Interview with Wilde Press’s Madison McMahon: Author of It’s Not a Big Deal
Undergraduate Students for Publishing Vice President // Abigail Linicks
When timid film student Emily realizes she has to shoot a commercial for an abusive wilderness therapy camp, she decides that instead of turning them into the police, she will make an exposé-documentary. As she secretly interviews five teenage girls living out their nightmares, Emily begins to question what the best way is to save someone. And when it comes down to it, should you save the one or the many?
“They mistake pain for brilliance.”
In this interview, McMahon speaks to us about her upcoming novella It’s Not a Big Deal, exposing one of the biggest issues within the film industry today—the exploitation of violence for shock value.
How does it feel to have It’s Not a Big Deal picked up for publication?
I’m definitely grateful to even have the opportunity to do this and finally have this novel out here, so #worth it.
What influenced or inspired the novella?
1) The documentary, My Octopus Teacher.
I watched it for class, and everyone raved about it— ‘It’s so tender, it’s so sweet.’ So, I was excited to watch it. But there’s this scene where the diver, who’s a documentarian, is recording the octopus on the ocean floor and is recording it escaping this shark that’s trying to eat it, and because he is directly above the octopus, the shark knows to get the octopus.
And I was really fascinated by this idea of documentaries, and this lie that they are just documenting things when really, they are becoming part of the story themselves and sometimes causing further harm.
2) The Troubled Teen Industry, specifically wilderness therapy.
Wilderness therapy is this silent thing that goes on in the background of everyday life that we don’t even realize is going on because these places are so secluded. These places are notoriously abusive in every way you could possibly think of, and they happen to way more people than you think. Even notable celebrities like Paris Hilton and Danielle Bregoli were sent to wilderness therapy.
What did your writing process look like?
I started writing this my freshman year during Christmas break. I submitted it for the Spring ‘25 semester and didn’t get it. So, every year I would re-edit it and re-submit it. Until this year, I finally got in. I think that’s just a big testament to writers to keep writing, keep refining, and don’t let one rejection make you think, ‘Oh, this isn’t good.’
On editing:
I’ve done the old trick of writing everything that happens on sticky notes—day one, day two, day three—plotting it all out, going through each character, trying to define them more—all within basically a week.
The novella is told from Emily’s perspective, who definitely fits into the unreliable and deeply problematic narrator trope. Why did you choose to focus on her, rather than the “troubled” girls themselves?
I wanted to put everyone in the shoes of Emily because I feel like she is closer to how society would view wilderness therapy—someone who doesn’t understand it and is more interested in it from a shock value perspective rather than helping these teenagers.
What can people do to stop this practice?
I’m obviously no expert, but I think awareness is a big first step, so just knowing these places exist.
Did you have a specific audience in mind while writing?
My intended audience is honestly people who wouldn’t like it because I think they’re the people who need to hear it most, especially at a school like Emerson where the film students are so prevalent. Often, I see them making documentaries, short films, and writing scripts that center on and romanticize pain, and they mistake pain for brilliance.
Or, they mistake pain for meaning. Not to say pain is meaningless, but they basically think pain is the heart of a story and neglect all the other things that make a story, a story. The story is human and humans don’t only experience pain, and that is something I really wanted to highlight in this novella—that these girls don’t only experience pain, these girls aren’t only mentally ill. There’s a lot of tender moments between them. There’s a lot of moments of resilience. And those moments are there for us as a reader, but they’re not there for Emily.
What scenes stood out to you while writing?
The most difficult scene to write was any scene where the girls were going through any abuse because I made a rule for myself that I wouldn’t include anything in the book that didn’t happen in real life. Like the girls not getting their periods or made to work for their food.
It’s Not a Big Deal will be officially released at Pub Club’s launch party December 6th from 5 PM-8 PM in the Lion’s Den! Make sure to grab yourself a copy and listen to Madison McMahon read an excerpt from the story!