In 2019, we made it our goal is to work with as many debut authors as possible and to spread the word about their debut novels. It was such a success last year that we decided to continue the fun for years to come! Follow us this year as we pick the minds of the 2021 debuts and chat with them about their writing process and what it's like to be a new author. Also stay tuned for news of giveaways, Twitter chats, and more!
At the end of 2020, we Tweeted about wanting to discover more debut authors and their books. We ended up finding Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau and her novel KISSES AND CROISSANTS, and we have been interested in it ever since! We are so excited to have Anne-Sophie on the blog today to answer some of our questions!
Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau is a bilingual French author of young adult fiction and nonfiction. Her books have been translated into seven languages. Kisses and Croissants (Delacorte Press, 2021) is her U.S. debut. After graduating university in France, she moved to Amsterdam to begin a career in advertising. She then spent a few years in Melbourne before settling in New York City, where she lives with her Australian husband and their American cat.
The Book Bratz: First of all, congratulations! How does it feel to be a debut author?
Anne-Sophie: Thank you so much! It's simply amazing. It took me years of hard work to get to this point, and sometimes it feels surreal that things happened exactly how I dreamed they would. When ARCs became available, I started to receive lovely messages from early readers, and it was a pinch-me moment to realize that people I didn't know were reading (and enjoying) my book. There have also been a lot of lovely surprises along the way: connecting with other authors, and getting to work with people from different departments at Random House. So many things go into the making of a book!
The Book Bratz: In your opinion, what's the best part of the writing process? What's the hardest?
Anne-Sophie: My favorite moments are when I just get in the zone, the outside world disappears, and words pour out of me. When that happens, my fingers can't move fast enough to type everything going on in my head, and it's the absolute best feeling. I wish writing was always like that, ha! The hardest part is often in the early stages, when I'm working on the first draft, and I know that what I'm writing is not very good. It's hard to push through and get raw and unpolished words on the page. Another difficult moment is at the very end, during copy edits or pass pages. By this point, I’ve read the book a bazillion times and it’s difficult to look at it in a fresh light (and to stop myself from rewriting the whole thing).
The Book Bratz: Where did you get the idea for KISSES AND CROISSANTS?
Anne-Sophie: I grew up just outside of Paris, in the countryside, and I've always been madly in love with the city. I almost moved there several times but it never happened, so I've been able to keep it as this aspirational place in my mind. I can go there, be a total tourist, and just marvel at how beautiful and romantic it is. I thought that if I were to write a love story set in Paris, it would also have to be a love story with Paris. That was the starting point for me.
The Book Bratz: Who was your favorite character to write? Who was the most difficult?
Anne-Sophie: I find main characters easiest to write because I can really get in their heads, especially if I'm writing in first person. I spend so much more time with them than with anyone else, and I could tell that Mia was becoming more like me with every draft. Aside from her, I really enjoyed writing Monsieur Dabrowski, her super strict ballet instructor. It's always fun to write the villain (though he's softer than he appears). Louis was probably the most difficult to write, and it took many drafts to figure him out.
The Book Bratz: What is your favorite part of writing a romance novel?
Anne-Sophie: My favorite part is to lean into the swoon, or le swoon as Mia would call it. I wanted to write an upbeat, oh-so-romantic story, and to make that experience as dreamy as possible for Mia. I think teenagers can have a larger-than-life view of love, and I wanted to honor and amplify that. Because who wouldn’t want to spend a summer in Paris and fall head-over-heels in love?
The Book Bratz: What do you hope that readers will take away from KISSES AND CROISSANTS?
Anne-Sophie: I always think that the reading experience is half the book and half what the reader brings to it. Each person takes away something different, based on what resonated with them. To me, Kisses and Croissants is, at its core, a story of chasing one’s dreams, no matter how big or impossible they may seem. So many dreams are unachievable… until we do achieve them. ;-)
The Book Bratz: Do you plan on returning to the world of KISSES AND CROISSANTS in the future, or do you have any other projects in mind? Can you tell us anything about them?
Anne-Sophie: Kisses and Croissants feels like a fully realized story to me, and I have no plans to return to that world. Having said that, I would never say never, and I do want to write more stories set in Paris. I have another standalone YA romance novel coming out in Fall 2022. I'm still working on it, so I'm not sure what I can say about it yet. It’s not set in France but there are French characters and lots of French food. And not just croissants. ;-)
Title: Kisses & Croissants
Author: Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: April 6th, 2021
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Mia, an American girl at an elite summer ballet program, has six weeks to achieve her dreams: to snag an audition with one of the world’s best ballet companies. But there’s more to Paris than ballet—especially when a charming French boy, Louis, wants to be her tour guide—and the pair discover the city has a few mysteries up its sleeve.
Thank you so much to Anne-Sophie for stopping by and answering our questions! We are super excited about KISSES AND CROISSANTS and can't wait for it to be out in the world on April 6th!
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