What I thought was going to be a standalone retelling of Gaston turned into a trilogy of villains’ tales alongside unlikely romances. I’ve always loved the hero and wasn’t fond of villains or morally gray characters that readers of young adult fantasy books swoon over. I like a character that eventually chooses a side between light and darkness and not just stay in between. That’s why I set out to write a Gaston-type with an unpredictable ending and named him Gerard.

I wanted to revamp the anti-hero trope a bit to provide a wholesome alternative for readers. Too often the main stream celebrates, rewards, and excuses bad behavior. It becomes glamorous or romantic to break the law or have less than honorable motives. 

In my stories, even the vilest pirate gets his chance to choose light or darkness, but all choices have consequences and I don’t romanticize “bad boys”. I gave reasons and backstories for the evil characters to show more depth than Disney gave to pompous Gaston. Flawed characters help readers relate to stories, but I want to give them hope that despite our weaknesses or failures, there is always a way to become the best version of ourselves.

Since Gerard, in Bellarose and the Beast, was my first attempt at retelling a famous fairy tale character, Gaston, I researched information on him. I discovered Gaston was an original Disney character and not part of the first Beauty and the Beast novel by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in 1740.

Below is a chart of the similarities and differences between Gaston and Gerard. I hope you find it interesting.