Wowsies! I've been busy these last few months (keeps me out of mischief!) and I realise I haven't updated my blog for a while and now I have three exciting things to tell you about!

Firstly...

That's right! I've been having fabulous talks with my editor and I'll be able to share what we've been discussing very, very soon!

Secondly, tomorrow I'm at my first ever Christmas Craft Fair selling my bookmarks and Christmas decorations. It's all very exciting (and nerve-wracking!) but it's so important to try new things and step out of comfort zones. Check out my Eve's Story Gems on the website menu for more details (and a sneak peek at some of my stock).

Thirdly, I can't believe I didn't share photos of the gorgeousness that is the PAPERBACK of The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love! So here are a few... 

What a perfect Christmas pressie!

Here are some of the lovely things readers are saying about it:

'If this doesn’t speak romcom perfection I don’t know what does!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Capable of capturing the subtle complexities of relationships and the magic that comes when you least expect it’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'I LOVED this book … A win all around!!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'This novel could seriously be called The Life Changing Magic of Falling in Love With This Book! I laughed and I cried and I just felt so "full" when I finished’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'll update on the exciting book news as soon as I'm given the go-ahead!

Confession: When I’m starting to write a new book, I often write about 50k of notes first. Part research/part WHAT IFs for plot points/and lots of potential scenes to see if the themes I want to explore can carry an entire story. The one thing I cannot do however is write past the first chapter if I don’t have my main characters names locked.

There’s probably official terminology for it but their name has to “sound” like who they are. Characters that are whimsical, dreamy, I tend to give longer more lyrical names to. Characters that might be more straight-to-the-point I may give shorter names. Villains get names that have hard-sounding consonants or are alliterative. I adore alliteration!

Another confession: sometimes I subvert these little ‘rules’ of mine.

Names can often take on extra meaning as your book develops and you may have to choose names for (but not limited to): pets, body parts (!), place names, company names, building names.

In The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love, Ashleigh and George were never called anything else, although I did try out different spellings of Ashleigh, to see which I preferred.

Oz ‘Ozzie-Baby’ Oswald Crannick appeared because that was simply how Carlos referred to him as he leaned back in his chair and called out to the bakery kitchen to get his attention!

When Hildegard Lundy appeared on the page, she kept patiently correcting people to call her Hildy as opposed to Mrs. Lundy. (There turns out to be reasons for this, which you’ll discover if you read the book).

The cleaning service Ashleigh works for is called Sparkle because I wanted something representative of what the company did, and, okay, because in an amazing fairy-dust moment I realised I had called her boss Rhonda Sparkle! I don’t know if that was subliminal because I knew Ashleigh was a cleaner or pure coincidence but I took it and ran with it😊.

The advertising agency George works for was easier because most people who own their own business want their name associated with it and as George works for his girlfriend’s father… that’s how the Richardson Advertising Agency was born.

The Clouds – the apartment block where George lives is called that to represent how high-up he is (because the higher the apartment, the better the view, the more successful you are etc.).

Oscars – the bakery that Carlos and Oz run is called that because when I saw it in my head it was wallpapered in famous Oscars and it handily combines their names.

But then I hit a problem… with a pub of all things. I know!

The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love is set mostly in NYC but as George is British there are a few mentions of where he grew up, and for lovely reasons surrounding the sense of community you get in village pubs, the pub in George’s world is a place he misses and has very special memories of. This was before the Taylor Swift naming-a-pub-in-her-song-and-the-pub-going-viral but when that information came out, I was doubly glad I’d put some effort into naming it, just in case she’d like to read the book, fall in love with it, and also refer to it in a song 😊.  

Researching into Pub Names (yes, I was totally having a procrastination moment) I discovered that they often have a lot of history attached to them.

For my pub I kept returning to an image in my head of the pub sign (illustrative pub signs are also a thing!) and what I kept seeing was a sort of Wind in the Willows weary badger. Finally, the perfect name came to me…The Bedraggled Badger.

I love it because it feels like it fits the centuries-old traditional pub that has oak beams holding it up and uneven floorboards that thousands upon thousands of people have walked over. It also has a huge inglenook fireplace surrounded by burnished oak tables and chairs and in my imagination, the sign outside shows a tired and rained-upon bespectacled portly badger returning from a long journey and carrying a suitcase. Also, it has the whole alliteration thing going for it!

There are so many amazing pub names I came across that I thought I’d share a few of my personal faves:
The Camel & Artichoke – formerly The Elusive Camel (and no one seems to know why but there must be a story in there!)
The Nutshell (claims to be smallest pub in the country)
The Moon Under the Water (how romantic sounding is this! It comes from a story by George Orwell where he described his ideal pub)
The Mad Bishop and Bear (this one is all about Paddington!)

So, yes, I named the pub in The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love, The Bedraggled Badger. And, in another confession: I fell in love with it so much, I may have put it in my next book!
​
What would you name a pub? (extra points if it sounds like something you’d see in a rom-com!)

My newest book is mainly set in Brooklyn, NYC. Yep, New York City. “The city that never sleeps! “Concrete jungle where dreams are made of”! And I have to say, I really loved writing about how city-living can energise or enervate.

Aside from the amazing architecture, new nestled alongside old, the experience of conducting your working life and your social life at dizzying pace as you fight for your place in amongst the hustle and bustle can be exhilarating. If you feel you are doing it right, you are ultra-present in your space – constantly forming connections and feeling as if this thriving metropolis is an energising space that you can feed off. What a rush!

In contrast though, oftentimes (and especially when things are not going to plan in your life) the experience can also leave you feeling exhausted, trampled over, out of step, alone. As though everyone and everything projects this tangible storm of energy while you just want to be cherry blossom drifting softly onto a solid surface to lay for a while and catch your breath!

In The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love, the main characters Ashleigh and George live in very different apartments. Ashleigh calls her apartment “bijou” (in reality, it’s even smaller – let’s go with minute!). Whereas George lives in a luxury apartment that has been sourced for him by the company he works for. If he ever took the time to think about it – would it be the kind of apartment he’d choose for himself?

Here, in this concrete jungle I wanted to include another magic to city-living -- a potentially life-changing, life-saving magic -- and that’s the open spaces that are added, claimed, and protected for residents and by residents. It could be one of the beautiful parks, a community garden or a rooftop bar with an amazing living wall, these spaces are necessary pockets of tranquillity.

Whether you live in a bedsit/studio with a wonky Murphy-bed or a spacious, remodelled brownstone, all city-dwellers spend some of their hard-earned time-off venturing into green spaces in a deliberate act of seeking out that break from all the hard concrete, the steel and glass barriers, and the pulsing, throbbing beat of constant activity.

For different reasons Ashleigh and George think they’re in the place they are meant to be but they’re just not living their best lives because, well, Life, right?!

In light of some of the themes in the book I wanted to give them both access to some pockets of tranquillity so look out for changes of scenery that push them out of their comfort zones or drench them in romance, both of which could lead to realising that the best way of enjoying living in a city is to be able to combine the rush with the chill 😊.

Do you have a favourite green space that you return to over and over to recharge, to soothe, to breathe?

These days I’m lucky enough to have a garden right outside my ‘office’ or even make my garden my office for the day! But I’ve also been lucky to work near beautiful city parks – perfect for a two-minute stroll or an escaping read sat under a shady tree at lunchtime. Perfect for chilling or playing sports with friends after work.

A green space with lovely views and pockets of tranquillity can also be the perfect place for  picnics and crosswords and the perfect date! If you read The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love you can judge for yourself! 

Gulp! The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love has its first official birthday -- TODAY!

This is my first book out in a while because, well, Life stuff and I have to tell you all that I am beyond proud that readers are expressing how relatable the whole host of characters in the book are and that the themes have been handled sensitively and realistically. 

Here are a couple of lovely things that have been said:

‘A heartfelt story that had me laughing, then tearing up, but always entertained’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Capable of capturing the subtle complexities of relationships and the magic that comes when you least expect it’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

About THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF FALLING IN LOVE
(Perfect for fans of Beth O'Leary & Christina Lauren)

Everything in Ashleigh’s life is completely fine. Sure, she avoids conversations with her mother at all costs, but doesn’t everyone? And yes, she did turn down that promotion at work, but she loves her job just as it is, right? Oh, and she has had to ask her friends to set up dates for her, but New York dating is awful for everyone, isn’t it?

George is not ok. The beating in his chest isn’t normal, is it? If he could just secure that promotion at work moving to New York would all be worth it, wouldn’t it?

Ashleigh and George haven’t met yet, but Ashleigh knows a lot of things about George. She knows he loves soccer, that he likes his house to smell of the ocean breeze and that he’s a whizz at crosswords. All George knows about Ashleigh is that since she became his cleaner everything in his life is a little better.

Neither of them knows that their worlds are about to collide. Could they be just what the other one needs?

Grab your copy here: https://mybook.to/LifeCMOFILove

Well, that month just flew right on by, didn't it?! And now I'm singing: Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow. You're ONLY a day away!

Can't believe THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF FALLING IN LOVE publishes tomorrow!

Hope you can all join me tomorrow over on 

Facebook
or 
Eve Devon (@EveDevon) / X

for some lovely celebrations. I have some GIVEAWAYS and some CROSSWORD FUN and lots of chat about the book lined up!

And don't worry if you can't celebrate with me tomorrow ... you'll be able to interact/catch-up/join the celebrations here on the blog as well over the next few days!

If you'd love your copy delivered first-thing to your gorgeous reading device, there's still time to PRE-ORDER here:
https://mybook.to/LifeCMOFILove

I can't quite believe it's only a month to go before The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love hits the shelves! But having now seen some advance reviews for the book, guys...I have such #bigfeelings. It's always completely terrifying wondering what the response is going to be to your work. That part never changes. NEVER-EVER!

So I am over the moon to see that people are not only loving the characters Ashleigh and George, right along with my squad of the secondary characters as well, but also that they love how relatable they all are.

And very importantly to me, readers are enjoying the themes in the book. There have been reports of laughter AND tears, which fills my heart because these characters always become so real to me - they can't not when you live with them for so long (!) and so it feels like an extra gift that I can give them. Which they deserve for being so awesomely human. So non-perfect, with messy lives, that show us all that we're all just pootling along trying to live the best lives we can, quite often in a romantically-comedic way, that while mortifying to us, is pure real life!

Essentially #RomCom rocks and I adore writing it and I love that you love reading it!

PRE-ORDER:
 https://mybook.to/LifeCMOFILove

THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF FALLING IN LOVE publishes first in eBook 24th May and you can totally PRE-ORDER it: https://mybook.to/LifeCMOFILove
 
Ashleigh and George have never met.
But they’re about to…
And now, you get to meet them too!
 
Everything in Ashleigh’s life is completely fine. Sure, she avoids conversations with her mother at all costs, but doesn’t everyone? And yes, she did turn down that promotion at work, but she loves her job just as it is, right? Oh, and she has had to ask her friends to set up dates for her, but New York dating is awful for everyone, isn’t it?

George is not ok. The beating in his chest isn’t normal, is it? If he could just secure that promotion at work moving to New York would all be worth it, wouldn’t it?

Ashleigh and George haven’t met yet, but Ashleigh knows a lot of things about George. She knows he loves soccer, that he likes his house to smell of the ocean breeze and that he’s a whizz at crosswords. All George knows about Ashleigh is that since she became his cleaner everything in his life is a little better.

Neither of them knows that their worlds are about to collide. Could they be just what the other one needs?
 
#swoon because I really love this cover! What do you think -- is it not all the things gorgeous 😊
 
Credit: book cover designer, Sandra Chiu: https://www.instagram.com/whatsannymade

Thrilled to be revealing the cover of my new book on Thursday 11th April 2024. #BigFeelings!
Watch this space...​

Happy New Year, my lovelies. I'm wishing you all good things for 2024 (with lots of bookish-and-reading-type things thrown in to help with the joyful part!). 

I'm so looking forward to my new book: The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love coming out this year - huge hooray! And as well as that deliciousness I'm looking forward to finishing writing my current WIP. And, I'm also looking forward to some actual blogging again!

What are all of you looking forward to this year?

​Eve xx