Jenn Bouchard
Jenn Bouchard's debut novel First Course was published by TouchPoint Press in 2021. It was named a finalist in the American Fiction Awards. Her short stories have appeared in the Bookends Review, Litbreak Magazine, the Penmen Review, and the Little Patuxent Review. A high school social studies teacher of twenty-two years, she is an avid cook and devoted Red Sox fan. She is a graduate of Bates College and Tufts University. She lives in the Boston suburbs with her husband and two children.
Twitter: @JennBouchardBOS
Instagram: @jennbouchardbos
Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?
My recently published novel First Course has a strong Nancy Meyers film vibe. "Something's Gotta Give", "The Holiday", "It's Complicated"... she does a great job with establishing settings and making you wish you were there. That was a goal of mine with setting the story in coastal Maine. Both the Nora Ephron book Heartburn and subsequent movie influenced my tale of food and cooking as a means of finding your second act in life. My current work-in-progress Palms on the Cape has elements of the classic movie "When Harry Met Sally" with a solid "Gilmore Girls" TV show aspect.
Is there a genre of music that influences your writing/thinking? Do you listen to music while you write?
I discovered Ben Folds while I was writing First Course and listened to a ton of his music during that time. It only made sense for my near-perfect male character Rocky to be a huge fan. With Palms on the Cape, I have been listening to jazz almost exclusively while writing. I love the John Coltrane Pandora channel. That said, I've been writing about quite a bit of grunge nineties rock this time around. I lived in the Seattle area during its peak, and I enjoy having the secondary character Ginny dig it as much as she does.
Does food inspire your writing?
Absolutely! I think of myself as a foodie writer of women's fiction. Everything I write has a strong food element. Food is often what brings people together in my stories. Just this week, I wrote about a very stressful weekend for some of my characters. At the end of it, they decide they want to gather their friends together for a delicious baked pasta. Food provides comfort and connection when we need it the most.
As for myself, I cook all the time. I have two very active children in 9th and 5th grade, and they are hungry. Food for them these days is often about just getting it done so they can eat after sports, but I do try to have some fun with it. We went apple picking recently, and I've enjoyed making a number of things with our yield. Ina Garten's apple pie bars were especially good.
Have you ever experienced imposter syndrome?
All the time. It is getting a little better, but it's always there. Maybe it's because I published my debut novel at 44? I often wonder what it would have been like if I had started writing earlier. I also think about what else I can do to promote First Course and to get it in the hands of readers. I often feel like I'm not doing enough.
Vacation druthers...City or rural destination? Why?
A bit of both. I love cities. I live 25 minutes from Boston, a city I first visited at thirteen. I lived outside of Chicago for 12 years. We have taken the kids on vacations to New York, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland. I am a huge baseball fan and love to go to ballparks in other places, too. That said, give me a beach vacation any day. We spend a week in Dennis on Cape Cod every August, and it's the setting of my next book Palms on the Cape. Mayflower Beach at low tide is pure heaven.
