Kimberly Amato wanted to be an actress. She had a BA in psychology and went on to get a Master’s Degree in forensic psychology, but the acting jobs she did on the side while in college pulled her in. Driven by a desire to create, the Hicksville resident pursued an acting career and starred in some short and independent films, as well as a few TV shows.
But life doesn’t always turn out as planned.
“I took the path less traveled, and it ended up being a dead end,” Amato said.
Now in her 30s, the acting gigs have come to a slow. But that’s not stopping Amato, who says she is “bulldozing” a new path for herself as she pursues her other passion of writing. Amato has written several scripts in the past and recently published her first novel, Steele Resolve.
Though the book was just published at the beginning of March, the story’s plot and characters have been swimming around in Amato’s head for years. Amato says in college she was always creating psychological profiles of characters which eventually made their way into Steele Resolve.
Steele Resolve got its start after Amato penned a first chapter as a joke and sent it to her mom and aunt, who is an author. But both of them wanted to know what happened next and Amato says she knew she needed to get the story out.
“My passion has always been to create something and I needed to get these ideas that have been in my head for years out,” Amato said. “I just had to do it for me.”
It took Amato two years to write the novel, which is the first in a three-part series. The book centers around detective Jasmine Steele, who has the perfect life until her brother is killed. Suddenly she becomes the guardian of her nephew and is pulled into a series of murders that connect back to her brother’s case, and puts everyone around her in danger.
Writing a novel takes an enormous amount of vulnerability, says Amato. Not only is there the fear of whether or not people will like her writing, but she poured a lot of herself into the title character of Jasmine Steele.
“She has a lot of my insecurities and fears,” Amato said. “She’s 80 percent based on me, and 20 percent based on what I wish I could be.”
While life didn’t go the way she expected, Amato is continually building on skills she’s learned in the past. Her college degrees have given her a huge advantage in her writing and in helping characters come alive.
“I usually do a breakdown of each character to bring all aspects in,” Amato said. “I also try to use it as a way to bring the reader into the book. I want them to feel what the lead character feels.”
And though the ink is still drying on her latest book, this new author shows no signs of slowing down. Amato is currently working on the sequel to Steele Resolve, called Melting Steele, which deals with people’s obsession with the Internet and anonymity on the web. She also has a supernatural series in the works.
Find out more by visiting www.kimberlyamato.com.
