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Clown Girl author Monica Drake
By Daniel Robert Epstein
Feb 20, 2007
To quote Chuck Palahniuk, “Clown Girl is its own reality.” Clown Girl author Monica Drake has created the story of Nita, a student of the art of clowning who has fallen on hard times. Her mentor and lover, Rex, has gone off to try to get into a prestigious clowning school leaving her living with a pot dealer and trying to scrape by doing corporate clowning with fetishists. Nita is also being wooed by a local cop who seems to be around every corner while trying to keep her dignity.
Buy Clown Girl
Daniel Robert Epstein: Is Clown Girl autobiographical at all?
Monica Drake: It is very much fictionalized. But I did work as a clown for a time. When I started drafting the book, it was originally very different and I lived in a pretty bad neighborhood. I was definitely taking things that happened in the neighborhood and having some fun with them. There are things that if you looked at them too directly it wouldn’t seem interesting or funny but to turn it into that fictionalized world of Baloneytown made it a lot more fun.
DRE:
So it was supposed to be in the Portland area?
MD:
It’s a fictionalized place. It’s Baloneytown but I was in Portland at the time of writing it.
DRE:
Were you as dedicated to being a clown as Nita?
MD:
No, for me it came and went in about six months. Clowning could stand for any creative endeavor. I am dedicated to writing. In its own way writing meets with as much opposition as her clowning. It’s a metaphor for putting yourself out there in a way that really reveals you. I think a lot of the best writing really does that.
DRE:
Did the idea of a woman that’s a clown come first?
MD:
It came about in two different ways. In the original manuscript she was not actually a clown but she was very clown-like. I just didn’t have her working as a clown. The manuscript didn’t really work because other people thought that this was just a really sad book. The comedy wasn’t so heightened.
DRE:
Did you think that the clown thing was too cliché at first?
MD:
It’s funny because people do think that and I can see why. But you don’t really hear much about clowns. It’s just such a strong image so that one movie or one thing that has clowns in it can speak very loudly. I think I was erring on the side of subtlety. Everything was just too subtle with me seeing her as clown-like and when I got away from realism the book found its own shape.
DRE:
Did you do research to know what clowns are about or did you already know about them from your experience?
MD:
The cool thing about clowning is that just about every type of clown imaginable has about every type of relationship in clowning. I try to cover a broad range in the book. I’ve been told that the largest number of clowns in the U.S. are Christian clowns. These Christian clowns run what they call clown ministries and it is their way of reaching out to people through clowning and bringing the word of Jesus to people through clowning. They believed that Jesus was a clown. At the other end you have clown pornography and people who fetishize the image of clowns. Then you have the high acrobatic clown like Cirque du Soleil which people pay over a hundred dollars.
DRE:
There are so many weird things out there.
MD:
When I was a clown I drew mostly on my own relationship to clowning but I ended up doing commercial work. For me it was not a big deal being a clown but for Clown Girl, I’m making her have clowning as an art.
DRE:
How’d you get into clowning in the first place?
MD:
In college I took some theater and dance classes and one of my teachers had some work lined up.
DRE:
I know you write for a few papers, do you ever feel like you’re doing the corporate clown with writing?
MD:
No, I don’t because I never wrote for those kinds of papers. I feel like I have always been lucky in the things that I have written because I have freedom to write what I wanted. But I think I do feel it when I’ve been trying to sell a novel. This is the third novel I have written. The first two are in the storage.
DRE:
What made you go with Hawthorne Books?
MD:
They’re great. They sought me out. I had this manuscript which wasn’t even circulated yet and they asked if they had anything. I’m so glad I decided to work with them because they’ve been wonderfully supportive.
DRE:
Clown Girl got a mention on Chuck Palahniuk’s website, how have his fans been treating you?
MD:
They’ve been great. I’ve had people order it from Australia, in England and all kinds of places before it’s actually gone on sale. It must be because of the Chuck site.
DRE:
You and Chuck were part of this Dangerous Writer’s Group, can you tell me about that?
MD:
It was a long time ago I was part of that before Chuck joined and I think before it had the Dangerous title. Tom Spanbauer had just moved to Portland in the early 90’s. I wasn’t doing much writing yet. I had only taken one writing class from a woman named Andrea Carlyle and when her writing class was over she said this wonderful man just moved to Portland and that I should take his class. So I was one of his first students and then not long after that Chuck joined the workshop. It was a great. Tom is a really great instructor in terms of inspiring me to write so it was very valuable experience to cross paths with him. Once Chuck joined the group it really took off for me to because Chuck got a kick out of my writing and I adored his work from the beginning. I think to keep going all you need is a couple people that get it.
DRE:
I saw that you review a lot of books, are you nervous about people reviewing your work?
MD:
I’m eager to see the reviews. When I review I try not to trash books. It takes so much time and energy to write even a bad book so I feel like I can’t beat somebody up. Unless it’s somebody really big and acclaimed.
DRE:
Where did you grow up?
MD:
I grew up between Portland and Michigan
DRE:
Were you always writing?
MD:
No, I didn’t start really writing until after I took Tom’s class and I was about 23. But my parents are both writers. My mom is mostly a poet and essayist. My dad has written poetry and short stories. He was in Best American Short Stories back in the 60’s or 70’s. I grew up going to poetry readings while other people went to church all the time. That made me think that I wasn’t going to be a writer. Then when I was 25, I just started writing things down and in some ways I realized I’d been writing all along. Then when I hooked up with Tom’s writing class it got more exciting.
DRE:
Are you planning on writing another book right away or are you going to pull out your other manuscripts?
MD:
I’m probably not going to pull out the older books. It’s all been just a big learning experience so I’m just going to keep moving forward. I have a couple of things I want to get going on but I’m not a very fast writer.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
To quote Chuck Palahniuk, “Clown Girl is its own reality.” Clown Girl author Monica Drake has created the story of Nita, a student of the art of clowning who has fallen on hard times. Her mentor and lover, Rex, has gone off to try to get into a prestigious clowning school leaving her living with a pot dealer and trying to scrape by doing corporate clowning with fetishists. Nita is also being wooed by a local cop who seems to be around every corner while trying to keep her dignity.
Buy Clown Girl
Daniel Robert Epstein: Is Clown Girl autobiographical at all?
Monica Drake: It is very much fictionalized. But I did work as a clown for a time. When I started drafting the book, it was originally very different and I lived in a pretty bad neighborhood. I was definitely taking things that happened in the neighborhood and having some fun with them. There are things that if you looked at them too directly it wouldn’t seem interesting or funny but to turn it into that fictionalized world of Baloneytown made it a lot more fun.
DRE:
So it was supposed to be in the Portland area?
MD:
It’s a fictionalized place. It’s Baloneytown but I was in Portland at the time of writing it.
DRE:
Were you as dedicated to being a clown as Nita?
MD:
No, for me it came and went in about six months. Clowning could stand for any creative endeavor. I am dedicated to writing. In its own way writing meets with as much opposition as her clowning. It’s a metaphor for putting yourself out there in a way that really reveals you. I think a lot of the best writing really does that.
DRE:
Did the idea of a woman that’s a clown come first?
MD:
It came about in two different ways. In the original manuscript she was not actually a clown but she was very clown-like. I just didn’t have her working as a clown. The manuscript didn’t really work because other people thought that this was just a really sad book. The comedy wasn’t so heightened.
DRE:
Did you think that the clown thing was too cliché at first?
MD:
It’s funny because people do think that and I can see why. But you don’t really hear much about clowns. It’s just such a strong image so that one movie or one thing that has clowns in it can speak very loudly. I think I was erring on the side of subtlety. Everything was just too subtle with me seeing her as clown-like and when I got away from realism the book found its own shape.
DRE:
Did you do research to know what clowns are about or did you already know about them from your experience?
MD:
The cool thing about clowning is that just about every type of clown imaginable has about every type of relationship in clowning. I try to cover a broad range in the book. I’ve been told that the largest number of clowns in the U.S. are Christian clowns. These Christian clowns run what they call clown ministries and it is their way of reaching out to people through clowning and bringing the word of Jesus to people through clowning. They believed that Jesus was a clown. At the other end you have clown pornography and people who fetishize the image of clowns. Then you have the high acrobatic clown like Cirque du Soleil which people pay over a hundred dollars.
DRE:
There are so many weird things out there.
MD:
When I was a clown I drew mostly on my own relationship to clowning but I ended up doing commercial work. For me it was not a big deal being a clown but for Clown Girl, I’m making her have clowning as an art.
DRE:
How’d you get into clowning in the first place?
MD:
In college I took some theater and dance classes and one of my teachers had some work lined up.
DRE:
I know you write for a few papers, do you ever feel like you’re doing the corporate clown with writing?
MD:
No, I don’t because I never wrote for those kinds of papers. I feel like I have always been lucky in the things that I have written because I have freedom to write what I wanted. But I think I do feel it when I’ve been trying to sell a novel. This is the third novel I have written. The first two are in the storage.
DRE:
What made you go with Hawthorne Books?
MD:
They’re great. They sought me out. I had this manuscript which wasn’t even circulated yet and they asked if they had anything. I’m so glad I decided to work with them because they’ve been wonderfully supportive.
DRE:
Clown Girl got a mention on Chuck Palahniuk’s website, how have his fans been treating you?
MD:
They’ve been great. I’ve had people order it from Australia, in England and all kinds of places before it’s actually gone on sale. It must be because of the Chuck site.
DRE:
You and Chuck were part of this Dangerous Writer’s Group, can you tell me about that?
MD:
It was a long time ago I was part of that before Chuck joined and I think before it had the Dangerous title. Tom Spanbauer had just moved to Portland in the early 90’s. I wasn’t doing much writing yet. I had only taken one writing class from a woman named Andrea Carlyle and when her writing class was over she said this wonderful man just moved to Portland and that I should take his class. So I was one of his first students and then not long after that Chuck joined the workshop. It was a great. Tom is a really great instructor in terms of inspiring me to write so it was very valuable experience to cross paths with him. Once Chuck joined the group it really took off for me to because Chuck got a kick out of my writing and I adored his work from the beginning. I think to keep going all you need is a couple people that get it.
DRE:
I saw that you review a lot of books, are you nervous about people reviewing your work?
MD:
I’m eager to see the reviews. When I review I try not to trash books. It takes so much time and energy to write even a bad book so I feel like I can’t beat somebody up. Unless it’s somebody really big and acclaimed.
DRE:
Where did you grow up?
MD:
I grew up between Portland and Michigan
DRE:
Were you always writing?
MD:
No, I didn’t start really writing until after I took Tom’s class and I was about 23. But my parents are both writers. My mom is mostly a poet and essayist. My dad has written poetry and short stories. He was in Best American Short Stories back in the 60’s or 70’s. I grew up going to poetry readings while other people went to church all the time. That made me think that I wasn’t going to be a writer. Then when I was 25, I just started writing things down and in some ways I realized I’d been writing all along. Then when I hooked up with Tom’s writing class it got more exciting.
DRE:
Are you planning on writing another book right away or are you going to pull out your other manuscripts?
MD:
I’m probably not going to pull out the older books. It’s all been just a big learning experience so I’m just going to keep moving forward. I have a couple of things I want to get going on but I’m not a very fast writer.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
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