I think romance is friendship and attraction sort of meeting together and that does influence what I'm writing a lot. I try to establish the attraction, obviously, but I also think it's important to show the characters having actual conversations about things other than their feelings for each other - and to develop their friendship on the page.

This quote is saying that romance should be about more than just the attraction between two characters. Romance should be based on a deeper level of friendship as well. This idea influences how the author writes because it is important to show characters building a stronger relationship other than just feelings of attraction. The author tries to establish attraction, but also to show the characters talking and developing their friendship on the page.