AUTHOR INTERVIEW with Melissa Chambers

AUTHOR INTERVIEW with
Melissa Chambers

How did you come up with the idea for Falling for Forever?

Jenna was a secondary character in book one, and she was so full of personality that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her story! We learned in book one that Jenna was a contestant on the fictional America’s Newest Sensation, so I wanted to bring in a little backstory about what happened there. I thought it might be fun to put her back on stage in another talent contest for redemption from her America’s Newest Sensation loss, but I wanted to give her some super-stiff competition, so I set the story at a school of the arts (the fictional Nashville’s Academy of Creative Arts). For those not familiar with Music City, Nashville is a super-competitive, highly musically talented town, and the kids at this school are no exception. Jenna has her work cut out for her!

How did you develop the idea?

With my fabulous Entangled editor from book one, Heather Howland! She gave me the idea for the initial scene where Miles jacks up Jenna’s performance at the all-ages club. My other fantastic editor, Stacy Abrams, helped me dig deep for a reason these two couldn’t get along, which is where I came up with the idea that Jenna had stolen Miles’s audition spot on America’s Newest Sensation. She’s got a lot of redeeming to do, which I think is good for a polarizing character like her. I’m aware she may not be everyone’s favorite! But I adore her. If I could write only Jenna Quigley for the rest of my career, I think I’d be okay with that.