Jennifer Honeybourn

Jennifer Honeybourn is a fan of British accents, Broadway musicals, and epic, happily-ever-after love stories. If she could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, she’d have high tea with Walt Disney, JK Rowling, and her nana. She lives in Stratford, Ontario with her husband, daughter and cat in a house filled with books.

Honeybourn's new novel is The Do-Over.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Typically, I have a hard time coming up with titles, but I had The Do-Over before I even started drafting. I think it gives potential readers a pretty good idea of what to expect in the book, which is about a girl who finds a magical solution to re-do a choice she made in her past, only to face consequences she didn’t expect.

What's in a name?

Naming characters is one of my very favorite parts of writing. I like unusual names, names that aren’t widely used or have unique spellings. Emelia is the main character in The Do-Over and her love interest is Alistair. In previous books, I’ve used Marty, Quinn and Shelby. I don’t really go deep with names in terms of what they mean, I just go with what I like and what I want to live with for the six months or so it takes me to draft the book.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Endings are much more of a challenge for me. I’m always really excited when I start a new book and that usually carries me about to the halfway point and then it comes a bit more difficult. I am a planner so I try to have the plot figured out before I even start writing, but sometimes it surprises me and changes along the way. I would say I revise the back half of a book more than the front half.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

I think there’s a little bit of me in all of my main characters. I don’t think I could understand them and their motivations as well if there wasn’t. I would love to write an origin story about a character who later in life becomes, or is perceived as, a villain (like Maleficent), so that would be a case where I’m not sure whether my personality would make it into the character (although who knows, maybe it would!).

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Movies and TV are a big inspiration for me. I love to binge-watch series on Netflix (just finished Orange is the New Black and I thought it ended perfectly). It’s a different form of storytelling, but it’s often helped me out of jams with my writing. I’ve learned a lot about good pacing and character arcs from well told series.

Visit Jennifer Honeybourn's website.

My Book, The Movie: Just My Luck.

The Page 69 Test: Just My Luck.

My Book, The Movie: The Do-Over.

The Page 69 Test: The Do-Over.

--Marshal Zeringue