We chat with author Jennifer Chen about Checking You Out, which follows two teens falling in love via letters left in their favorite library books – even if in real life they think they have nothing in common.
Hi, Jennifer! Welcome back! How have you been since we last spoke in 2023 for the release of Artifacts of an Ex?
Great! It’s wild to me that three years later, I’m putting out my third book.
Your latest novel, Checking You Out, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Love letters in the library.
What can readers expect?
You’ll find bookish friends, kittens, tennis, and swooning. Lots of swoon-worthy moments.
Where did the inspiration for Checking You Out come from?
A few years ago, a friend posted their New York Public Library checkout receipt on Facebook. She wrote with the photo, “I think I could be best friends with this person,” based on the books the person checked out. Once I saw the Netflix TV show Dash & Lily, I knew that I wanted to use the same concept of letters left in a notebook in The Strand bookstore, but change it to love letters in the Los Angeles Central Public Library.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I volunteer in the kitten nursery at Best Friends Los Angeles so I set the meet-cute scene there. I loved the idea of two people meeting and liking each other over their shared love of cats. It was fun to take my experiences as a volunteer and write those special moments in the book.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Not while writing, but during the publication process, I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. My editor and publishing team were incredibly kind. I have never asked for an extension, but I needed to when it came time for copy edits. I was going through surgery and treatment so I needed a few extra weeks to get those done. Copy edits are always a slow process for me anyway so I just did as much as I could each day. Some days, it meant not much got done on edits.
Such a cute cover! Can you share any insight behind the direction for it?
I’m so lucky and grateful that illustrator Leni Kauffman has drawn the covers for all three of my young adult books. For Checking You Out, I really wanted to see a cat on the cover so that was the one thing I asked for. The rest of the adorable cover with the library cart and books was the artistic direction of my publisher.
This is your third novel! What are some of the key lessons you’ve learned over the past three years since your debut when it comes to writing and publishing?
So many lessons. Keeping in touch with my readers from book one has been so wonderful. They cheer me on with each book. In terms of writing, I think each manuscript has taught me how to craft fun meet cutes, great secondary characters, and all the swoon that I love when reading romances.
What’s next for you?
I have an adult historical fiction that my agent and I are discussing next week to submit to editors. It’s very different than my YA. The book is based on history from Los Angeles’s Chinatown and is partly a ghost story. I’ve been researching and drafting this book for three years so I’m excited to share that story with readers.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up? Any you’ve read so far this year that you’ve enjoyed?
Oh my god. The new Heartstopper Vol. 6 just arrived from our local bookstore and I’m dying to dive in. I love that series. I’m also eagerly awaiting Julian Winters’s next YA romance, FIND MY WAY DOWN TO YOU.
Three books I couldn’t put down this year were The House of Now and Then by Edward Underhill, Whidbey by T Kira Madden and Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. Read those books on vacation. They were so good, so thrilling, and satisfying. I love when I finish a book and feel like I got what I wanted out of it.
