Interview with 'Boardwalk Summer' Kimberly Fisk


A past recipient of Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart Award, Kimberly Fisk is the bestselling author of Lake Magic. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, three children, and too many four-legged critters to count.
Her latest book is the contemporary romance, Boardwalk Summer.

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About the Book:

Title: BOARDWALK SUMMER
Author: Kimberly Fisk
Publisher: Berkley/Penguin
Pages: 352
Genre: Contemporary Romance
In the town of Tranquility Bay, summer is the season of second chances...

Single mother Hope Thompson has built a happy life for herself and her twins in beautiful Tranquility Bay, Washington. She doesn’t dwell on her painful past—especially not on the man who broke her heart all those years ago. But when Hope’s beloved son needs help, she takes a desperate chance and reaches out to her children’s father.

Nick Fortune lives life in the spotlight as a champion race car driver. He’s shocked to hear from Hope and even more surprised to learn that he’s a father. He immediately heads to the Pacific Northwest to confront the past—and the woman he once loved.

There, on the quiet lakeshore, Nick and Hope must work together to save their son—even if it means facing their complicated past—for a second chance as a family.
PRAISE FOR BOARDWALK SUMMER
"It was late. I only meant to take a peek but ended up reading BOARDWALK SUMMER in one delicious gulp, and I'm still thinking about the characters. A terrific read. Page turning and deeply emotional. You'll fall in love with these characters who have so much at stake. Highly recommended."
Susan Elizabeth Phillips

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Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life!  Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process.  Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning?  Where did you come up with the idea to write your book?

Hello!  Thank you so much for having me here today!  I love connecting with other readers and writers so this is a treat.

I am not a fast writer by any stretch of the imagination so for me an idea needs to be incredibly strong as it will be the driving force that gets me to the computer for the next year.  Quite simply, Boardwalk Summer started with a single question:  “What would a mother do for her child?” 

My answer was instantaneous:  Anything.  Even contact the one person you swore you never would.  With that premise, my story was born.    


Q: How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?

The raw truth?  I find writing extremely difficult.  I battle daily with my inner editor—nothing I ever write is good enough.  Type…delete…type…delete…delete…delete.  I have to remind myself often that it’s called a first draft for a reason but even knowing that, it’s still a struggle.      

My tips? 

Keep your butt in the chair.  Sounds so simple.  Like something we should know instinctively—and maybe you do.  Maybe it’s just me that has such a hard time with this.  But there are always a million other things this mom should be doing and if the words aren’t flowing it’s easy to convince myself to get up and walk away.  But (and this is a big BUT) if I wait it out, if I stick with it and let the time continue to tick by without a ton of productivity, something begins to happen.  The words start to flow, the story starts to materialize.  And words I like get on the page! (Oh happy days!!!)    

Another tip that I heard early on in my writing career was to write a whole book.  Don’t spend all your time perfecting the first few chapters.  The act of writing a complete book will be the best education you give yourself as a writer.                        


Q: Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?

I feel incredibly blessed to be published by Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House.  Everyone there—from my editor, to marketing director, to art department—have given me so much support and guidance.   


Q: Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published?

Many things!!  But the two that really jumped out at me when my first book was publishes was 1) how an author has little to no input on the cover art.  Before I’d always thought the authors designed their own covers.  And thank goodness I am not the designer—Berkley does such an outstanding job!!  And 2) just how many steps there are in the publishing process.  Naively, I thought you wrote a book and turned it in and that was the last time you saw it until it appeared on a store shelf.  Wrong!  Turning your book in is just the beginning.  There are editorial revisions, copy edits, pages proofs, galleys…  By the time it’s all said and done, you’ve seen your book more times than you thought possible.       


Q: What other books (if any) are you working on and when will they be published?

I’m currently working on a new contemporary romance that I’m loving!!  (Is that okay to say about one’s own book???)  Fingers crossed it will be released next year.  If you’d like to be kept up to date on what’s coming next, please visit my website and sign up for my once-in-a-blue-moon newsletter!     


Q: What’s one fact about your book that would surprise people?

I think people would be shocked to learn that when I started Boardwalk Summer, I had no personal connection to the subject matter and then during the writing of it, my life turned upside down when we learned our daughter would need a transplant.  To say surreal…unreal…unbelievable…       



Q: Finally, what message (if any) are you trying to get across with your book?

Another great question and one I really hadn’t thought of before.  But the reason I write and read romances is because I believe in the healing power of love.  Love is the answer no matter the question.  And on a very personal note as Boardwalk Summer became a very personal book in a way I never imagined it would when I started writing it…I hope you won’t mind me sharing the bumper sticker that graces every one of my family’s cars:

Don’t take your organs to Heaven…
Heaven knows we need them here!

Also, while not everyone can be an organ donor, just about everyone can save a life by donating blood.  xoxo
  

Q: Thank you again for this interview!  Do you have any final words?

It has been an absolute joy spending time here today.  Thank you for having me!!  I am incredibly grateful to each one of you who has—or will—take a chance on one of my stories.  And to show my deep appreciation, I’d love to send some fun stuff your way.  Just visit my website (www.KimberlyFisk.net) and drop me a note. 

Happy Reading!



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