Monday 10 April 2017

The Little Clock House on the Green by Eve Devon

Published by HarperImpulse on March 23, 2017

Epigraphs


Hi and thank you so much for visiting today.

You know, it really doesn’t matter whether I’m reading a book in digital format or paper format, I will always – and I mean always start right at the very beginning. I’m not even talking about chapter one…I’m talking way before that… As in: title page, followed by copyright page, followed by dedication, epigraph, contents page, prologue etc. No skipping to a random page or sneaking a peek at the last pages for me. I know! I am such a rule follower!

But to me, these first little snippets of information prepare me, tease me, and intrigue me for the story proper and nothing will do a finer job of all three of those things than an epigraph (that short quotation, saying or motto at the beginning of a book or chapter to suggest its theme).

When I began plotting The Little Clock House on the Green I quickly realised that I wanted to write about what it’s like to have hopes or dreams you thought long buried, resurface out of the blue.

That’s just what happens to Kate Somersby, the main character in The Little Clock House on the Green. There she is, quite happily plodding along – or so she’s thinking – when she discovers that the beloved Clock House in the village she hasn’t lived in for years… is up for sale.

The next thing she knows, all her hopes and dreams that she thought extinguished, ignites again and Will Not Leave Her Alone until she decides for once and for all whether to have a go at making it reality.

I guess the main thing about old hopes and dreams resurfacing, is that it forces you to evaluate where you are in life, and, perhaps where you could be, if you mustered your courage and had another go.

These days we’re taught not to have regrets in life, but I think if you do choose to resurrect buried hopes and dreams, you’re going to need drive, passion, and courage to open yourself up and follow through.

It’s a lot – allowing yourself to recognise that hope in your chest, fluttering its wings…

And as I realised that Kate was finding it a lot to deal with I suddenly knew I had the perfect words, to help keep the book’s theme alive, sitting prettily in a frame on my bedroom windowsill. These words weren’t my own, but I had printed them out, along with others, to spur me on when I was pursuing my own dream.

This is the poem by Emily Dickinson that I use as the epigraph in The Little Clock House on the Green:



Have you ever had a dream pop back up to the surface like Kate’s does? And if so, are you still working hard to make it come true, or has it already? I’d love to hear from you.

Eve xx




My name’s Eve Devon and I write sexy heroes, sassy heroines and happy ever afters…

I kind of secretly believe it’s not too late for me to train as a professional dancer, MMA expert, or win an Oscar. I know! This is why writing fiction is for me!

Growing up in locations like Botswana and Venezuela gave me a taste for adventure and my love for romances began when my mother shoved one into my hands in a desperate attempt to keep me quiet during TV coverage of the Wimbledon tennis finals.

When I wasn’t consuming books by the bucket-load, I could be found pretending to be a damsel in distress or running around solving mysteries and writing down my adventures. As a teenager, I wrote countless episodes of TV detective dramas so the hero and heroine would end up together every week. As an adult, I worked in a library to conveniently continue consuming books by the bucket-load, until realising I was destined to write contemporary romance and romantic suspense myself. I live in leafy Surrey in the UK, a book-devouring, slightly melodramatic, romance-writing sassy heroine with my very own sexy hero husband!





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