Blog Tour: What Happens Next

As part of the What Happens Next blog tour, I interviewed Colleen Clayton, the author of this amazing contemporary!

Fiction Freak: The question that all authors HAVE to answer--what inspired What Happens Next?

Colleen Clayton: I wanted to write a story that explores the connection between sexual assault and eating disorders. Studies have shown that survivors of assault are at risk for developing eating disorders and it makes so much sense when you think about it. I started researching and thought yes, this is something I want to write about. I also wanted to write a story where a girl regains her sense of physical and emotional desire post-assault. It was important for me to convey to readers that horrible experiences do not have to define your entire life, that there is hope for a brighter day.

I also enjoy writing place-based stories that take readers to fictionalized versions of real places. I grew up in a suburb of Cleveland and have lived in the Rust Belt my entire life. I wanted to write  a story set there. It’s a place that is often stereotyped in fiction and media. I mean how many times have Cleveland and other Rust Belt cities been the butt of jokes in Hollywood? The only place that I think gets railed on more is my parents’ home state of West Virginia. I wanted to write a story set in my hometown because I love it so much. Cleveland, Ohio (AND West Virginia) are great places to live.

FF: What Happens Next deals with some real problems and Cassidy (Sid) goes through some emotional turmoil. What made you decide you wanted to write that kind of book?

CC: I’ve always loved reading reality-based, young adult issue books and think they are so important to the world of literature. I am thrilled that my book can now be counted among them.  Regarding emotional turmoil, it was important to explore the trauma of what happens to Sid and do so in a believable, empathetic way. However, I also wanted to depict the ups-and-downs of a wider high school landscape as well as provide a good dose of hope and moments of levity throughout the narrative. I didn’t ever want Sid’s story to be singularly-focused or filled with page-upon-page of doom and gloom. People who experience trauma of any kind usually don’t feel horrible every waking second of the day.  Real life is not that black and white. There are usually glimpses of joy and laughter, even in the darkest of circumstances.

FF: Just out of curiosity--have you ever experienced a "rage black out"?

CC: I have.  In fact, the incident in the book about the kittens that Corey tells Sid about? That actually happened to me in college. That is one of the few things in my book that is based upon real life. Every word of that gruesome, sad tale is true. I won’t spoil it for readers but needless to say, I had a ‘rage-induced black out’ over it. I went completely APE-&#%+ on a horrible neighbor regarding some abused kittens and I don’t remember any of it. My roommates told me the things I said to her and I seriously don’t remember a single moment of it to this day.

FF: Throughout the book, Sid hides an extremely gigantic secret from friends and family--have you ever done that?

CC: Yes. But I want to be clear in saying that this is not in any way related to the story that I wrote. I believe that people who have experienced assault of any kind should tell someone and seek help. But to answer the question, there some things that I’ve experience in life that I’ve kept to myself, that I’ve not told even my shadow. Sometimes there are things that happen that are just better left unspoken.  I don’t believe that you should have to share everything that happens to you. If something happens to you that you never want to talk about with another human being, then that is okay. It’s your life and you can do that.

FF: Did you ever consider writing a dystopian/ fantasy etc. before deciding to write contemporary?

CC: No. I did however write a short sci-fi, paranormal genre blender story after I wrote WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. I kind of like it. It’s sitting in my hard-drive waiting for me to be brave enough to grow it into a novel. I have great respect for genre writers. Genre stories are extremely difficult to write because you can’t rely on the world that you and the reader are already familiar with. If I say the words: gas station, Christmas,  bicycle the author and reader have a shared understanding of what these things are. To build “other worldly” landscapes,  gadgets, political structures, and species is a daunting task.  

FF: The fun question! Are you a Sid skier (bad) or a Paige/Kirsten skier (good)?

CC: I am a somewhere in between. I can handle a green/blue diamond run on the slopes. Black diamonds…egh, not so much. But I hope to improve on it! Skiing is just so darn expensive and then if I go, I have to take my kids which really just gets into some serious dollars. But we try to go as a family about twice a year.  

FF: After What Happens Next releases, well...what happens next? Any other books on the way?

CC: I’m editing a book right now with my agent. It is set in the same high school but features different characters and issues. I’m having a good time with it. It’s a great story with a lot of potential, I think.

FF: Randomly: Can you bake anything as scrumptious as Corey?

CC: Oh, God no. I H-A-T-E baking. In fact, I hate cooking altogether. Generally, anything in the domestic realm (baking, cooking, gardening, sewing, extreme couponing, and then certainly cleaning…) you can keep all that. If I won the mega-millions, the first thing I would do is get a maid and personal chef. Funny thing though…I love watching Food Network shows! I mention one of them in my book, Iron Chef America. (Go Chef Symon! Cleveland boy…represent!)

FF: What has been one of your favorite debuts of the year and why?

CC: I loved BUTTER by Erin Jade Lange. It was so funny and poignant and had such voice.

FF: What's one random, hilarious fact about you?

CC: Colleen = World’s Biggest Ding Bat. I am seriously Out. To. Lunnnnch half the time, stuck inside my own head with the world buzzing around me. To give a recent example…I teach writing at Youngstown State. School started last week on a Wednesday. I showed up, syllabus in hand, all rarin’ to go on Tuesday. The parking lot was near empty and I still didn’t get it. I thought: “Wow, I heard enrollment was down but this is just sad! Poor YSU.” I marched to my class and sat outside the empty classroom worrying that everyone had dropped my class or that it had been canceled from the schedule. Someone finally clued me in: Uh, school doesn’t start until tomorrow, Colleen. It was so embarrassing. The good thing is that my friends and family have accepted this about me and love me anyway.  

What Happens Next Blurb
How can you talk about something you can’t rememberz

an town just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating from Kent State University, she worked as a social worker in residential treatment centers for troubled teens and as Program Supervisor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mahoning Valley. She currently lives in Ohio with her family and recently received her MFA in fiction writing from the Northeast Ohio Consortium (NEOMFA). She teaches fiction writing and composition at Youngstown State University.

 

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