Interview with Jessi Kirby (In Honor Blog Tour)

Today we have Jessi Kirby here for an author interview! This post is part of The Teen Book Scene's blog tour for In Honor by Jessi Kirby. You can find out all about the tour here. Make sure to visit all the other stops if you'd like to know more about In Honor!

1. There are a lot of contemporary YA books with military backgrounds coming out this year! What made you want to write about this topic?

I have tremendous respect for members of the military and their families, and I wanted to be able to convey that through Finn's character.  

2. I love books about road trips! Have you had any road trip experience of your own?

Yes!  I have!  I actually took a "research" road trip for this book, and it was fantastic.  My mom, my sister and I visited Sedona and Flagstaff, and got to see many of the real places that made their way into the story. 

3. Another road trip question! If you were to go on a road trip along with some other YA authors, who would you go with? Any bookish places you'd like to visit?

Ooh, this is a fun one!  I think I'd make it a YA Contemp road trip, and bring ALL THE AUTHORS!  It'd be too hard just to choose a few.  

4. Without spoiling anything, can you tell us which of the scenes in In Honor was your favorite to write?

There is one scene that involves scuba diving in the middle of the New Mexico desert (for real!).  That was definitely one of my favorites to write!

5. How do you go about naming your characters?

I usually have a sense of the character before I have a name, and from there I try and find one that fits that character's personality.  Sometimes I get names from people I know.  Others, I just happen to stumble across and decide it fits.

Thanks for the great interview answers, Jessi!


Check out all the other stops of the tour, and keep your eye out for In Honor, which will be released on May 8th.

In Honor by Jessi Kirby
(Amazon | Goodreads)

Honor receives her brother's last letter from Iraq three days after learning that he died, and opens it the day his fellow Marines lay the flag over his casket. Its contents are a complete shock: concert tickets to see Kyra Kelly, her favorite pop star and Finn's celebrity crush. In his letter, he jokingly charged Honor with the task of telling Kyra Kelly that he was in love with her.
Grief-stricken and determined to grant Finn's last request, she rushes to leave immediately. But she only gets as far as the driveway before running into Rusty, Finn's best friend since third grade and his polar opposite. She hasn't seen him in ages, thanks to a falling out between the two guys, but Rusty is much the same as Honor remembers him: arrogant, stubborn. . . and ruggedly good looking. Neither one is what the other would ever look for in a road trip partner, but the two of them set off together, on a voyage that makes sense only because it doesn't. Along the way, they find small and sometimes surprising ways to ease their shared loss and honor Finn--but when shocking truths are revealed at the end of the road, will either of them be able to cope with the consequences?