About the Author: Ellen O'Clover
What would you like readers to know about you?
I write YA books about finding your people, falling in love, and figuring it all out (or trying to, anyway). Basically: about the messy business of growing up and being a person in the world! I live in Colorado, surrounded by books and mountains and my two French Bulldogs, Puffin and Gorilla (Lilly for short).
What music do you listen to (if any) when you write?
I can’t do music while I’m writing! Listening to other peoples’ words makes it impossible for me to think up my own. Writing background noise in my house is usually my dogs snoring.
What books or authors inspired you to become a writer?
Sarah Dessen’s YA novels meant so much to me when I was a teenager—and still do. I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was much younger; when I was really little, I read and wrote tons of fantasy. But it wasn’t until I grew up a bit and started reading contemporary YA that I saw myself in stories and realized those were the types of journeys I wanted to write long-term.
About the Book: The Someday Daughter
What is your book about for those who haven’t read it?
The Someday Daughter follows 18-year-old Audrey during the summer before her freshman year of college, as she’s forced into the spotlight on a nationwide book tour with her self-help superstar mom—who became famous for writing a book about her, but who she secretly has a terrible relationship with. As her summer on the road unfolds—and she spends more time with both her mother and the unexpectedly charming tour intern, Silas—Audrey will uncover secrets about her family, and herself, that upset everything she’s so carefully planned for her future.
What has been your inspiration for writing it?
I spent a lot of time during the pandemic consuming wellness content — especially mental wellness. People like Brené Brown, Glennon Doyle, Gwyneth Paltrow. And as I listened to them, I started to wonder what it would be like to be the teenage daughter of someone like this: to be navigating the great mess of self-discovery while your parent is out in the world, a beacon of mental health and radical self-care.
That’s how the idea for THE SOMEDAY DAUGHTER began: what would happen if the child of a mental health icon was struggling with her own mental health, and there was a disconnect between her mother’s public discourse and the way she handles mental illness privately with her daughter? Audrey has to grapple with the tension between how her mother presents mental health and her own, lived experience of anxiety.
What was your favorite scene or part of your book to write?
On the Nashville tour stop, Audrey has a panic attack. It’s only the second time she’s experienced one and she doesn’t know what’s happening to her: only that it’s wrong, and she’s ashamed, and she wants to hide. Writing this scene and its fallout took me so many tries to get right. It’s the emotional core of the book, where Audrey hits rock bottom and has to confront her true self there: a young woman with intense anxiety. She doesn’t want to be this way, or feel these things. I’m proud of how this scene turned out, and the message that it sends to young readers: feelings don’t come with value judgments, they just are. Any way that you’re feeling—even if it’s uncomfortable—is okay. It does not make you unworthy.
Where can your book be purchased?
Anywhere books are sold! I always recommend Bookshop.org, which is a nonprofit that supports independent bookstores.
To the Future Writer:
What advice would you give to aspiring authors who want to write a book?
I like to remind new writers (and myself!) that writing is the art, and publishing is the business. I think the more you keep those buckets separate in your brain, the happier you’ll be. There will be challenges and disappointments that come from the business side of making books—but if you write the stories you believe in, you’ll always have that to hold onto: work that you’re proud of. No book is for every reader; no piece of art is for everyone. But if you keep writing your stories, eventually they’ll find their readers. Hold onto your magic.
What’s next for you? Any events, upcoming pubs, etc.
I will be at Books Are Awesome in Parker, CO from 12-2pm on Sunday, March 3 to sign copies of my books and chat with readers! I’m also hosting a Writing Young Love workshop on Sunday, March 17 as part of Lighthouse Writers’ YA Lit Fest.
Where can we find you?
Twitter, Instagram, TikTok- @ellenoclover
Website- www.ellenoclover.com
What’s on your TBR list?
What isn’t on my TBR list is the better question!! Right now, I’m very excited about Finally Fitz by Marisa Kanter (out in May) and Us in Ruins by Rachel Moore (out in September).