My novels are based on my experience planning more than 500 weddings, but they’ve all been fictionalized to protect my guilty clients. So far, nobody has recognized themselves and gotten upset.
Sandy Malone – 15 August 2026
The Back Flap
Tally Davis is working as a wedding planner in the Caribbean when Hurricane Maria hits, so she evacuates Puerto Rico and goes home to Jekyll Island, Georgia, and launches her own company there. But not everybody is happy that Tally is back, and some people want to make sure she doesn’t stay.
About the book
What is the book about?
Escape to Jekyll Island, the first book in the Gem of the Golden Isles series, introduces 29-year-old Tally Davis after she loses her home and Caribbean destination wedding job in Hurricane Maria. She goes home to Jekyll Island to start over and opens up her own wedding planning company. She starts connecting with old friends, including the little boy next door who grew up to be a hot state trooper, and she picks up some really big clients. Then things start going sideways. She has no idea that somebody has a 10-year-old grudge against her and doesn’t want her to stay on Jekyll Island. Will she succeed?
When did you start writing the book?
I came up with the idea for the series while we were driving from DC to Jekyll Island for an inspection on our new home. It’s not an autobiographical story but it’s based on my own experience having to start over after building a successful life and career somewhere.
How long did it take you to write it?
It took me about three weeks to write the first two books in the series.
Where did you get the idea from?
While not autobiographical, the series is based on my own experiences owning a destination wedding planning company on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. And then having to re-evaluate and start over after Hurricane Maria closed my 11-year-old business overnight.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
When I’m writing fast, I struggle to keep Jekyll and Vieques straight. I’ve been known to reverse them.
What came easily?
The stories came easily because I lived them.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
My novels are based on my experience planning more than 500 weddings, but they’ve all been fictionalized to protect my guilty clients. So far, nobody has recognized themselves and gotten upset. I’ve also got a lot of real neighbors from Jekyll Island featured in the books. With their permission, of course. So that’s fun. I’m always pleasantly surprised when somebody asks to appear in a future book.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
I’m a big fan of Elin Hilderbrand and Susan Boyer – they both write novels based on islands, so I relate to them. But I also love Patricia Cornwell and Nelson DeMille, and that’s probably why there’s mystery and suspense in my books. Jennifer Weiner makes a fantastic beach read, and I hope my readers laugh as much as hers do.
Do you have a target reader?
My readers are mostly women.
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?
I am a plotting-pantser.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
I outline on notebook paper and add to that outline as I think of things for a couple of weeks. Usually, I play with it when I’m watching TV with my husband. When the outline is finished – meaning I have a good idea of how the book will end – I start writing.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
Every time I sit down to write, I back up to whatever I wrote the day before and begin with a heavy edit on those chapters. Then I start writing new stuff. I try to block full days for writing, but if I have to split it up and I’m away from the computer for long, I go back to where I started writing that morning and do the heavy edit so that I don’t screw up my process.
Did you hire a professional editor?
I do not pay a professional editor because I was the editor of the nation’s largest police publication for seven years prior to becoming an author, and I’ve had several non-fiction books traditionally published. I have several editor/reader friends who are very good at spotting holes in my storyline and have consistently been the first editors on my books. I make all of their fixes and then I do another very careful copyedit on my story. Then it goes to the proofreader. I proofread it one more time after the professional, and then it goes to press.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
I like it quiet when I’m writing because I have too much going on in my head.
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
I don’t. My first books were traditionally-published non-fiction. When I wrote my first two fiction novels, I called my agent who represented my non-fiction all excited and she told me she didn’t represent fiction. She said she recommended I self-publish my fiction because I write so fast and she thought I’d get frustrated fast with the traditional one-book-per-year rate of traditional publishing houses.
What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
See answer above
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?
I had my first fiction covers done by a friend who is a professional graphic designer, but she wasn’t a book designer. We’re in the process of redoing the covers for my first series now because they look a little too much like travel guides.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
I have a marketing plan for my new books that are coming out this year, but I didn’t for my first five books. I think I was afraid to commit to anything until the books were actually in my hands. I think I was using the “throw it at the wall and see if it sticks” approach.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
Just start writing. Once you have a finished book in your hands, you can make all the other decisions. But none of it matters until you actually finish writing a book.
About You
Where did you grow up?
Potomac, Maryland – but I went to school in Washington, DC
Where do you live now?
Jekyll Island, Georgia
What would you like readers to know about you?
I had a reality TV show on TLC called “Wedding Island” that it’s fun to watch after you read my first book because it gives you perspective on Tally’s experiences on Vieques Island.
What are you working on now?
I’ve just finished writing a stand-alone novel called Thicker Than Blood about a patriarchal, society family where money and influence are more important than anything else. It’s told through the eyes of three generations of women in the family. Thicker Than Blood will be released this fall.
Right now, I’m working on the Under the Oaks series. It’s a crossover with my Gem of the Golden Isles series and takes place next door on St. Simons Island. The first book in that series should be out before the end of this summer.
End of Interview:
For more from Sandy Malone you can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Get your copy of Escape to Jekyll Island from Amazon US or Amazon UK.
