Author Choice video: Colleen Clayton

I asked author Colleen Clayton: If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life what would it be and why? 
Her reply was:  "Never Is a Promise" by Fiona Apple is my all time favorite song. It got me through seven years of query rejection, disappointment, naysayers, ridicule, and doubt. It's my personal anthem and I never tire of listening to it. 

Enjoy! 

Author interview: Colleen Clayton

Today I have the awesome Colleen Clayton! Enjoy!

Please introduce yourself.

Hi, my name is Colleen and I wrote a book! It's called WHAT HAPPENS NEXT and it's available on October 9th! :) Leona was my 100th Twitter follower so I sent her an ARC the moment they came in. She was the very first person, outside of my family, agent, and editor to read the ARC version. She liked it so well that she asked to interview me for her blog! So, here I am! (And can I just add that my main character, Cassidy Murphy, as well as myself are American-Irish so I was beyond thrilled to send the first ARC over the ocean to Ireland...)

What made you want to write a book that dealt with the issues raised in What Happens Next?

I wanted to write about drug-induced sexual assault because it happens. It was happening when I was a high school and college student and it still happens today. I wanted to write about a girl who is naturally outgoing and headstrong, who has very normal insecurities about her body but still, overall, is a very vivacious, outspoken, and sharply witty girl. But a girl who, despite being all these things, still falls victim to a predator and whose post-traumatic stress surfaces in not-so-textbook ways. 

Most people who are assaulted do not tell anyone or report their assault. Are they all shy and introverted? No. All types of people experience assault and don't tell. Also, I wanted to write about eating disorders that develop as a result of sexual assault. Lastly, I wanted to write about a girl who rediscovers her sexuality and sense of desire, post-assault, and does so in a healthy way. I wanted to write a story that is hopeful. 

What kind of research did you do for the book? 

I read a lot of articles that link sexual assault with eating disorders. Also, I visited my setting a lot. Lakewood, Ohio is a real city, most of the places mentioned in the book are real. 

  When did you first realise that you wanted to pursue writing as a career? 

Ha! Not til my mid-thirties. I come from a very working class background and was the first person to attend college in my entire extended family on both sides. Most of my family are factory workers, coal miners, waitresses, etc. Paying for college seemed like such a luxury and I've felt the need to have "A Real Job" my entire life in order to give my parents and myself a return on our investment.  "Being a writer" never even occurred to me until my mid-thirties. Pursuing writing (or the arts in general) just seemed like something mysterious, sove this. I want to work with you. I secured an agent, we worked on the manuscript for about

If you could have written a book that isn't yours what would it be and why? 

In YA, I'd say "Stolen" by Lucy Christopher. Oh, that book kept me up at night! What a voice. Chilling but profoundly moving. In adult: "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. His main character Ignatius C. Reilly is the funniest literary figure of all time, hands down.  And then anything by Jean Shepherd. I enjoy humor immensely (subtle, dark, tragic, satire, low-brow, standup, slapstick, whatever...) It's so tremendously hard to write humor and I respect the hell out of anyone who can do it well. 

How did you go about getting your book published? 

Querying the heck out of it! Being rejected over and over and over, until FINALLY someone said: I love this. I want to work with you. I secured an agent, we worked on the manuscript for about six months, then she sent it out on submission to about ten major publishing houses. I had an offer within a few weeks from Poppy/Little, Brown. 

  

What book are you looking forward to most in 2012? 

"My Life Next Door" by Huntley Fitzpatrick. I read an ARC of it a few months back and it was so, so good. Just lovely. I can't wait for it to come out this summer. 

What are you working on at the minute?

I am working on another YA novel set in Ohio. Not really a companion or sequel, but it is set in the same area: Lakewood High/Cleveland, Ohio and features a 16 year old girl named Julianne. Then, because it is set in summer, the setting moves to Middle Bass Island off Lake Erie and then Sandusky, Ohio at our world-famous roller coaster park, Cedar Point. I love writing about Ohio. 

ARC review: What Happens Next by Colleen Clayton

Publisher: Poppy
Publish date: October 9th 2012
How can you talk about something you can't remember?


Before the ski trip, sixteen-year-old Cassidy "Sid" Murphy was a cheerleader, a straight-A student, and a member of a solid trio of best friends. When she ends up on a ski lift next to handsome local college boy, Dax Windsor, she's thrilled; but Dax takes everything from Sid - including a lock of her perfect red curls - and she can't remember any of it.

Back home and alienated by her friends, Sid drops her college prep classes and takes up residence in the A/V room with only Corey "The Living Stoner" Livingston for company. But as she gets to know Corey (slacker, baker, total dreamboat), Sid finds someone who truly makes her happy. Now, if she can just shake the nightmares and those few extra pounds, everything will be perfect... or so she thinks.


What Happens Next is an interesting look into the side of life that I have not come across in any books that I have read. It follows the story of Cassidy 'Sid' Murphy and how she deals with an event that happens to her early on in the book. It was interesting to see how she dealt with the events of the ski trip and how she creates a fairytale story of what happened. At points I felt like shouting at her to tell but then I realised that she is doing what so many people do and that is keeping it quiet. I think that the way she dealt with it was very realistic and I think it made her more understandable as a character and allowed the reader to connect with her and feel sympathy towards her. The fact that she deals with it in the manner in which she did made the book so much more interesting to read. I felt really sorry for her and I have to say that I was rather emotional at times during this book.



I love the romance in the book. It is cute and realistic unlike so many others I could actually believe that they liked eachother. Corey is an amazing character and I love that he shows alot of support towards Sid.


I took my time reading this book so that I could savour every single word.I really couldn't believe that it was a DEBUT novel! It is an amazing debut novel and a MUST read!