When homeschooled Claire Fraise
was 13 years old, she founded and incorporated an animal rescue company. Over
the next year-and-a-half, she saved the lives of 20 dogs that were residing in
kill shelters, often within days of euthanasia, many of them in the South. She placed them first in a network of foster
families she developed herself and found permanent families for all of them. It’s no surprise that just three years later,
at age 16, this bright, spunky girl has written and published her first book –
a 344-page, sci-fi thriller in the spirit of bestselling YA fare like The Hunger Games, Divergent and Fifth Wave.
Her debut novel,
Imperfect, projects a dark world some 400 years ahead, where a
tyrannical, corporation-controlled government sees fit to experiment on children
and to use its lab-based enhancements to build a superior army. Summer Greenwood, the orphaned heroine living
in an impoverished ghetto, seeks to save herself and siblings from dire consequences
while discovering some life-shattering truths about her parents, her life, and
the world she’s lived in.
“Imperfect was a challenging
book to write,” says Claire. “It took many drafts and re-writes but it was the
story I wanted to tell. It offers a
different perspective and I hope people really enjoy reading it.”
Imperfect is sure to spark numerous conversations,
including these:
·
Will the
United States break apart one day, destroyed by another civil war?
·
What
happens when corporations have the power to run a nation?
·
Can
anything rival the human instinct for survival and the spirit to live?
·
How do
you balance scientific advances with individual liberty?
·
Will
technology and scientific advancements always be used as weapons, as tools to
kill or oppress rather than to advance the quality and quantity of life?
·
How can
one person rise up to make a difference?
·
How do the
bonds of family and strong friendships motivate one’s actions beyond any other
relationship?
“Imperfect explores topics and moral dilemmas I have always been
interested in,’ concludes Claire. “But above all it’s a story about characters
I really love.”
The story reads like a movie and
that is by design. The talented Connecticut resident is also passionate about
musical theater and has been chosen to participate in the exclusive Broadway
Artist Alliance summer program for the past two years. She loves playing guitar and the piano when
she is not cuddling with her two rescue dogs.
Life may be imperfect, but
Claire certainly is showing how one ambitious teenager can strive towards
perfection.
Here is a Q & A with
Claire:
1.
Claire, what inspired
you to write your debut book, an action-packed YA sci-fi thriller?
Throughout
middle school, I loved YA thrillers. I read any book from that genre that I
could get my hands on. After a while, though, many of the stories began to feel
the same to me and it was difficult to find something fresh and original. So, I
decided to write the story that I wanted to read. I came up with the concept
for Imperfect in eighth grade but actually started writing it
in my freshman year of high school. What’s funny is that it started out as a sci-fi
story about Roman gladiators—it’s obviously changed a lot since then.
2.
As a teenager penning
her first book, what challenges did you have to overcome in order to put
together such a good book? The process was full of experimentation. As Imperfect was
my first novel, I had no idea how to approach this kind of project. I re-wrote
the entire manuscript about six times, constantly brainstorming and time-lining as I went. Also, I never received any sort of formal creative
writing training, so I taught myself to write by reading all sorts of
novels paying special attention to how those authors structured their plot arcs
and developed their characters.
3.
What is Imperfect
about? Imperfect is the
story of a fifteen year old girl, Summer Greenwood and her struggle against Making Perfect, a
huge, genetic research corporation that runs the country and captures orphans
to be part of their illegal experiments. Set in 2441, the story is told
primarily through Summer’s point of view as she uncovers the dark secrets
behind the company and as she struggles to return to her family.
4.
It takes place some 400
years from now. How hard was it to see that far out into the future in terms of
society, technology, and how life might be by then? It’s actually been really fun. There isn’t
any way to know for sure
what life will be like in the future—all we can do is guess and that’s the fun
part. What’s interesting is that over the past decade, large corporations have grown
in terms of their influence on the lives of people and I wanted to explore what
would happen if it got out of control. Imperfect focuses on
both the rising power of corporations and advances in genetic research. What would
life be like if Monsanto took over the country? What if “perfecting” the human race was finally within
reach? Should we do it? Who decides what perfect is? What could possibly go
wrong with that?
5.
Your book is about
Summer, a young girl who seeks to find a way to survive amidst a chaotic world.
How are you similar to her?
I feel that I
share characteristics with all of my characters. Summer is, at her core, an
extremely resilient character and I’d like to think that I have some of her in
me. She’s very outspoken, never bothering to consider the consequences of her
words. That is both good and bad but she is very genuine and I really like
people like that. She and I both have a tendency to question authority and not
blindly follow a crowd but she also has a pretty strong moral compass. One thing that I want to come across is that
she is not one dimensional. We are all
packages of good traits and some that are less good, and I really wanted to
make sure she had that mix.
6.
Throughout the book she
has to determine whom she can trust in a world filled with liars, manipulators,
and evil-doers. How does she go about deciding what to reveal and to whom? Summer is extremely guarded. This isn’t
surprising considering all the horrors she’s had to face. For a large portion
of the novel, the only person she really trusts is herself. After her parents
abandoned her, she lost all faith in people’s ability to be there for her. Even
Tyler, who’d been her friend for her entire life, is held at arm’s length. When
she is taken to Making Perfect, although
her guard is still up initially, she realizes that making connections with
others in necessary to survive. Slowly, she learns to trust, and eventually
learns that sharing her burdens with others makes life so much easier.
7.
At times you tell the story
through the voices and eyes of multiple narrators. Why do you use such a
technique? I realize that this is a bit
unconventional. When I first wrote the story, the whole thing was told through
Summer’s eyes and I felt the story was very one-sided. That has been a problem
for me as a reader of many first-person POV stories and I decided to break with
convention and include other perspectives.
Because Summer is kept in captivity for a portion of the book, her point
of view is limited. There are so many smaller plot lines happening outside of
her story that I wanted to include but couldn’t by looking only through her
eyes. By occasionally switching the point of view,
the readers not only experience Summer’s journey first-hand, but they also get
invested in the other characters, making the story feel more real.
8.
It seems that
throughout the book, Summer is constantly being chased, experimented on, under
attack, starving, and always surrounded by dangerous foes. She’s constantly in
pain, confused, and exhausted. How does she endure and keep up against all
odds? Summer is extremely
tough, but I think the thing that keeps her sane is her sense of humor. No
matter how horrible her situation is, she finds a way to laugh about it, even
if she has to force it out of herself.
She is also driven by an overriding desire to get back to her sisters who have
always relied on her, and that allows her to stay focused despite the horrors
around her.
9.
The bonds of family
played a huge role both in what Summer does and what another key character
does. Both will risk their lives to get what they want, but only Summer seems
to be acting with a clear mind. Why is family so important to her? Family
is the foundation of everyone’s life. Those are the people that, for better or
for worse, are always a part of you. In Summer’s case, her sisters are her
support system and at the same time they rely on her for their survival. By keeping her sisters safe, she safeguards
the only people in the world who she loves and also give her life a purpose.
This is the reason that she feels so guilty when she’s taken by Making Perfect and
does everything she can to get back to them.
10. In your story, we have learned that the government experimented on
fetuses and is seeking to create a superhuman race that could act as elite
soldiers. Why?
Throughout
history, we have seen horrific things done to create the perfect group of
people according to someone’s distorted view of perfection. Whether it was Hitler’s concept of Master
Race or what ISIS is doing today, some people will do the most horrible things
to other people in the name of creating the “perfect” society. Making Perfect
has a lot more scientific tools at its disposal so its methods appear less
crude but only on the surface. As for
its ultimate purpose, well, you are just going to have to wait for the story to
play out in the next book…
11. Should we fear where science can take us? In some ways we should. The rising power of
technology and science has always scared me. Research is all great until it
falls into the wrong hands and that’s inevitable as these new discoveries
become more common. That fear is really what motivated me to write this story.
I got to explore the consequences of this thirst for advancement and where it
could take our society. I’m not naive, I know that there’s nothing I could ever
do to stop people experimenting and coming out with new developments, I just
hope that the people of our society’s future will be smart enough not to let it
escape their control.
12. What do you think it feels like to have some kind of enhancement
or special power, but not be in a position to use it? We all dream of having special powers right? To feel a
power that only we have. This is a very common theme in stories of all genres
and in many cultures. And with the great advances in science we may actually
see something special in my lifetime. At the same time, just because you can do
something doesn’t mean you should.
13. In the future world depicted in your book, few seem happy. There
are warring factions that threaten the society Summer lives in, and her own
government is oppressive, abusive, and inhumane when it comes to its own
people. Is this what we have to look forward to?
I sure hope
not! Throughout history, however, many different societies have been victimized
by authoritarian governments similar to Making Perfect. I mean, Hitler was
elected! History has a tendency to repeat itself and when people’s personal
freedom is taken away
from them, sometimes gradually so it is not noticeable, it leaves them unable
to counter oppressive forces. And that’s
what we have to be careful with. We have
to make sure that we protect the inherent rights to individual liberty so that
we all have the ability to make decisions for ourselves.
14. How
much of recently published books, like The Hunger
Games or Divergent, influence your writing? How does your book
differ from other YA books?
I think that all
YA books share certain characteristics. Oppressive governments, class warfare,
apocalyptic environments, and the struggle of young individuals against morally
corrupt establishments are all widely accepted concepts scattered throughout
the many books in this genre. I think
that Imperfect’s themes of genetic experimentations, and corporate
control set it apart from others, as does the rich set of characters. Also, the
characters are all multi-dimensional and don’t adhere to any stereotypes. Even
the villains, like Ian Cooper, the son of Making Perfect’s CEO, have
motivations they believe are morally clear. Ian’s motivations conflict with
Summer’s and he does horrible things, but everything he does makes sense to him.
He is also capable of kindness and that makes him real in my view.
15. What do you feel other teens or young adults are searching for in
the novels that they read?
I
think we like reading books that we feel connected to. Whether it’s the story’s
protagonist, the overall arc of the plot or the emotional journey of the characters,
people want to be invested in the story. I can’t name anything else that feels
as good as becoming so immersed in a story that it becomes the only thing you
think about until long after you finish it. That’s definitely what I look for
when choosing the books I want to read. That connection between reader and
story is such a precious thing, and probably the reason why people love
literature so much.
16. How is your talent developed to get you to the point you published
a well-written, 344-page novel at the age of 16? How have your peers received
you?
I don’t know. I’ve always loved telling stories. Ever since I was really little I’ve always
come up with stories. My parents were
always encouraging and listened to many stories nobody should have been
subjected to! Writing is my passion and I just set out to write a story I
wanted to read. It wasn’t easy, but I’m
just doing what I love. If you really apply yourself and you don’t give up when
it gets hard, you can do anything, regardless of your age. I think too many people think they have to
wait until after college to start their lives. You don’t. If you want to do something, do it. Don’t
wait. As for my peers, we don’t
talk much about it. This is just my thing.
17. Your story opens up by explaining how a civil war permanently
ripped apart the United States. Do you think this could happen one day? Anything’s possible.
The Civil War ended only 150 years ago. In 400 years could we see
another huge conflict? I hope we are
smarter than that. I just find it
amazing that World War II ended only 70 years ago and that 400 years ago Europe
was being torn apart by the Thirty Years War. A lot can happen in 400 years.
18. How would you fare in the dark world you created
in Imperfect?
Oh
man, not well. I mean, I guess if I really had to I might be
able to figure something out. But sitting on my couch writing about it is much
more my style.
19. How would you define your writing style or approach to your craft? Some people who know far more about this than I do
have told me that my writing style is very clear. And, because I am a teenager,
my characters tend to have very youthful, authentic voices. They speak and act
like we do, as opposed to how adults think teenagers speak and act. As far
as my craft, I just want to learn as much as possible about the many ways to
tell a powerful story. And I have a lot
of them to tell.
20. What’s the take-away from your book? What should resonate or
linger with the reader?
Never give up. Don’t let people tell you that you
can’t do it. It may be hard, it may not always work out but keep at it and
never, ever give up.
21. Claire, how do you feel being home-schooled has shaped you as a
writer or provided an opportunity to be a writer? It’s definitely given me far more freedom
to write than I would get in a traditional school setting. Even from an early
age, homeschooling
allowed me to take my education into my own hands and really dive deep into projects
I was passionate about. It’s enabled me to start a company when I was 13 and to
write this book. I still have to do a lot of work in many subjects and I am
preparing for college, so my workload is quite challenging but I also have a
lot of freedom to structure my time. Because of this freedom, I was able to
spend hours upon hours honing my craft, which was important not only for Imperfect,
but also for my development as a writer.
The year
is 2441. The world is a mess. The Second
Civil War ended with the Great Divide which carved out the United States into
seven regions, each run by a huge corporation.
The powerful Making Perfect corporation specializes in genetic research
and controls the region that fifteen-year-old Summer Greenwood lives in with
her sisters, Lily and Tory, and her dog Theo.
Abandoned by their parents for reasons they don’t understand, Summer and
her sisters struggle to survive in the Slump, a border city of ruins, along
with other orphans where they fight hunger, violence and the ever present
threat of Red Pox, the devastating plague tearing through the region.
Once a
month, Making Perfect officials flood the city ruins, rounding up street kids
and transporting them to secret facilities where they’re never heard from
again. Due to a fateful turn of events,
Summer falls victim to their latest sweep along with her childhood best friend
Tyler, leaving Tory, who had just contracted Red Pox, and Lily to fend for themselves. She is transported to a scientific facility
in the center of the region. Over a period of months, she and the many other
captives undergo a slew of grueling tests and experiments, culminating in
various genetic alterations that Making Perfect claims will advance the human
race.
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Brian Feinblum’s views,
opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his
employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels
more important when discussed in the third-person. Please note: I am promoting Imperfect to the news media. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©
2015
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