Purrfect start: Middletown children's author celebrates first publication, talks upcoming books
Dec. 25—Inside her mother's basement, surrounded by boxes of books from her youth, Middletown author Annette M. Clayton rediscovered her love for children's literature.
A mother herself to twin girls, Clayton experienced a feeling of deja vu as she flipped through the familiar pages. She recalls being particularly fond of "The Berenstain Bears" collection as a child.
"You open a page and you're like, I remember how I felt when my mom read them to me," Clayton said. "That's sort of when I fell in love with kids' books."
Roughly seven years after that basement excursion, Clayton has been published twice in "Chicken Soup for the Soul" and has books of her own on the way.
In "Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Clever, Curious, Caring Cat," Clayton's short story "Pick Me" illustrates how a fuzzy kitten found in a hoarding situation quite literally jumped into Clayton's arms and became part of the family. The story marks her first time being published.
"I held the kitten close to my chest, her soft fur grazing my arms," Clayton writes. "I stared into her ocean-blue eyes. She let out the tiniest meow, and I was done for."
Clayton's daughters dubbed the kitten Marshmallow for her mostly white fur. Over a year later, the feline's spending her days trying to climb the family's Christmas tree and curling up with the girls in bed at night.
Marshmallow came at a time when the girls' activities kept getting canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It really gave their life a sense of normalcy again and something to look forward to," Clayton said.
"Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Clever, Curious, Caring Cat" published in September.
"Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Blessings of Christmas" came not long after. In the Christmas book, Clayton speaks to her family's celebration of Three Kings Day, a tradition her grandmother celebrated in Puerto Rico and passed on to her. The holiday falls on Jan. 6 and is a day that represents when the three kings arrived in Bethlehem. In Puerto Rican tradition, according to Clayton, one places grass in a shoebox under the bed for the kings' camels to eat, similar to leaving milk and cookies for Santa or carrots for his reindeer. When you wake, you'll find gifts in your box.
Wanting to continue the tradition with her daughters, Clayton went to the library in search of books on the topic that she could read to her kids at bedtime and was dismayed to not find any, so she decided to write a children's book herself, in addition to her "Chicken Soup for the Soul" story. Though it took her over a year to write, it only took publisher Familius three weeks to offer her a book deal. The picture book about Three Kings Day is set to come out in 2024.
Before she started working on children's books, Clayton was set on writing young adult books. After she had kids of her own, she pursued a master's degree at McDaniel College in writing and literature, which she obtained in 2017.
"I think that as a writer, I don't really necessarily like to concentrate on one thing. I really like to explore different avenues. Some of my books are really silly. Some of them are sweet. Some of them are heartfelt. I'm always interested in trying something new," she said.
Employed in human resources, Clayton rises early to write before work, coffee in hand, and continues her craft after her daughters have gone to bed.
With the publishing industry experiencing a number of delays due to COVID, it was especially gratifying when Clayton finally got her own copy of "Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Clever, Curious, Caring Cat."
"I've had so many author friends that have had their books delayed by a year, some by 18 months," Clayton shared. "So to finally have it in your hands was wonderful."
She's hopeful the happiness writing brings to her comes across to the readers.
"Writing fills me with happiness and creativity, even though the world of publishing is difficult and filled with rejection," she said. "But when someone reads something I wrote and it sparks their imagination or brings them joy, that's the most rewarding thing I could ask for."
Follow Mary Grace Keller on Twitter: @MaryGraceKeller
