Has writing your new book, Love & Olives, been a different experience than your others? If yes, how so? She’d come so easily to me and I thought it would be so fun to give her center stage. After Love & Gelato came out and it was time to start thinking about my next book I immediately thought of the character I’d loved writing most-Addie.

I had NO idea that I’d end up with a series. Writing Love & Gelato, did you think you’d be writing more books to make it a series? Or did that thought come afterward? I have a very clear memory of standing in my local library, pointing to the teen’s shelf, and telling my mom, “One day I’ll write the books that I wish were there.” I wanted to keep all the brave, plucky heroines I’d grown up reading about and loving, but have them be a bit older with adventures that took them a little farther (and maybe add in some kissing, ha!). I had nothing against cheerleaders, I just wasn’t terribly interested in reading about them. Not only was the section minuscule, it felt like all the fun and adventure had transformed into stories of…cheerleaders. I clearly remember deciding it was time for me to move on from the children’s books (I’d read them all) and being terribly disappointed by what waited for me in the “teens” area of the library. I’m 34 now, and back then there wasn’t much of a YA market. I decided I wanted to write books for teenagers when I was eleven. I fell very hard for books at a very young age, and I can remember wanting to be a writer from the age of seven on. Since she published Love & Gelato in 2016, I’ve been a fan of her works and how they made me feel all gooey on the inside from the romance, and envious of the places she so vividly describes in her books.įirst off, how did you start writing? What inspired you to tell stories? She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah along with her husband and two kids. Jenna Evans Welch is the author of Love & Gelato, a New York Times Bestseller novel, and its sequels: Love & Luck and Love & Olives.

Love and gelato jenna evans welch