North Carolina author Traci Claywell became intrigued with American politics when she watched President Richard Nixon resign from office on national television. She was only eight years old, but the pain on his family’s faces as they stood behind him in the White House struck a chord in her tender heart. How could this happen, she cried? He was the president! And isn’t the President supposed to be good?

Later, at the age of 18, Claywell did what her great grandmothers were forbidden to do: vote. Since then, she has used her voice in every presidential election, both primary and general, with ballots cast for candidates ranging from Ronald Reagan to Bernie Sanders. But, she didn’t just vote. She volunteered for a wide range of campaigns ~ calling, canvassing, and registering voters. She interned on Capital Hill one summer during college with Republican Congressman Howard Coble, and even worked as a non-partisan Vote Protector during the historic 2020 election. Through it all, Claywell never stopped reading, listening, thinking ~ and most importantly ~ changing her political preferences when the times warranted it.

According to Claywell, the genesis of Cinderella Claps Back: The Reckoning originated with a challenge from a short story contest: rewrite a fairy tale. An idea immediately popped into her mind and she began typing with delight. Never had the task of writing been so enjoyable; the story seemed to write itself. Once completed, she realized that the tale was so pertinent to the age, there was no time to wait on the traditional publishing path. She had to get Cinderella out into the world on her own. 

And so, she has.

“After all the turmoil we’ve witnessed over the years, writing Cinderella Claps Back was a cathartic experience for me,” Claywell shared. “I hope it can bring that same catharsis to my readers. We all deserve some comic relief.”

Traci Claywell is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she earned her B.A and M.A. in Psychology and Counselor Education, respectively. She worked with children and adolescents as a school counselor before migrating to Beaufort, North Carolina, where she launched and published two community newspapers: The Beaufort Gam and The Venture of Carteret County.

Currently, Claywell lives with her family in North Carolina where she continues to write flash and short fiction. Stay tuned for an upcoming YA series of novels about a girl growing up in the late 1970s named Stacey Lacey.

Claywell is a member of the North Carolina Writer’s Network and the Author’s Guild in New York City.

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