetan texts, or pruning a 135-year-old lemon tree, each experience added texture to The Chronicles of Noe. For me, storytelling and life aren’t separate. They’re just different faces of the same moon. The story exists because I’ve always been drawn to the in-between, where the tactile and the mythical coexist. That’s where the story’s roots are, and where it will continue to grow.

You mentioned ahead of this interview that being a self-published author once terrified you. What changed, and what advice would you give to other writers who are nervous about taking the indie publishing path?

CCF: I catastrophize as easily as I daydream. Given how much you have to learn to successfully self-publish, I used to fear that even the slightest mistake could unravel everything. But over time, I discovered that the process isn’t about avoiding failure, it’s about becoming a tenacious troubleshooter. Problems are inevitable; explosions that set the project in literal flames are not (even if Enee might disagree). I still brace for the worst, but experience has tempered that fear by showing me what I’m capable of figuring out.

My advice for new indie authors is this: learn how to be a boss at troubleshooting. Did you miss a deadline or realize you made a mistake at the last possible second? Guess what? You’re in charge. You can fix it. Things may not go exactly as you planned, but with persistence, you can pull off even the most hair-pulling of tasks. And no, you don’t need to run at the caliber of a major publishing house to succeed. That’s the benefit of being self-published. Ask questions, do your research, and build your toolkit, but don’t surrender to worry. Things will go wrong. Your job is to handle them, adapt, and keep moving forward. Experience will prove you’re more than capable of bringing your creative vision to life.

As the first in The Chronicles of Noe series, what can readers expect from Enee’s continuing journey, and what are you most excited to explore in future installments?

CCF: The Chronicles of Noe: The Chimera & The Grail Tree is only the beginning. So much of the world had to be scaled back to make this first story, hopefully, accessible to new readers. There’s far more magic waiting beneath the surface: histories untold, powers yet to be understood, and forces lurking in the shadows, willing to do anything to keep the past hidden. What excites me most is letting readers watch Enee navigate the consequences of what she’s unleashed. The farther she goes, the more the world opens up for them to explore. A world just waiting to be remade.

About the Book

Publisher’s Book Summary: Thirteen-year-old Enelope Noe is a Chimera of legend. It makes no difference that she doesn’t resemble the three-headed monster most people expect. Enee is a Chimera—a Chimera on a mission to steal a priceless Grail Stone for a chance at a better life for her family. But as Enee approaches her goal, she gains a power unheard of among Chimeras. Or is it? Suddenly, the world is not what Enee has been led to believe. A history of forgotten horrors unravels the truth behind this newfound gift, casting doubt on everything Enee has been told about who she is. But if Enee accepts these abilities for her family’s sake, can she bear the cost of uncovering a destiny far greater than anyone thought possible?

Buy the Book

About the Author

Corlis C Fraga lives amid the old magic of Connecticut’s wetlands. Even as her eclectic resume has evolved—whether earning a master’s degree in the Rare Book and Digital Humanities, preserving Tibetan sacred texts as a bindery operator, or nurturing plants in a heritage greenhouse—her mission remains the same as the child raised to run where the wild things are: to be a storyteller who inspires others to believe in the power of limitless wonder.

For more information, check out www.fragabooks.com.

This interview—Interview with Corlis C Fraga, Author of ‘The Chronicles of Noe: The Chimera and The Grail Tree’—was conducted between Corlis C Fraga and Dr. Jen Harrison.