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.
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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 wouldnt 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: Its a fictionalized place. Its 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. Its 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 thats 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 didnt have her working as a clown. The manuscript didnt really work because other people thought that this was just a really sad book. The comedy wasnt so heightened.
DRE: Did you think that the clown thing was too clich at first?
MD: Its funny because people do think that and I can see why. But you dont really hear much about clowns. Its 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. Ive 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, Im making her have clowning as an art.
DRE: Howd 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 youre doing the corporate clown with writing?
MD: No, I dont 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 Ive 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: Theyre great. They sought me out. I had this manuscript which wasnt even circulated yet and they asked if they had anything. Im so glad I decided to work with them because theyve been wonderfully supportive.
DRE: Clown Girl got a mention on Chuck Palahniuks website, how have his fans been treating you?
MD: Theyve been great. Ive had people order it from Australia, in England and all kinds of places before its actually gone on sale. It must be because of the Chuck site.
DRE: You and Chuck were part of this Dangerous Writers 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 90s. I wasnt 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: Im 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 cant beat somebody up. Unless its 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 didnt start really writing until after I took Toms 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 60s or 70s. I grew up going to poetry readings while other people went to church all the time. That made me think that I wasnt going to be a writer. Then when I was 25, I just started writing things down and in some ways I realized Id been writing all along. Then when I hooked up with Toms 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: Im probably not going to pull out the older books. Its all been just a big learning experience so Im just going to keep moving forward. I have a couple of things I want to get going on but Im not a very fast writer.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
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 wouldnt 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: Its a fictionalized place. Its 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. Its 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 thats 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 didnt have her working as a clown. The manuscript didnt really work because other people thought that this was just a really sad book. The comedy wasnt so heightened.
DRE: Did you think that the clown thing was too clich at first?
MD: Its funny because people do think that and I can see why. But you dont really hear much about clowns. Its 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. Ive 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, Im making her have clowning as an art.
DRE: Howd 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 youre doing the corporate clown with writing?
MD: No, I dont 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 Ive 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: Theyre great. They sought me out. I had this manuscript which wasnt even circulated yet and they asked if they had anything. Im so glad I decided to work with them because theyve been wonderfully supportive.
DRE: Clown Girl got a mention on Chuck Palahniuks website, how have his fans been treating you?
MD: Theyve been great. Ive had people order it from Australia, in England and all kinds of places before its actually gone on sale. It must be because of the Chuck site.
DRE: You and Chuck were part of this Dangerous Writers 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 90s. I wasnt 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: Im 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 cant beat somebody up. Unless its 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 didnt start really writing until after I took Toms 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 60s or 70s. I grew up going to poetry readings while other people went to church all the time. That made me think that I wasnt going to be a writer. Then when I was 25, I just started writing things down and in some ways I realized Id been writing all along. Then when I hooked up with Toms 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: Im probably not going to pull out the older books. Its all been just a big learning experience so Im just going to keep moving forward. I have a couple of things I want to get going on but Im not a very fast writer.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
ickegg:
I read Clown Girl and thought it was a wonderful book. Like life, full of contradictions. Some contradictions, like the romance between the clown and the cop, were adressed by the characters themselves. Others were maybe only my take on the book, but I found it funny and sad, exotic and yet very ordinary... There are so many great authors in the Portland area, of course, Chuck Palahniuk, but one of my very favorites is Katherine Dunn, who I believe is writing for the Willamette Weekly now. I want to thank Monica Drake for realizing that maybe she is a writer and I look forward to reading more of her work.
jennifer_:
This book looks interesting. I have now resolved to try and get hold of a copy.