How Jenn Bennett Sits Down & Writes
This page-turning young adult romance will sweep you off your feet.
Budding photographer Josie Saint-Martin has spent half her life with her single mother, moving from city to city. When they return to her historical New England hometown years later to run the family bookstore, Josie knows it’s not forever. Her dreams are on the opposite coast, and she has a plan to get there.
What she doesn’t plan for is a run-in with the town bad boy, Lucky Karras. Outsider, rebel…and her former childhood best friend. Lucky makes it clear he wants nothing to do with the newly returned Josie. But everything changes after a disastrous pool party, and a poorly executed act of revenge lands Josie in some big-time trouble—with Lucky unexpectedly taking the blame.
Determined to understand why Lucky was so quick to cover for her, Josie discovers that both of them have changed, and that the good boy she once knew now has a dark sense of humor and a smile that makes her heart race. And maybe, just maybe, he’s not quite the brooding bad boy everyone thinks he is.
Chasing Lucky is perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen.
We chatted with Jenn about her writing process, romance as an escape, and about coming up with character names.
Q: Where do you like to write the most?
I only write in my home office/art studio.
Q: When do you like to write the most?
I usually write from 9:30AM to around 4PM, unless I'm on deadline. Then I'll end up writing until 8 or 9PM. And that wears me down, because my head is clear in the morning. It turns to mush in the late afternoon. I have to use caffeine to push through it.
Q: When it comes to drafting, do you prefer writing on a computer or freehand?
Freehand? Am I a maniac? Do I want my hands to cramp endlessly? No. I do not. I draft on a computer, like the gods intended.
Q: Are you more of a plotter or pantser?
Both. If writing is a journey, when I begin the trip, I know where I want to end up, and I know the first few pit stops. Beyond that, I let the road, my journey companions, and weather conditions dictate what happens. Maybe we take the mountain pass, or maybe a psychotic trucker chases us off the highway, and we have to take backroads. We'll see.
Q: Stephen King has a great line in On Writing that says “the scariest moment is always right before you start. After that, things can only get better.” That scary pre-start moment often inspires procrastination in writers. Suddenly, you have to clean your entire house, do the laundry and play Candy Crush for an hour before you can actually start writing. Is there anything you need to do before you can actually sit down and work?
I need it NOT to be a weekend. Even though weekends mean nothing to writers (or holidays), because we work day and night, without a sense of what real time is. What date is it? No idea. Is it November or are we a week away from Christmas? Time ceases to have meaning when you are deep in the words. I've lost so many holidays and vacations with my family because of book deadlines, I can't even begin to count them. But. BUT. I refuse to start a book on Friday. I will procrastinate that puppy until Monday, because I will not start on a weekend, dammit!
Q: Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what music? Is your choice of music inspired by the project you’re working on?
I can't listen to music and write. I get distracted by lyrics, especially, and it messes up my word rhythm. I listen to music when I'm plotting or world-building.
Q: Some writers believe you have to write every single day. Is that true of your process? How often do you write/how long for each session?
I don't believe in writing rules. Writing isn't a one-size-fits all art, and what works for one author may not work for another. However, I can tell you from personal experience that when I stop writing and let a book run away from me for several days—when the characters are no longer living and talking inside one's head—that's usually when I've given up on projects. So don't write every day...don't burn yourself out. But if you're halfway into writing a book, perhaps don't let a week go by without writing. Try to get in a few words when you can, or at least keep the flame going inside your head.
Q: What’s one piece of advice you’d give an aspiring author?
Read outside your comfort zone every other book.
Q: Where do you normally find story inspiration?
People have been asking me this for years, and still don't know how to answer.
Q: While reading some fan reviews, I noticed multiple readers comment on how nice it was to escape into Chasing Lucky during this uniquely difficult year. What is it about romance stories that make them such a perfect escape from the real world?
Romance is an intimate connection, and that's exactly what we've all been missing during this pandemic. Being out in the world, bumping into strangers without fear...the thrill of getting to know someone. Touching, touching, TOUCHING. My God, just being able to talk to someone and hug them? I've been saying that this book is comfort food between two covers, and honestly, that's what all my YA romance books are. They're about people connecting, making mistakes, fixing those mistakes, and growing. They're about figuring out that you—yes, you—deserve love. Don't we all crave that right now?
Q: While Chasing Lucky is a romance story, there's also a lot of other interesting plot threads, especially with Josie's family and the town of Beauty itself, woven in. Was there any particular aspect of the story that you enjoyed writing the most?
Strange as it sounds, I liked exploring the generational communication breakdown between all the women in Josie's family, though it was difficult at times to create characters who were so pigheaded. I especially enjoyed writing Josie's cousin, Evie, who is a little older than Josie and works alongside her in the family bookshop. I wish I'd had more space and time to develop her character. I honestly could have written an entire book about her. Never say never.
Q: Lucky Karras is such a great character name. Do character names come to you first or do you have to sketch them out before you can name them?
Hmm, funny you should ask. Character names are important to me, and they come after I know the character. I spend far too long on naming. Lucky's name was actually originally Roman. Roman Karras. And in my original draft, his father was Lucky Karras, a middle-aged Greek-American who owned "Lucky's Boat Repair." However, my editor accidentally pitched the name "Lucky" as the love interest's name during an in-house meeting, and everyone at my publisher loved it. They even came up with the title, Chasing Lucky.
The first time I found out about any of this was when I was shown the cover. I broke down in tears, because now I had a book that was basically titled "Chasing my boyfriend's father." *dies inside* There was nothing I could do but change "Roman" to "Lucky." So let that be a lesson to aspiring writers: don't get attached to character names. (Turns out, Lucky was the better name, so it all worked out just fine. Lesson number two: your editor sometimes knows best!)
Q: In addition to Chasing Lucky, you're the author of multiple other beloved books for the YA audience, including Alex, Approximately and The Anatomical Shape of a Heart. Have you found coming up with story ideas gets easier as you go or more difficult?
I can come up with story ideas ALL DAY LONG. You need an idea? I have notebooks filled with them. The right idea, though? The one that lights up inside your head like lightning and makes you want to drop everything to write it NOW? That's a whole other thing.
Q: What's your favorite book you've read recently?
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Pick up your copy of Chasing Lucky from bookshop.org, IndieBound, or Barnes & Noble. Happy reading!
Sit Down and Write is brought to you by Emily Lee and Cassie Stossel. For more author interviews like this one straight to your inbox, subscribe below!