Welcome to the Oddball Club
storytellers are not normal people + other rambling thoughts on art
Thank you so, so much to everyone who showed up at the Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County launch events. Some of you drove *three hours*. Some of you took a plane! Some of you brought many, many children! I really can’t express to you how much it meant to me, and how much it’s powered me through many a difficult writing session since. Man, I love this newsletter and rambling Instagram captions and podcast interviews, don’t get me wrong. But nothing beats the fierce joy of hugging readers in person. A woman came up to me at our Waterford Stillhouse event with tears in her eyes, saying how much Funeral Ladies reminded her of her mom. My heart, you guys. My icy little heart!
I’m over the moon at the reception the book has received. Please keep tagging me in social media posts, telling your friends about the book, and picking it for your book clubs. If you’re interested in a signed copy, remember that Books and Company has plenty in stock and can ship anywhere in the US.
I’m already starting to ramp up promo for my next middle grade novel (sick of me yet? 😉) and plugging away at my 2025 book, a historical fiction read for kids.1
Exhausted doesn’t even begin to cover it.
That’s probably why our whole family’s been wiped out by the flu for the past week. You can only operate at 110% for so long. I’m working on getting this new draft in so that I can actually breathe for a little while over the summer, spending some time in the Northwoods and taking my three kiddos abroad to Denmark2 + Poland without having to constantly check my email.
The idea of taking a break is a strange little thing when you’re self-employed. There’s no PTO. There’s nobody waiting in the wings to unstick a stuck chapter or craft a new plot line. Being a writer is different than being an orthodontist, or a vet tech. Not any more or less important; not any more or less difficult. But the storytelling part of your heart continues to beat, beat, beat whether you’re picking up your kids at school and noticing how the principal holds herself, or you’re at a family event and scribbling down hilarious one-liners for use later.
Because storytellers—I hate to break it to you, you rowdy group of oddballs and misfits—are not normal people.
Now, to be fair, I don’t believe any of us are “normal people”.3
But we’re a special kinda weirdo, aren’t we? And if you, too, write, you’re nodding along. We go on a walk for a little r&r and come back with new characters fully formed, springing forth from our twisted brains. We take a shower and start working through plot holes that seem completely unfixable. We go on long drives with carefully cultivated playlists that take us to medieval castles or Wisconsin summer camps or 1960s animation studios or the Antebellum south. Our rest and our work can flow together, different streams of the same river, and become a single spark that lights a fire of your creative life.
That’s why I’m working on feeling less guilty when I use childcare hours to exercise. Or clean out my closet. Or—gasp—take a nap. That is the work. Creative respite feeds further creativity; space and wiggle room allow ideas to bloom and be cultivated. I’ve never bought into the idea the Gary Vaynerchuk go, go, go way of creating. Its masculinity is off-putting to me. I think creativity needs water and sunlight and dirt and time. A cute pair of gardening gloves doesn’t hurt either.
And we storytellers, when we consume art? It doesn’t stay a consumable. It clicks into our heart and becomes all we can think about. I remember being in high school and tearing through Jodi Picoult novels during study hall, wondering how people could be concerned with statistics or chemistry when I was reading beautiful language wrapped around intriguing plot lines and questioning, like, the meaning of life. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a straight up evangelist over books and shows that I enjoy. I’m currently wondering how Disney thinks I’m supposed to be consuming this season of The Bad Batch4 and then just going about my normal life not constantly thinking about the evil galactic empire’s unspeakable treatment of their clone armies.5I’ve frequently joked that J. Ryan Stradel and J. Courtney Sullivan owe me commissions, I’ve recommended their books to so many people. I practically had to take to my bed after that Crown finale. I saw a stage production of Anastasia and spent the next three weeks obsessively watching YouTube bootlegs. I’m not a normal consumer of art. Story is a part of me. It’s how I see the world and make sense of things—gritty, difficult things, and joyful, rose-tinged things. It’s how I flourish. It’s how I survive.
If you’re like that, too—welcome to our club of freaks. I’ll pull up a chair. You are so very welcome here.
But sometimes we do need a break. And so if you need me in July or August, I’ll be sipping a margarita on a hammock or walking through the bustling streets of Copenhagen with three wild-things and a scruffy Pole. As for now—there are words to be written, and stories to be told.
If you loved What Happened to Rachel Riley?, I hope you’ll consider giving Take It From the Top (releasing 11/19/24) a spot on your shelves.
Set at a camp over the course of six summers, this novel dives into the falling-out of two girls from different backgrounds who thought they'd be friends forever. Claire Swinarski, author of the ALA Notable What Happened to Rachel Riley?, tackles privilege, perspective, and the power of friendship in this thrilling puzzle that readers will devour. Recommended for ages 8-14.
Eowyn Becker has waited all year to attend her sixth summer at Lamplighter Lake Summer Camp. Here, she’s not in the shadow of her Broadway-star older brother; she’s a stellar performer in her own right. Here, the pain of her mom’s death can’t reach her, and she gets to reunite with her best friend, Jules Marrigan—the only person in the world who understands her.
But when she gets to camp, everything seems wrong. The best-friend reunion Eowyn had been dreaming of doesn’t go as planned. Jules will barely even look at Eowyn, let alone talk to her, and Eowyn has no idea why.
Well, maybe she does…
There are two sides to every story, and if you want to understand this one, you’ll need to hear both. Told in a series of alternating chapters that dip back to past summers, the girls’ story will soon reveal how Eowyn and Jules went from being best friends to fierce foils. Can they mend ways before the curtains close on what was supposed to be the best summer of their lives?
And lastly, a book I’ve loved lately for…
Kids: My daughter received Princesses of Heaven by my friend Fabiola Garza in her Easter basket and has asked me to read it to her every single night. If you have a princess-loving Christian little girl in your life, it’s such a delightful read. It’s gorgeous, too (Fabi is a Disney artist)!
Middle graders: I just got my hands on The Wrong Way Home by Kate O'Shaughnessy and I’m excited to dive in. It’s about a girl and her mom who escape a cult-like situation, which is one of my favorite niche topics.
Adults: I absolutely adored The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan. I read it in three days. I’m not sure how I can possibly call a book that takes place during the London Blitz cozy, but it somehow was. I promise!
Thanks for reading along!
-Claire-
Out November 2025, covering the French resistance in 1943 Paris! Ooh la la!
I’ve wanted to go to Copenhagen for DECADES. Please share recommendations with me if you’ve got any!
'There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” - CS Lewis
All I want is to write a middle grade of the Bad Batchers as cadets. Disney!!!! Call me!!!!!!!!!
I once told a friend it was a good thing I married someone who was as nerdy into Star Wars animation as I am and she said very slowly, “Um, he’s lucky to have found you.”
It makes sense that an author or creative person be a little wacky…it makes their work more interesting! I’ve been consuming your Catholic Feminist content long enough to see your personality and humor come through as I read your novels, and it’s delightful. With a main character named Eowyn, there’s sure to be some LOTR references, lol (nerds, unite!).
Two chapters in to Funeral Ladies and it reminds me so much of my neighborhood that operates much the same way! Rachel Riley was a fun listen, and looking forward to Take It From The Top.
I follow your work on Catholic Feminist, this is such a different (and somewhat similar) side... I love it!