Rhonda McKnight is the author of the 2025 Christy Award winning novel, Bitter and Sweet, and the 2024 Emma Award winner, The Thing About Home. She has twenty-eight books, including other award-winning bestselling romances. She currently writes book club fiction set in the South Carolina Lowcountry for an imprint at HarperCollins Publishing. Originally from a small coastal town in New Jersey, she writes from the comfort of her Midlands South Carolina home.
FF: Writer in Residence centers on a novelist facing writer’s block who steps into a new environment in the Lowcountry. What inspired this “blocked writer finds unexpected renewal” setup?
I think the idea came from a deeper curiosity about root causes of writer’s block. In Writer in Residence, Alex’s struggle isn’t just creative, it’s personal. It comes from a place of fear and uncertainty about her entire career. She’s in a low place when a random Ancestry message appears in her inbox. It jumpstarts a search to discover information that has been withheld from her, which in turn helps her to realize the story she’s been avoiding is her own.
FF: The story brings Alexandra into a vibrant Gullah Geechee community rich with history and culture. Why was it important for that sense of place and heritage to be central to her journey?
Place matters. It’s indelibly connected to history and heritage. Where we are and who we are shapes how we see ourselves. The Gullah Geechee community offered a space where Alex could slow down, listen, and reconnect. This is what the Gullah have offered in all my Lowcountry novels, because real connections with nature, and people, and God are foundational aspects of the culture. The setting becomes a place of both discovery and healing for Alex.
FF: Gabe Scott is a bestselling author and former writer-in-residence who challenges Alex both professionally and personally. What interested you about pairing two writers at very different points in their careers?
My dream man is a writer. I’m convinced we’ll understand each other, but what if…he’s a big literary star and I’m not? Could I handle his prestige? I wanted to believe the answer was yes, so I decided to answer the question in my own book. It was fun to tell Alex and Gabe’s story.
FF: At its heart, this is a story about identity as much as it is about writing. How does Alex’s search for her voice mirror her search for truth in her own life?
I started writing with this idea in mind: We can’t move forward until we face our truth, and it easily became the heart of the novel. Alex has to work hard to uncover the secrets that were kept from her. Along the way, fate connected her with people who served as mirrors to her soul, which helped her to finally understand her voice required her to be courageous.
FF: Family secrets and long-buried truths play a major role in the story. How do those revelations shape Alex’s understanding of herself and her future?
Truth unlocks everything. That’s why I love including family secrets in my novels. In the case of Alex’s family, her mother thought silence was protection. Many people believe this, but is it ever? I don’t think so. For Alex, the revelations don’t just uncover the past, they reshape how she sees herself. And once that shifts, her future opens up in ways she never expected. The deeper she digs into her history, the clearer her voice becomes.
FF: Ms. Kate, the elderly Gullah woman, becomes a quiet but powerful guide in the story. What role did you want her to play in Alex’s transformation?
I love including older women in my stories who offer nurturing wisdom. I call it grandma love with sweet tea and cornbread. Ms. Kate offers Alex that kind of care and guidance. She reminds her to slow down, listen, and to trust the voice inside her.
FF: Romance is present, but it unfolds alongside themes of healing, faith, and self-discovery. How do you approach balancing those emotional threads in your storytelling?
I focus on character first. When the character is doing the work there is healing, discovering, questioning. Personal growth happens. The love story is unfolding at the same time, because in real life, those things don’t happen separately.
FF: What do you hope readers take away about courage, creativity, and finding your voice after finishing Writer in Residence?
I hope readers walk away understanding that finding your voice takes courage, and that courage often starts with telling yourself the truth. When you do that, creativity, clarity, and even joy can follow.
