Blog Tour: If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann (Interview + Giveaway!)

Item: If It Makes You Happy
Author: Kaity

Posted June 3, 2019 by Kaity in Book Tours, Giveaways, Interviews, Q&A / 3 Comments

Happy Monday and welcome to my stop on the If It Makes You Happy blog tour!! I’m so so so super excited because today I have an interview with Claire Kann, who writes books about people who are happy and fat, biromantic and asexual (like me)! Read on to find out how she feels about LGBTQIA+ representation in her works and which authors have most influenced her writing, and also follow along with the rest of the tour and enter a giveaway for a print copy of If It Makes You Happy!!!

If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann
Published on June 4, 2019 by Swoon Reads
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, YA, Aspec, Queer
Pages: 288
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram

High school finally behind her, Winnie is all set to attend college in the fall. But first she's spending her summer days working at her granny’s diner and begins spending her midnights with Dallas—the boy she loves to hate and hates that she likes. Winnie lives in Misty Haven, a small town where secrets are impossible to keep—like when Winnie allegedly snaps on Dr. Skinner, which results in everyone feeling compelled to give her weight loss advice for her own good. Because they care that’s she’s “too fat.”

Winnie dreams of someday inheriting the diner—but it'll go away if they can't make money, and fast. Winnie has a solution—win a televised cooking competition and make bank. But Granny doesn't want her to enter—so Winnie has to find a way around her formidable grandmother. Can she come out on top?

Interview with Claire

What would you do if you spent the day with Winnie, Dallas and Winston? Where would you go to eat, hang out, relax, etc.?

I think it would depend on how old I was. If I’m my current age, we’re going to the movies for back-to-back showings. I’m the mom figure chaperoning my babies. We will sit, have popcorn, and just have a good time making commentary, joking around, and laughing.

If I was their age, we’d go to Universal Studios. Winston would really love that. As a collective, we would all agree that his happiness matters most to us, so we would let him take the lead on what we did while there.

If Winnie were to hang out with characters from other YA books, who would they be and why?

I had to think about this question for a hot minute!

I don’t think Winnie would want to hang with anyone from Let’s Talk About Love. Feenie could be a strong maybe, but Winnie and Alice probably wouldn’t get along (at first).
There is one character from one of my Wattpad stories, though. I think Winnie and Daisy from FatGirl Magic would want to hang out. They would really like each other as friends, and possibly romantically as well.

How do you feel about LGBTQIA+ rep in your work and how important is it to you to write diverse characters and storylines?

I think at every point in a writer’s career, they hear the advice “Write what you know.” My life—the way I live, the people I love, who I am and how I identify—is what I know best. My characters aren’t me but they do come from my brain. They are the people I want to see, meet, and read about, experiencing the themes I want to explore. There are over seven billion people on the planet. Odds are good, someone else, somewhere in the world, can relate to the things I write about. My only goals are to write my truths, research different perspectives, and try not to cause harm.

Which books and authors have most influenced your writing?

Pretty much any book by Brandy Colbert and Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant. I also owe a huge debt to Rainbow Rowell’s writing. Hers were some of the first books I read in third person that made me say, “Hey, maybe I can do that!”

What’s your current favorite book?

The last books I read and truly enjoyed were Severance by Ling Ma and Contagion by Erin Bowman.

TV comp your book! (How would you pitch your book with tv shows?)

Grown-ish meets Gilmore Girls!

Thank you so much for answering my questions, Claire!

About the Author

Claire Kann is the author of LET’S TALK ABOUT LOVE and an award-winning online storyteller. In her other life, she works for a nonprofit that you may have heard of where she daydreams like she’s paid to do it. Find out more by visiting her website: www.clairekann.com (and while you’re there, tell her about your cats. She loves cats. A lot.)