Q&A With Amelia Diane Coombs

I finished reading Drop Dead Sisters by Amelia Diane Coombs in a day literally! I’m also happy to be doing this Q&A with Amelia. Amelia is the author of the young adult novels, All Alone With You, Exactly Where You Need To Be, Between You, Me and the Honeybees, & Keep My Heart In San Francisco. Amelia’s upcoming mystery debut for adults, Drop Dead Sisters will be available on November 1^st! I recommend beginning the month of November by reading Drop Dead Sisters! 

Q: Amelia would you please give a brief description of each of your novels beginning with your upcoming release Drop Dead Sisters?

A: Sure thing! I do want to note my books other than DDS are YA.

Drop Dead Sisters: Three sisters reunite on a family vacation and rekindle their relationship the only way they know how—by covering each other’s tracks in a real-life murder mystery not even they can figure out.

All Alone With You: HBO Max’s Hacks gets a romantic twist in the vein of Jenn Bennett in this swoon-worthy novel about a standoffish teen girl whose loner status gets challenged by a dynamic elderly woman and a perpetually cheerful boy.

Exactly Where You Need to Be: Turtles All the Way Down meets Love and Luck in this romantic road trip story about a teen girl’s last chance to have an epic summer with her best friend before everything changes.

Between You, Me, and the Honeybees: Perfect for fans of Jenn Bennett and Sarah Dessen, this swoon-worthy novel follows a teen girl during her California summer of beekeeping, secrets, and stolen kisses.

Keep My Heart in San Francisco: Sparks fly when two ex-best-friends team up to save a family business in this swoon-worthy and witty debut perfect for fans of Jenn Bennett and Sarah Dessen.
Q: Where do your ideas for all your novels come from? How long does it take you to write a book?

A: Every book has been different, both in terms of inspiration and how long the project took me. For some books, it’s quite organic, and my ideas come from a “what if” moment, something that pops into my head and gets my mind churning. Others, I’m more intentional, which is the case for Drop Dead Sisters. I originally began drafting the book in early 2022 after a phone call with my agent, where she helped me brainstorm the idea (I’d sent her a list of a bunch of ideas, and we ended up merging two of them, and DDS was born!) but set it aside for a year due to personal reasons. When I picked it back up, I immediately fell in love with the characters and knew I wanted it to be my next project. I dove right back in. I think I finished the draft in about six weeks, then spent another month or so revising before it went on submission to editors.

Q: Out of the three sisters in Drop Dead Sisters are you more like Remi, Eliana or Maeve? 

A: I am definitely more like Remi, but I have some Eliana tendencies.

Q: I know Drop Dead Sisters will be the first in a series. How many books can we expect to see the sisters solve crimes and their adventures or misadventures I should say? What can we expect in the sequels to come? 

A: Right now, I have a sequel planned to release in October of next year, called Sisters Before Misters, and a tentative idea for a third book. In the sequel, which is set in Seattle one year after the events in book one, the sisters try to solve the mysterious disappearance of Eliana’s soon-to-be ex-husband, who vanishes on Halloween. It has the same cast of characters, with a few new, fun additions, like Maeve’s assistant, Bess.

However, I don’t know yet if there will be a third book (or more) in the series. I’d absolutely love to write more books in the series and have some ideas kicking around. Fingers crossed!

Q: What lessons & emotions do you hope readers learn and feel after reading each of your books?

A: This really varies by book (my books for teens are a bit more focused) but overall, I always want people to have fun with my books. I’m someone who has always read to have fun, to escape. As an author, I want to take readers on a journey that’ll make them laugh and walk away from the book with a smile. If they learn anything else, like maybe a deeper understanding of what life is like for those with anxiety, then great! But at the end of the day, I hope the ride is entertaining. 

Q: If & when Drop Dead Sisters become a television series or movies, who would be your dream cast to play Remi, Eliana, Maeve, Leo, & Guy? I actually wouldn’t mind seeing Glen Powell from Anyone But You & Twisters play either Leo or Guy. Sydney Sweeney could be Remi and we can see a reunion lol. 

A: Oh, I love this question! And I love Glen Powell. (He plays a character named Chad, which is Eliana’s husband’s name, in the show Scream Queens.) I can really see Glen playing Guy, 100%. Let’s go with Sydney Sweeney for Remi, and for the rest of the crew, I can see maybe… Kaley Cuoco as Eliana (she’s so good in The Flight Attendant), and maybe Elizabeth Olsen for Maeve? As for Leo, I’m not sure. Open to suggestions!