Author Spotlight:
Kennedy Fox
Brooke Cumberland & Lyra Parish are a duo of romance authors who teamed up to write under the USA Today Bestselling pseudonym, Kennedy Fox. They share a love of You’ve Got Mail and The Holiday. When they aren’t bonding over romantic comedies, they like to brainstorm new book ideas. One day, they decided to collaborate and have some fun creating new characters that’ll make your lady bits tingle and your heart melt. If you enjoy romance stories with sexy, tattooed alpha males and smart, independent women, then a Kennedy Fox book is for you!
Q&A with Kennedy Fox:
Question 1:
What is your favorite book(s) that you have written before becoming a duo?
It’s hard to say what our favorite book is because we absolutely enjoyed writing each one. This is War will always hold a special place in our hearts because it was the first one to write together.
Question 2:
What made you decide to become a duo?
We were talking one day about how we wanted to get back to writing after taking a short hiatus. The conversation came up about writing together. Brooke sent over the first chapter of a book she’d been wanting to write for years and I wrote the second chapter and from there, it was literary love at first sight. Since we hadn’t published under our individual names in almost a year, starting fresh was the best answer.
Question 3:
How you decide who writes what in each book?
It’s actually kind of random. We each have different backgrounds and so when we get to chapters that involve something the other knows more about, we usually assign those, but for the most part it’s you write 2 or 3 and I’ll write 2 or 3 and then we’ll meet back up. We used to take turns, every other one, but after writing 10 books together, as long as we plot ahead of time, we can write at the same time. This is why plotting is VERY important.
Question 4:
How do you select the names of your characters?
Usually Brooke names them. There’s a running joke that I’ll name a character and she’ll go behind me and change them. It’s gotten to the point where I’ll just ask what she wants to name someone. Haha! It kind of makes my life easy though because there’s only so many baby name websites I can search when I’m in the zone.
Question 5:
What has been your favorite guy or girl that you have written to date?
We absolutely love all of our characters, but I think if we had to choose one couple, it’d probably be Travis and Viola, just because they were the first. But really, we love all of our literary children the same.
Question 6:
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
We typically write about things we know. I can’t say we research too much before writing, it’s kind of like, “Hey, let’s make him a detective.” Then as we’re writing we do research as we go. Luckily we have friends who know some things about the subjects we don’t know anything about, but there are times when we’ve had to do hard research on California laws (neither of us live in CA), the mediation process, and being a teacher. It’s always fun to learn something when writing!
Question 7:
What was the hardest part to write in Chasing Him?
This may sound silly, but finishing the dang book! We were writing all the way up to the moment it needed to be turned into edits. To date, it’s the longest book we’ve written together. They characters just kept talking and before we knew it, that sucker was 110K words!
Question 8:
What part was the most fun to write in Chasing Him?
I would have to say getting to know John Bishop. In all of the other BB books, he was always the most reserved and quiet. We never saw too much of him and often times, if he was in a scene, he barely said a word. He’s more of a lurker so we didn’t know too much about him. After we unraveled his character, we realized he might be one of the most complex out of the Bishop Brothers, other than Evan. It was a fun experience!
Question 9:
Was there anything that you had edited out of Chasing Him?
We had discussed writing several flashbacks throughout the book but they didn’t make it in. Honestly, I don’t think we really cut things, but did have to add some stuff last minute to put a pretty little bow on the plot. It was the energizer bunny of KF books!
Question 10:
Was there a playlist that inspired some of the scenes or the couple in Chasing Him?
Oh man, music is major influence when we write. We have playlists for each book on Spotify and not to be braggy but the one for CH is ON POINT!
Question 11:
Do you ever read your books after they are released? Not typically. Once it’s released, it’s out in the world and there’s never any intention of changing what’s published. I will say we go back to our older books for reference especially considering Jackson and the family was first introduced in the second Checkmate Duet Series, This is Reckless/This is Effortless. Considering that was 7 books ago, sometimes we forget small details. Luckily we now have character sheets which makes it much easier!
Question 12:
Do you snack on anything while writing or reading?
Brooke: Sour patch kids and chocolate!
Lyra: Coffee + coffee + coffee. I’m not really a snacker!
Question 13:
When you aren't writing what are you up to?
I think I can speak for the both of us and say NAPS. Honestly, we’re always writing though. I love to camp and travel, but I’m usually writing when that happens. When you love what you do, it never feels like work, I think that’s why we do it 99% of the time. Brooke is a bookworm through and through and when we’re not on a super tight deadline, you can find her reading romance!
Question 14:
What is one of your favorite songs that you can play on repeat?
Brooke – Back to you by Selena Gomez
Lyra – Anything by Taylor Swift, but right now I’m really digging the acoustic version of Delicate.
Question 15:
What is one of your favorite books (or author) that you have read? What is a book you are looking forward to reading?
Brooke – I’m looking forward to reading more by K.C. Lynn.
Lyra – I’ve been on a self-help book kick recently. I’d have to say Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk
Thanks so much for having us! We really appreciate it!
Kennedy Fox has released 10 books under their pen name together, and they aren't stopping any time soon. On top of the 10 released they already have 4 more in the works!
The first 6 books are a duet series.
If you love enemies-to-lovers then check out Checkmate: This is War and This is Love.
Universal link: books2read.com/u/bwYdlY
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32881382-checkmate
Universal link: books2read.com/u/3G9dRa
If you love friends-to-lovers then check out Checkmate: This is Reckless and This is Effortless.
Universal Link: books2read.com/u/4XKnGa
Universal Link: books2read.com/u/3yD7lv
If you love Second Chance Romances then check out Checkmate: This is Dangerous and This is Beautiful.
Universal Link: books2read.com/u/4NGLP9
Universal link: books2read.com/u/49DMeM
Then they released their first bedtime reads story Falling For the Bad Boy (previously known as My Week With the Bad Boy).
Universal link: books2read.com/u/31xqwl
And recently they embarked on a spinoff series of the Bishop Brothers that you met in Checkmate: This is Reckless/Effortless duet.
The first was Taming Him which was a southern spring break romance.
Universal Link: books2read.com/u/mKKzjd
The second, which was released April 17th is Needing Him which is a enemies to lovers doctor romance.
Universal Link: books2read.com/u/mBPGkv
And of course their newest release which is Chasing Him which is a single-dad romance releasing June 28th.
Universal link: books2read.com/u/brGWle
Stayed tuned for Keeping Him- the final book in the Bishop Brothers series, plus more books in the bedtime reads- including falling for the f*ck boy coming out soon!
Want signed copies of theit books? Check out their website below. And keep up with all their social media platforms for updates & info!
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