Interview with Kimberley O’Malley, Author of Leaving the Friend Zone (Palm Harbor Book 2)

by grant

in Author Interviews, News, Romance

12 Oct 2021

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Leaving the Friend Zone?

This is the second book of my Palm Harbor CR series. Mind you, the first book was meant to be a stand-alone. As if I could ever write something other than a series! I love reading series because I always wonder what happened to the heroine’s neighbor or best friend or cousin once removed. On my editorial call for book one, my editor said, “You know Sam and Jack deserve their own book, right?” And thus, Leaving the Friend Zone was born!

What’s your favorite scene from your new release, Leaving the Friend Zone?

How to choose?? I love the scene when Sam calls Jack for help after rescuing her dogs. Asking for help does not come easily to her, and Jack knows exactly how important it was that she called him.

If you had to write a blurb for the last book you read, what would it say?

Now, that’s just mean. I hate blurb writing! It always amazes me how writing 80K is no big deal. But the 200-word blurb? It might go something like this: Boy meets girl on the very first day of high school. He falls hard. She falls just as hard. But life intervenes, and she makes a choice he doesn’t understand. Years and a divorce later, she comes back to town, changed and yet not. Can he ever forgive her for breaking his heart? Will circumstances out of their control get in the way? Again? Or will true love finally win?

What romantic couple from literature makes you swoon? Which one is over-hyped?

I swoon easily, so there are many: Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, Emma and Mr. Knightly, you see where I’m going with that… At the risk of voicing an unpopular opinion, not a fan of Anastasia and Christian.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

Wow, you really like the difficult questions! Romantic Suspense is probably my all-around favorite. I have not written one yet but intend to. It’s on my bucket list along with visiting Australia.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? Where did you write Leaving the Friend Zone?

Not sure my habits are quirky or all that interesting. I have to write in silence, unlike so many of my fellow authors. I can only write one book at a time. I have to have a drink (sadly diet soda…not at all interesting). My husband works from home, so I write mostly upstairs in our bedroom away from him and the dogs. Again, the need for total silence. We have a recliner on the corner in which I camp out while writing.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

now why you’re writing. Is it to make money (HA!) or to tell a story? I write because I have stories and characters in my head demanding to be heard. And every once in a while, a reader messages me to say how much something I wrote touched them. And that makes it all worth it.