Madeline Claire Franklin holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts WCYA program, as well as a BA in Media Study and Anthropology from the University at Buffalo. When she is not writing strange fiction for young adults, she is probably attempting to dismantle the patriarchy and/or practicing witchcraft. She is a queer, Jewish, neurodiverse, invisibly disabled woman living in sin in Buffalo, NY, with her partner, various pets, and an infinite number of disembodied stories, in a little yellow house called Cluckleberry Farms. Her debut novel, The Wilderness of Girls, was a Willam C. Morris Award Honor.
I believe in magic. My kind of magic. A fluid, ever-evolving, deeply personal kind of witchery.
I was born two weeks late in Buffalo, New York during the exciting time in American history known as “The 80s.” It was the decade that gave us such blessings as the Goblin King, the moonwalk, and the unfortunately not-well-thought-out hypercolor clothing, among other wonders. I actually don’t remember much of it because I was a wee child, but here is a picture of me and my mom and older brother looking quite en vogue at a Christmas tree lot (probably ’87?).
Despite the fact that my parents met while in a cult, my childhood and family life were pretty normal and uneventful (at least in terms of what some other people consider normal). I spent most of my youth wearing funny hats in my attic bedroom while scribbling down space operas of truly epic proportions, but also hanging out with my besties in the woods pretending to worship Satan and hoping to discover dead bodies. All in all, I think I turned out pretty all right. At least, the fake Satan worship/hoping to find a dead body stuff isn’t what I talk about in therapy.
Post high school, I earned a BA in Media Studies after a circuitous route through a design-your-own-major program (creative writing and world religions???), anthropology, and a dalliance with foreign languages. In 2018, I graduated from the Vermont College of Fine Arts Writing for Children and Young Adults program (VCFA WCYA) with an MFA in creative writing and an even more unstoppable desire to fill the world with stories.
I landed my first agent in spring of 2022, and in January 2023 we sold my debut novel in a five house auction. The Wilderness of Girls came out June 11, 2024 from Zando Young Readers. It was a William C. Morris Award Finalist, an Indie Next Pick, an Amazon Editor’s Pick, and one of Barnes & Nobles’ Best Books of 2024.
These days you can find me in a dark corner of my local coffee shop working on my next book, and sometimes on Instagram posting book news, pictures of my pets, AuDHD memes, and occasionally complaining about living with a Mysterious Chronic Illness. You can contact me through my contact page, or, for professional opportunities, through my agents Danielle Burby of Mad Woman Literary Agency or Mary Pender at UTA.
