Amelia Diane Coombs is the author of Keep My Heart in San Francisco; Between You, Me, and the Honeybees; Exactly Where You Need to Be; and All Alone With You. She’s a Northern California transplant living in Seattle, Washington, with her spouse and their Siberian cat. When she isn’t writing or reading, Amelia spends her time playing video and tabletop games, road-tripping, and hiking the Pacific Northwest.

Q This is your first adult mystery–what were the inspirations for Drop Dead Sisters?

Amelia: Back in 2022, I chatted with my agent about writing an adult book. I knew I wanted to write something with a mystery or thriller bent to it. But I struggled to home in on a concept. I sent a handful of pitches to my agent, and when we spoke on the phone, we ended up combing through them, picking out what worked or didn’t work. Through that process, we put together the loose pitch for Drop Dead Sisters. My agent suggested the book be about sisters (not two best friends, which was a through-line in most of my pitches) which really got my brain churning creatively. I’m the youngest of three, just like Remi, with a pretty big age gap between me and my sisters, which has always caused me to feel like an outcast. I also love camping and have gone every summer since I was a kid; it felt like the perfect setting.

Q What was it like writing three very different sisters and having them work together to cover up a crime?

Amelia: Honestly, a lot of fun! The overall concept gave me a lot of naturally occurring tension to riff off of when it came to drafting, and it was a blast playing their personalities off of one another throughout the book, as well as showing how similar they were, beneath it all.

Q Did you have a favorite sister while you were writing? Did your favorite ever change as the story–and the characters themselves–evolved?

Amelia: Maeve, hands down. I love a good comedic relief character and, when it came to actually writing, I enjoyed Maeve’s scenes and coming up with her one liners. But I’ll always have a soft spot for Remi, since she and I are both the youngest.

Q What can you share about the setting–the campsite and the surrounding forest?  How did you research the locales?  

Amelia: So, I actually based the campground and overall location off of Donner Lake in Northern California, where I’ve gone camping for almost every summer of my life; my dad’s been camping there for over fifty years. While I had to do very little research, the entire town of Fallen Lake is fictional, and the actual campsite layout is fictional as well, even though I definitely borrowed from real life.      

Q Were there any scenes that were particularly difficult to write? Do you have a favorite?

Amelia: Remi’s assault scene, which happens early in the book, was a difficult one, as was returning to it for revisions and edits. It’s actually one of the first scenes I wrote that stayed almost the exact same from my first draft to the published book. For favorite scenes, without giving anything away, I loved writing a climatic scene toward the end, out on the hiking trails.

Q There’s murder in your book, but also a lot of humor, romance, and fun–how did you find the right balance with the light and dark scenes? 

Amelia: Oh, jeez, I can only hope I struck the right balance! It was really difficult. I talked with my agent early on about my intention for the project and, above all else, I wanted it to be fun. This is my fifth published book. I’ve published four YA novels that I loved but had a rough experience both writing and publishing. For my adult debut, I wanted to enjoy myself–and the process–which is how I went into the book from the start. I personally have a very dark sense of humor, so I feel like it’s easy for me to veer in that direction. When I revised the book with my editor, I was pretty intentional with wanting to lean into the absurd, almost Fargo-like levels of absurdity, where bad decisions just keep begetting bad decisions, all while remaining grounded. The romance part was the easiest, since all my YA novels were heavy on the romance!

Q Remi Finch is very open about her high levels of anxiety–why was it important to address mental health concerns in the book?

Amelia: I’m a deeply anxious person and in my previous books, I’ve always included a mental health element. I wanted to continue this in my adult debut, but also approach it from the POV of someone who is older, in therapy, and on meds. She’s really, really trying to get herself together–-and she is pretty functional, all things considered–but she’s not yet thriving. I also feel like there can be a bit of arrested development at play when you suffer from a mental health disorder. Like that maturation happens at a later stage than, say, your siblings or friends who don’t share those struggles. Anxiety, or any mental health concern, can cause a lot of shame, as well as a lot of perceived weakness, especially if you grew up in an invalidating environment like Remi. I wanted to show someone finally grappling with all of that, both for myself, and for others who might relate.

Q Are you working on another book, and can you share a sneak peek?

Amelia: I’m actually working on a sequel to Drop Dead Sisters called Sisters Before Misters! I’m not sure how much I can talk about it right now (we’re very early in the process) but it’s a mystery that takes place a year later in Seattle and features the same cast of characters, plus a few new, fun additions!