I’m so happy to welcome author Kimberley O’Malley to Creekside Café. Thank you for stopping by my virtual café, my dream is to someday win the lottery and build a real café on the water where I can invite writers and other interesting people to stop by and chat, but until then it’s a good thing I have a great imagination. Can I get you a drink or something before we start? 

Kimberley: I do happen to be a caffeine addict, although I don’t drink coffee or tea…which confounds most. Diet Mt. Dew of Hot Chocolate works, thanks!

Sherri: I don’t know if we can be friends. I might be able to forgive your dislike of coffee but pineapple on your pizza, I don’t know if I can forgive an offense like that. Just kidding, everyone has the right to eat their pizza however they want even if they’re wrong. We have this battle with the family all of the time. I love pineapple just NOT on my pizza. 

Are you a foodie? 

Kimberley: I am really not a foodie. And the pineapple on pizza thing is a very personal choice, so I am not at all offended… I have been eating very healthy this year, so my diet is mostly now lean protein, veggies, etc.

Sherri: You’re a transplant to North Carolina? I guess technically I’m a transplant too, I was born in Louisiana while my dad was in the service although my parents are both from North Carolina. How did you end up here? 

Kimberley: My husband’s family all lives here, although no one is actually from here. We started coming a couple times a year to visit in 2010. I was so done with cold and snow. After an 18 month campaign, I wore him down, and here we are!

Sherri: Are your books set in North Carolina? Tell us about your series. You have two series is that right? Are they both in the same genre? 

Kimberley: I currently have one finished series, one ongoing, and a brand new series. I write Contemporary Romance and Cozy Mystery. My completed series, Windsor Falls, is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains (think Asheville). My CM series has 4 books and 1 coming next week, and who knows how many more…This is set at the NC coast (think Oak Island). My newest CR series, Palm Harbor, is set at the beach in SC. The debut for that series, The One that (Almost) Got Away, released in July.

Sherri: Death by Chocolate sounds like my kind of book. Tell us about it. It’s your fifth book in your Addie Foster Mystery Series. This sounds like a fun series.

Kimberley: Fun to write!!!! So, I had the idea in my head (and notes app in my phone) for months but didn’t think I’d have time to start it. This was in 2018. The idea literally came to me at a red light. Then, I lost my Mom that July to Alzheimer’s after a long battle. I was in a hotel in Pennsylvania, trying to write Coming Back, the last book of my Windsor Falls series, but that book is about grief. And I was already living it. So, I moved onto Addie and never looked back.

Death by Chocolate is about what happens when Addie and her detective BF, Jonah, try to take a French cooking class. Addie has prophetic dreams which start each book. There are also a few backstory threads running through the series.

Sherri: You have a new book and new series coming out, tell us about The One the (Almost) Got Away. Where is Palm Harbor? Is it set in North Carolina as well?

Kimberley: The mythical Palm Harbor is set on the SC coast between Myrtle Beach and Charleston. The book was originally meant to be a standalone (what was I thinking?)… Like most of my books, this came to me as an idea, which I put in my notes app. What would I do without that?? It’s about Jamie, an independent woman in her 30s, who thinks about the ‘one that got away’ when she gets a reminder for her high school reunion. She joins a gym to ‘better herself’ before attending. There she meets Griff, said gym owner, who helps her out and goes as her plus one. It’s funny and a bit lighter than my first series.

Sherri: Have you always been a writer? When did you write your first stories? How long have you been published? Are you indie published or traditionally published? 

Kimberley: I am a voracious reader since single digits who never aspired to write. But writing has always come easily for me in college, etc. I am an Indie author all the way!! I wrote the very first, and terrible, version of Coming Home in 2002 while my husband and I waited to travel to Russia to adopt our daughter. Writing is therapy for me, and I poured out all of my longing, frustration, and fear into that book.

Sherri: Which character from all of your stories is your favorite and why? I know, that’s like asking which child is your favorite, isn’t it? I know for me it often changes depending upon my mood. How about you, do you have a firm favorite?

Kimberley:  Hmmm I always find this question challenging. Elizabeth from Coming Home holds a special place in my heart because she was my first and saw me through that time in my life. But I also love Addie and her ridiculous cast of characters who make me laugh as I write.

Sherri: What are three things you wished you’d known before becoming a published author? If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your pre-published self?

Kimberley: Only three? Give yourself a break! Rome wasn’t built in one day and neither will your publishing career be. Listen to others, but don’t let them talk you into, or out of, anything. Believe in yourself!!!

Sherri: Tell us a little about the settings for your stories. Why there? What makes Windsor Falls, Ocean Grove and now, Palm Harbor the right places to set your stories? 

Kimberley: I love the beach and the mountains. My Windsor Falls series was originally set in Vermont. We lived up North and loved to vacation there. The settings, like the characters, come to me. I love small towns and can almost guarantee my stories will always take place in them.

Sherri: What do you hope a reader gets out of your stories besides entertainment? 

Kimberley: I write from my heart and own life. I want others to share those things and take away what they need from each. The best compliment I can get from a reader is that one of my books touched them. My Windsor Falls series is much ‘heavier’ in that it deals with all kinds of tough real-life stuff. But each book has a guaranteed HEA; something life cannot always provide!

Sherri: Oh wow, it looks like I’ve monopolized your time enough, but it’s been so much fun getting to know you. If you’re ever out on the coast stop in I promise not to feed you mushrooms or force you to drink sweet tea. 

If y’all enjoyed our chat follow Kimberley O’Malley on social media and check out her books, I know I am. 

Thank you all for joining us and see you next time at Creekside Café. 

Bio: 

Kimberley O’Malley is a transplant to Charlotte, North Carolina from the frozen North.

She is learning to say y’all but draws the line at sweet tea. Sarcasm is an art

form in her world. When not writing, she is a full-time nurse and part-time

soccer Mom, but not necessarily in that order. She shares her life with an

amazing husband of almost twenty-five years, two teenagers, and two mischievous

Shetland Sheepdogs, Molly & Callie.

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