Debut author Madeline Claire Franklin (she/they) has arrived in the Rambling Realm. During her stay, she kindly agreed to chat with me about herself, her debut novel The Wilderness of Girls, and the secrets of her writing process.

About Madeline Claire Franklin

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

What inspired you to start writing?

The first clear memory I have of writing was creating The Last Unicorn fanfiction as a kindergartener (of course we didn’t call it “fanficiton*” back then, it was just plagiarism). I always enjoyed crafting outrageous stories during playtime, and by the time I was in fourth grade I discovered a real love of words and how they could be used to evoke imagery and feeling. I think I was ten years old when I decided to try writing a novel for the first time, and I was about eleven when the goal of becoming a published author became my dream. I had a lot of encouragement from teachers and my family, so that certainly helped fuel my ambitions.

*That is not to say I think fanfiction is "just plagiarism," but since I didn't have any concept of the creative joy and community of fanfiction, all I knew was that I was "copying" someone else and felt quite ashamed about it for many years. Thankfully I know better than to feel shame now.

About The Wilderness of Girls

What can you tell us about your debut?

What was the inspiration for The Wilderness of Girls?

My inspiration came from many different places, not least of which was a joke I made during the height of the vampire/werewolf/faerie romance trend in YA in the early 2010s: while discussing the saturation of the market, I joked to a writing buddy, “Just you wait, the next big thing in YA is going to be feral children!” And even though it was one hundred percent only a joke at the time, it got the wheels turning in my head. This happened to coincide with a feminist awakening I experienced in my late 20s which I attribute to two sources: the documentary film Miss Representation(which now feels very “feminism 101” but at the time was groundbreaking) and the text Women Who Run With the Wolvesby Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, a Jungian analysis of folktales and fairy tales that argued women were more naturally wild than society wanted us to believe. Those things, and just a general feeling of “I have been trapped in a role my entire life, and now I have the burden of stripping away the layers to find my real identity.” It made me wonder what a girl or a woman might be like if she’d never been socialized female--if she’d been allowed to nurture her truest self, instead of being sent relentless messages about what was acceptable for her appearance, expectations, education, etc.

Are there any fun behind-the-scenes moments or any hidden easter eggs in your novel that you’d like to share?

I like to pay homage to my favorite stories when I write, one of which is the novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. The tree that the girls live in while in the wild they call their “castle,” and during one of the memoir excerpts the girls say “we had always lived in the castle.” So far only one person has told me they noticed that line!

Can you share a favorite quote or excerpt from The Wilderness of Girls?

Trying to find one without spoilers that isn’t incredibly context dependent is hard! But this is one of my favorite parts:

About Writing

What was the most challenging part of writing The Wilderness of Girls?

Writing a novel about how society cages girls while the USA elected a known sexual predator to office, who then put another sexual predator on the Supreme Court, and then managed to repeal Roe v. Wade. The world was burning while I wrote this novel, and I’m frankly amazed I finished at all, let alone got it published. But the world was also showing me why I needed to write this novel, even if only for myself.

How would you describe your writing process?

Slow, eccentric, and unpredictable. Sometimes I outline, and sometimes I don’t. I usually do a lot of research around my subject matter both for the actual writing and for inspiration. I’ve started a habit of keeping a Google doc where I collect things I find interesting about the subject matter, thoughts I have about it, art work and articles related to it, and random ideas for character inspiration and events. I’m beginning to learn/accept my first drafts almost never look anything like my final drafts, and that’s okay. It’s a messy process, but so are a lot of things that are worthwhile.

How would you describe your writing style?

Other people have called my writing “lyrical” and “lush,” but I like to call it “visceral.” I am an extremely sensitive person when it comes to the physical world (thanks, neurodivergence!) and I like to make my readers feel grounded in place and body when they’re in my stories. I want you to feel the fog on your skin, the dirt between your toes, the backpack strap over your shoulder; I want you to smell the fresh cut grass, taste the sweat on your lip. I want to transport readers, not just tell them a story.

What have you learned from writing your debut novel?

That no two novels will ever be the same, as far as the writing journey. I’ve written many other manuscripts before and I was starting to think I could discern some kind of pattern, until I started this manuscript and it changed everything.

Do you have any strange or fun writing habits or rituals?

My rituals are by necessity: I have a day job and a chronic illness I have to work around, so I tend to write in the mornings before work, and on Saturdays pretty much all day (I usually go to the bookstore/cafe down the street for these marathon days). But I do like to start each writing session with a 5-15 minute brain dump. I’ll open a Google doc and type stream-of-consciousness style and try to get all my random thoughts out so they don’t bother me during my writing time. Also, of course, having a beverage besides water is a necessity.

What's your favorite writing snack or beverage?

Well, it’s warming up now so my favorite beverage these days is an iced americano with cream. I have my own espresso maker at home so I can have this when working from my home office, or if I’m out working at a cafe. But truly, water is the most important beverage. A dehydrated writer is no good to anyone!

If you could choose any place—real or fictional—to write your next novel where would it be and why?

I am always ready to pack my things and live in a (preferably haunted) castle by the sea to write. It doesn’t matter what I’m writing, I know living in a haunted castle by the sea will help.

What's the most unusual place where you've found inspiration for your writing?

I’m used to getting inspiration from everywhere and everything, so it’s hard to conceive of an “unusual” source, but I would have to say for this book it was Buzzfeed. Not anything on Buzzfeed like an article or something, just their whole schtick, how they can turn just about any subject matter into a dumb quiz to get those affiliate clicks/sales. I lowkey hate and admire it. But if you read The Wilderness of Girls, you’ll see how it worked its way in.

Franklin’s Advice

What do you think is the most important thing for debut authors to know?

Trade reviews really do not matter. Oh, it’s wonderful to get a great trade review, or even a star! But if they don’t like it? Truly, it does not matter. Most casual readers have never heard of Kirkus, or Booklist, or any number of trade publications. True, librarians and booksellers know about them, but they also know that a review, even from a professional, is still ultimately just one person’s opinion (and you should keep that in mind as well!).

Are there any resources or tools that were particularly helpful to you during your writing journey?

Query Tracker! Back when I first started querying agents in my 20s we didn’t have tools like that. I had spreadsheets I made and used to try to keep track of responses, but Query Tracker makes life so much easier for querying authors. Especially once you get an offer, it’s good etiquette to contact agents who have the manuscript and either give them a chance to read now, or withdraw your query.

What is the strangest thing you had to research for The Wilderness of Girls?

It doesn’t seem so strange at this point, but at the beginning I had to read a lot about feral children, both in real life and in fiction. I’ve learned about a lot of real life cases of “dog children” who get adopted by wild dogs, and read memoirs about being raised by animals. A lot of these stories are difficult to prove they really happened, but they’re still quite compelling and fascinating (if grim) to imagine.

What does Madeline Claire read?

What genres do you enjoy reading the most?

I’m all over the place when it comes to genre, but I do tend to like stories with a touch of the fantastical. The more difficult to categorize, the more I usually enjoy a book. That said, I’m always excited for a good ghost story, haunted house situation, gothic romance, or speculative stories that really go for it (Body of Stars by Laura Maylene Walter always comes to mind. Read it! It’s so good). And coming from an MFA program for Writing for Children and Young Adults I read across age groups, too. When I really want to be moved by a story, I usually look to children’s books.

Who are some of your favorite authors, and how have they influenced your writing?

Shirley Jackson, Nova Ren Suma, Philip Pullman. I think all three probably have very different styles and would have very different ideas about what makes for good writing (especially in 2024) but they’re all important authors for me. Nova Ren Suma’s work inspired me to keep writing when I thought my ideas were just “too hard to categorize” for traditional publishing. Philip Pullman’s HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy is simply my favorite book series of all time, and taught me to tell “true stories” even in fiction. And Shirley Jackson, well…it’s not so much her work as her life that inspired me. I did already love her writing, my favorite being the aforementioned We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House (I also love the movie from 1963). After reading a biography about her, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin (no relation), I felt far too many parallels to her than I felt comfortable with. If you don’t know, Shirley Jackson died at age 48 from a heart attack, after years of poor health that, on paper, looked like a woman’s correct emotional reaction to an untenable situation (anxiety, depression) being mismanaged by male doctors who just wanted to make sure she had the energy to cook and clean while she wrote the masterpieces that supported her family (Stanley was not the breadwinner no matter what he wanted people to think). I was actually working on this book when I read that biography, and dealing with my own mysterious health issues. I saw a connection between Shirley’s dissatisfaction with her life and her untimely death, robbing us of her genius far too early and depriving the world of all her future works. I didn’t want that for myself. It may sound presumptuous and silly, but I made a vow to myself to live my best writing life in Shirley Jackson’s honor.

What's the last book you read that you couldn't put down?

I’ll give you two: Not Quite A Ghost by Anne Ursu, which, as a person with mysterious chronic illness, made me actually sob several times; and Girls Who Burn by fellow 2024 debut M.K. Pagano, which kept me up way past my bedtime trying to figure out who the murderer was!

If you could have dinner with any three authors (dead or alive), who would they be and why?

Shirley Jackson, obviously--not just for the reasons above, but because from her letters and diary entries she genuinely seems like such a curious, beautiful, sharp-witted person, I would love to hear her thoughts on just about anything; Ursula K. LeGuin, because her thoughts on fiction and feminism were so ahead of their time and so fundamental to my growth as a writer; and for the living, A.M. Jenkins, who I was lucky enough to have as an advisor my final semester of grad school, but who unfortunately lives nowhere near me. I would just like to catch up and say thank you, again, for everything she taught me.

Franklin’s Plans for the Future

What are you working on next?

I’m working on an unwieldy little book that keeps changing shape and color, but at its heart I know is about the painful lack of real justice in the world for victims of sexual assault, and the double-edged power of monstrous femininity. It should be out sometime in the next two years, but you never really know with publishing.

Where can readers find your book and connect with you?

You can find The Wilderness of Girls anywhere books are sold! You can order from your local indie, BookShop.org, BN.com, Amazon, or request it at your local library. If you’d like to connect, my website is simple enough www.madelineclairefranklin.com, or you can find me on Instagram @madelineclairefranklin.

Is there anything you would like to say to your readers?

Welcome to the pack!

Unfortunately, the time has come for Madeline Claire Franklin to continue her journey. But if you wish to find her outside of the Rambling Realm you can do so by visiting her website or following her on Twitter, Threads, Instagram, Substack, and Goodreads. .

You can get your copy of The Wilderness of Girls by following this link.