Teen Press Corps Member Addison Interviews Author Jenna Evans Welch
by Addison Doherty, BookPeople Teen Press Corps
Addison Doherty: Could you describe your writing space?
Jenna Evans Welch: So I have this beautiful desk that I never write in, ever. So I almost always walk up the the street to this coffee shop called Three Cups that has wonderful pastries and gelato and coffee. So that’s where I usually work.
AD: If you weren’t an author, what would be your dream job?
JW: This is definitely my dream job. But I think that I would really enjoy being a biologist. I was really close to studying biology in college and it’s something that I’ve always really loved.
AD: What was your favorite book when you were a kid?
JW: I really loved Gone with the Wind. I read that one probably six times.
AD: If you wrote an autobiography of your life, what would you call it?
JW: Oh my gosh. Probably something like, Such a Mess. I feel like I’m such a mess, all the time.
AD: Do you see yourself in any of your characters?
JW: Yes. Hadley, Lina’s mom, is definitely me.
AD: What do you do when you aren’t writing?
JW: I’m with my kids, chasing them around. I have a baby and a four year old, so lots of mom time.
AD: What made you want to write for teens?
JW: Okay, so I’ve always wanted to write for teens, because I was such a big reader. I read everything, everything, everything. When I was about twelve, I thought okay, I’ve read about everything in the kid’s literature and I’m ready for the next thing. Back then there was really not a huge YA market. I remember going to the library and there was this tiny little shelf that was the only YA books. I remember standing in that library and swearing that one day I was going to write that one day I will write the book that I really want to read. So that was my goal with Love and Gelato, to write the book that twelve-year-old me would’ve wanted to read.
AD: What are you reading right now?
JW: I’ve been reading two of Julie Murphy’s books, so Ramona Blue and Dumplin’.
AD: What do you love most about the writing process?
JW: I love when it’s done. That sounds funny, but it’s amazing because there’s so many things that have to happen for a book to come together, and it’s amazing when it does.
Jenna Evans Welch is the author of Love & Gelato, a YA contemporary fiction story about a teen girl who travels to Tuscany Italy as per her mother’s last wish to reconnect with her father. But when she discovers her mother’s diary, everything she knows about her mother, father, and even herself, will change.