One of our favorite November releases was The Do-Over so we couldn’t wait to chat with Lynn Painter all about it! From the banter, to the romance, to the relatable characters, this young adult romance will make your heart melt!
Summary: After living through a dumpster fire of a Valentine’s Day, Emilie Hornby escapes to her grandmother’s house for some comfort and a consolation pint of Ben & Jerry’s. She passes out on the couch, but when she wakes up, she’s back home in her own bed—and it’s Valentine’s Day all over again. And the next day? Another nightmare V-Day.
Emilie is stuck in some sort of time loop nightmare that she can’t wake up from as she re-watches her boyfriend, Josh, cheat on her day after day. In addition to Josh’s recurring infidelity, Emilie can’t get away from the enigmatic Nick, who she keeps running into—sometimes literally—in unfortunate ways.
How many days can one girl passively watch her life go up in flames? And when something good starts to come out of these terrible days, what happens when the universe stops doling out do-overs?
Content Warnings: car accident
Hello and welcome to The Honey POP! We are so excited to talk to you today. To get things started, could you give us three fun facts about yourself?
This question has made me realize that I’m very boring. 😊
– Charles Melton (Riverdale actor) is my step-nephew (though I’ve only met him once lol). My dad married his grandmother, so I have ties to someone famous (who likely couldn’t recognize me in a lineup if they had to)
– I once had a wheel come off my car WHILE I was driving it
– I LOVE Nascar and F1 and truly believe I could’ve been a great racecar driver if given the chance. (What’s that sound? Oh, that? That’s my husband laughing…)
Congratulations on the publication of The Do-Over! Would you say that your writing process has changed since your debut? If so, in what ways?
It’s definitely changed. When I wrote BTTM, I had no deadlines so I kind of meandered all over the place, a total Pantser. Now however, I have multiple books with multiple deadlines. In order to meet those, I’ve had to become a bit more structured with my production. Now I try to draft books at a NANOWRIMO pace, where I shoot for daily wordcount goals in order to get the draft down on paper.
The prologue of The Do-Over says that there are two kinds of people when it comes to Valentine’s Day, the hopeless romantics and the cynics. Which group would you say you’re a part of?
The latter. I’m totally a cynic about Valentine’s Day. Not about love itself – I wholeheartedly believe in love, but I’m less inclined to go out for a romantic evening just because the calendar is telling me I have to. (You are not the boss of me, Calendar!)
One aspect we loved about this book was the confessions at the start of each chapter. It was a fun way to incorporate humor and also give us a glimpse into what the chapter would be about. What inspired you to include this unique element?
I wanted to find a way to show the tiny pieces that make up Emilie, the imperfect TRUE Emilie, without her having to TELL the reader about herself. It was also just SO MUCH fun to come up with the confessions!
Readers have loved both your young adult and adult books. What have been your biggest differences or challenges with writing for both audiences?
Honestly, I don’t really write them any differently. I start each book with a character in mind, and in YA that character happens to be a teenager instead of an adult; that’s the only conscious difference in my brain when I write them. The circumstances and experiences are what I lean into in order to differentiate the ages; in YA my characters are living the high school life, and in adult, they’re working 9-5s.
But young adults today are so sophisticated that I think it would do them a disservice to try to intentionally “age-down” a story for that market.
We saved so many great quotes while reading The Do-Over. Do you have any favorite quotes from the book that you could share?
My favorites are the non-monumental, silly banter quotes.
“Are you sure you’re my lab partner?”
“She loves chicken and thought you, her boyfriend, should probably know that.”
“I like knowing you, Emilie Hornby.”
The banter in this book was so addictive! What advice would you give to new writers working on their dialogue skills?
I HAVE NO IDEA! 😊 I feel like banter, for me, is the product of a lifetime of rom-com and Gilmore Girl watching (and also living in a house full of smartasses).
We are huge Swifties, so we couldn’t get enough of the Taylor Swift references in The Do-Over! What’s your favorite Midnights track?
Is it possible to have a favorite?? ‘Maroon’ is at the top of my list, but I rotate love between ‘Question…?’, ‘Mastermind’, ‘Glitch’, Would’ve….gahhhhh I LOVE THEM ALLLLLLLLL
We were so excited when we found out that Valentine’s Day was featured in this book, it’s a holiday that we don’t see represented often in YA. If you could write a book set during any other holiday, which would you pick?
I’ve always wanted to write a Christmas rom-com – because it’s my favorite holiday – or maybe something set around Thanksgiving because you get that *holidays are coming* vibe without tying to a holiday that not everyone celebrates…hmmm….
The Do-Over reminded us of so many of our favorite classic rom-coms. If you could be transported into any rom-com movie for a day, which would you choose and why?
I would probably choose You’ve Got Mail or When Harry Met Sally, because I’ve watched them SO MANY TIMES that it already feels like I’ve been there. NYC in all 4 seasons with Nora Ephron providing the divine guidance…yes, please.
All of your books feature relatable and lifelike characters. Out of all the characters you’ve created, who do you most relate to?
I most relate to Olivia Marshall from Mr. Wrong Number. I am clumsy, messy, and relatively immature, just like Livvie. 😊
Grab your copy of The Do-Over by Lynn Painter here!
We loved talking to Lynn Painter about all things romantic and bookish! Have you read The Do-Over yet? What’s your favorite holiday? Let us know in the comments below or by tweeting us @TheHoneyPop! You can also visit us on Facebook and Instagram!
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