Book Title: WRITER IN RESIDENCE
Character Name: Alexandra Chambers
What do you do for a living?
I’m a romance novelist. Or at least I was until Book Thirty decided it didn’t want to be written. Now I’m serving as a writer-in-residence, mentoring young writers while trying to remember why I fell in love with writing in the first place.
You’re a writer. What are the themes in your personal story, and what tropes are you living right now?
Family secrets, identity, purpose, heritage, community. Tropes? Possibly grumpy sunshine. (Hint: I’m not the sunny one.) Second chances mixed with a little slow burn.
What do you have to be so grump about?
Two world-shifting emails. One is from my new editor. She doesn’t want the book I’ve written, and the other is from Ancestry with a DNA match that should not be. My family has been turned inside out.
How would you describe your family before the email and what about your childhood?
My family…complicated. I grew up in a loving home with a single mother who always did the best she could, but there were always questions no one wanted to answer. I didn’t realize until much later that silence can become part of a family’s inheritance.
Where do you live?
Home is technically a townhouse on James Island in Charleston, but lately I’ve traded traffic and deadlines for a gorgeous cabin near Edisto Island. My neighbors are live oaks dripping with Spanish moss, the occasional egret, and people who somehow knew my life story before I introduced yourself. The pace is slower, the air is sweeter, and Ms. Kate’s comfort food has a way of making me believe everything will work out. I came here to escape writer’s block. Instead, I’ve found a community that’s making it awfully difficult to leave.
What was your greatest talent?
Storytelling. At least, that’s what everyone tells me. I’ve written twenty-nine romance novels, so apparently, I’m pretty good at making people fall in love with love, cry, and stay up way past their bedtime. The irony? I can untangle fictional lives in two hundred pages, but my own? That’s been a much slower rewrite.
Significant other?
(Laughs) A few weeks ago, I would have said they’re all made up. Lately, there’s a certain bestselling author with an irritating amount of charm who keeps showing up with encouragement and opinions I didn’t ask for. He’s entirely too handsome to be so patient. I’m still deciding whether he’s a distraction or divine intervention.
How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?
I’m somewhere between terrified and hopeful, which is a strange place to unpack a suitcase. I came here to hide, but this place keeps inviting me to heal instead. The people here don’t care how many books I’ve written. They care whether I show up. That’s both comforting and unnerving. And then there’s Gabe. The more time I spend with him, the harder it is to pretend this is just a temporary stop. I’m becoming attached to people I never planned to need.
Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?
No children. No pets. Although if you ask the kids at the literacy center, they’d probably tell you I belong to them now. They’ve worked their way into my heart. I didn’t know I needed them until they became my favorite part of the day.
Greatest disappointment?
This odd place I’m in with my mother. She’s been my best friend for my entire life and now…I think she’s been lying to me for my entire life.
Greatest source of joy?
Watching one of my students realize they have a story worth telling.
What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?
I overthink everything. Give me enough time and I’ll talk myself out of almost anything—including happiness.
What keeps you awake at night?
Professionally: The fear that I’ve already written my best book… and that I’ll never write another. Personally: Search windows. Because what is this match on Ancestry, and what lies have I been told?
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
It’s two-fold. I need a new book deal. I’ve got to find out the truth about my father. Oh, and I might be falling in love.
Do you have any enemies?
My biggest enemy is usually the voice in my own head telling me I’m not good enough. She’s exhausting.
Coffee, or tea?
Coffee and hot tea to write. A nice cold glass of Sweet tea to heal.
WRITER IN RESIDENCE by Rhonda McKnight
Narrator: Bahni Turpin
A Bookish Small-Town Romance with Southern Charm, Literary Themes, and Emotional Depth
From award-winning author Rhonda McKnight comes a new story of faith, history, and the power of legacy that merges the romance of The Bookshop Sisterhood with the rich Lowcountry setting of Mary Alice Monroe.
Alexandra Chambers is a writer who has run out of words. Struggling with writer’s block and the pressure to secure a new book deal, she wins a week in a writer-friendly cabin through a drawing held at a Lowcountry literacy center.
What she finds is far more than she expected–a vibrant community brimming with inspiration, a past steeped in history and culture, and a man who both intrigues and unsettles her.
Gabe Scott, a bestselling author and the former writer-in-residence, is everything Alex feels she’s not–acclaimed, award-winning, and unshakably confident. When their paths cross at the center, his literary brilliance and dedication to helping struggling Gullah students stir feelings Alex isn’t ready to confront. Though undeniably attracted to him, Alex wrestles with the fear that her books pale beside his celebrated work.
When a surprising family connection unearths long-hidden truths about her past, Alex is forced to confront a lie that has shaped her life. Guided by the quiet wisdom of Ms. Kate, an elderly Gullah cleaning woman with losses of her own, Alex finds the strength to forgive truths long withheld, embrace her voice, and write the story only she can tell.
Writer in Residence is a rich and layered choice for book clubs eager to explore themes of identity, family secrets, creative reinvention, and the power of place. McKnight’s lush Lowcountry setting and unforgettable cast of characters spark meaningful conversation about Gullah Geechee culture, the stories we inherit, and the courage it takes to tell our own truth. An included discussion guide makes it easy for groups to dig deeper into Alex’s journey of rediscovery–and perhaps reflect on the hidden roots in their own lives.
Multicultural African-American | Women’s Fiction Southern [ Thomas Nelson, On Sale: September 8, 2026, Paperback / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9781400354399 / eISBN: 9781400354405 ]
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About Rhonda McKnight
Rhonda McKnight is the author of several bestselling novels, including An Inconvenient Friend and What Kind of Fool. She is the winner of the 2015 Emma Award for Inspirational Romance of the Year. She loves reading and writing books that touch the heart of women through complex plots and interesting characters in crisis. Themes of faith, forgiveness, and hope are central to her stories. Originally from a small coastal town in New Jersey, Rhonda writes from the comfort of her South Carolina home.
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