Bellamy Rose: Don’t Be Afraid To Try New Things
In this interview, author Bellamy Rose discusses how a reader-favorite character from a different book helped inspire her new cozy mystery, Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder.
Bellamy Rose has never solved an actual murder. When she’s not writing about them, she spends her time trying to taste every cuisine in the world, befriending all the animals she meets, and publishing non-murdery rom-coms as USA TODAY bestselling author Amanda Elliot. She lives with her husband and daughter in New York City. Learn more at BellamyRoseBooks.com, and follow her on Instagram.
In this interview, Bellamy discusses how a reader-favorite character from a different book helped inspire her new cozy mystery, Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder, her advice for other writers, and more.
Name: Bellamy Rose
Literary agent: Merrilee Heifetz (Writers House)
Book title: Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder
Publisher: Emily Bestler Books/Atria
Release date: March 18, 2025
Genre/category: Cozy mystery/rom-com
Elevator pitch: A spoiled heiress must investigate her grandmother’s death in order to gain back her trust fund, all while discovering how to be her own person and maybe even in falling in love in this rom-com meets murder mystery.
What prompted you to write this book?
I write rom-coms as well under the name Amanda Elliot (most recently Love You a Latke) and one of readers' (and my) favorite parts of my second rom-com, Best Served Hot, was a side character: the spoiled heiress with a heart of gold. I was intrigued by the idea of taking a character like her and making her into the main character of a book, and then it popped into my head: What if she had to solve a murder?
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
Well, if you consider the idea sparked when I wrote Best Served Hot, it's been years! But, honestly, the process went pretty smoothly from there. I wrote a proposal, sent it to my agent, wrote the full draft with her feedback, revised once or twice, and then we sent it on submission. A couple months later, the offer came in from my dream editor.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
This is my debut under this name and in this genre, but my 10th published book overall, so there isn't much that can surprise me at this point. This will be my first adult hardcover, so it will be interesting learning about that process!
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
When I started writing it, I didn't know who the killer would be—I decided after I finished the first few chapters (the proposal). So, it was fun writing introductions to all the characters and figuring out who would make the best culprit (and why).
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I hope it makes them smile.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Don't be afraid to try new things. I've reinvented my career multiple times now and I'm convinced it's what keeps me in the industry.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
