[AUTHOR INTERVIEW] Interview with Jessica Pennington, Author of ‘Meet Me at Midnight’

In addition to posting my review of Jessica Pennington’s third novel, Meet Me at Midnight, I have her on the blog today to answer some questions about the book! Links to the rest of the posts in the blog tour will be included below, as well as a giveaway where you can win a signed copy of the book!

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What inspired MM@M?

Meet Me At Midnight was inspired by my own summer vacations! From the time I was 10, my family has rented a lake house, and the layout in Meet Me At Midnight is almost identical: two small rental houses on a hill, with a large house behind them, where the owners live. Unlike in Meet Me at Midnight, I didn’t have a cute, snarky boy living next door, I just had my aunt, uncle, and cousins. Not nearly as much fun, so obviously I had to dream a little bit about what it could have been like if there had been a cute guy next door, and there was some kind of tension there. This book was so much fun to write!

What were the biggest changes that happened to either the plot or the characters from your first drafts to the final copy?

By the time I’m done with a book, the early drafts are honestly such a blur, but the characters and overall plot of this one stayed pretty consistent from the first concept to the final draft. That’s not always the case for me! I think the biggest change is just where the book ends (which I can’t give away!)

Was there a scene that you loved that you had to end up cutting from the final draft? If so, can you tell me anything about it?

In the early draft, there was a scene where Sidney and Asher visit their (soon to be) college together for an orientation. They got to visit the swim program and meet some upperclassmen from the team and think about what it would be like to go to the same college, but it just didn’t fit into the timeline in the end!

What was the most difficult part about writing MM@M?

The timeline, probably. The entire book is set while they’re on vacation—no jobs, no school, no differentiation between weekdays and weekends—so I had to figure out how to show time passing.

Who won the mini golf game?!

Sidney, for sure. Let’s just say, if Asher had won, you definitely would have heard about it from Sidney.

What can fans expect from you next?

They can always expect romance from me—I am a reader and write of romance at my core. But my current work in progress is actually a romantic fantasy. It’s been a lot of fun to take a departure from real life for awhile and explore a love story set in a fantasy world. I really love it and can’t wait to see where it goes!

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HUGE thanks to Jess for answering my questions! Make sure to come back on Friday to read Jess’s guest post about her favorite enemies-to-lovers romances, and check out the rest of the tour below!

(You can also check out my ARC review of her debut, Love Songs & Other Lies, the playlist for Love Songs & Other Lies, an interview with her about her sophomore novel, When Summer Ends, my ARC review of When Summer Ends, and my playlist for When Summer Ends. They all take place in Riverton!!)