Today's guest: Devan Sipher
Why we love him: His debut novel is romantic, funny and poignant.
His debut: The Wedding Beat
The scoop: Gavin Greene isn't only a hopeless romantic, he's a professional one: He writes the wedding column for a prize-winning newspaper, covering A-list parties from coast to coast. But there's a thin line between being a hotshot reporter on assignment...and being a single guy alone on a Saturday night. Everything changes on New Year's when Gavin meets Melinda, a travel writer with an adventurous spirit. A moonlit walk across a Manhattan rooftop seems to seal the deal, but she slips away. Gavin crisscrosses New York City to find her again. And he learns there's something worse than losing the woman of his dreams—having to write an article about her wedding.
Our thoughts: A romcom written by a man! (*swoon*)
Fun fact: Devan's been writing the Vows column at the New York Times for five years. According to his website, rumor has it that in the movie 27 Dresses, the actor James Marsden portrayed him — but with better hair.
Giveaway: 5 copies. Just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win. We'll randomly select the winners this Monday, April 30 after 6pm.
CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...7 SECONDS IN HEAVEN WITH DEVAN SIPHER
1. I always walk on the sunny side of the street. I’m not a cockeyed optimist. I just crave sunshine. It’s very hard for me to stay inside and write on a sunny day (not that it’s all that easy for me to write on cloudy ones). Maybe it’s from being born in southern California. Or it could be a Vitamin D deficiency. 2. I’m addicted to cereal and ice cream. But not together. It took a lot of bowls of cereal and cartons of ice cream for me to write a book. Of course, lots of ice cream doesn’t go well with sitting sedentary at one’s desk for hours, so frozen yogurt is also high on the list. I recently discovered Yogurtland, which has a dozen or so flavors of nonfat frozen yogurt that you can serve yourself in any amount and any combination. I think of it as Disneyland for frozen yogurt. 3. I love to travel. I’ve never traveled anywhere I didn’t want to stay. But it’s not just what I see and do. It’s who I am. I like the person I become when I travel. More spontaneous. More open to trying new things. So even when home in New York, I often pretend I’m visiting from out of town, stopping at any café, park (or ice cream stand) that sparks my interest. 4. I have prepubescent taste in music. Fortunately, there’s a steady supply of prepubescents, so there’s always new music to download onto my iPod. But I draw the line at Justin Bieber. 5. I like learning new things. I learned Spanish for a recent trip to Spain. Not well enough to actually converse with anyone, but I could read menus pretty well. A year ago, while writing my book, I decided to learn how to make pizza from scratch (it wasn’t difficult, but it sounds impressive to people who don’t know that.) I made pizza every day the entire winter. I made pizza for lunch. Pizza for dinner. Pizza for friends. Haven’t made it once since. 6. If I had one wish, I’d wish for three more. 7. Put me near mountains or water, and I’m a happy guy. (I mentioned I’m from southern California, right?) Living in Manhattan, I frequently go running along the Hudson River, simply to remind myself that I live on an island. When I’m in LA, I go running along the coast between Venice and Santa Monica. Then I take my shoes off and walk back in the surf. I’d like my last moment on this planet to be sitting on a beach looking out at the waves. And while I’m putting in requests, I’d like that last moment to be with someone by my side.
Thanks, Devan!
xoxo,
L&L
If you want to find out more about Devan Sipher, visit his website and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
We're thrilled that Emily Giffin is answering our 25 "hard hitting" questions because we heart her. In fact, we more than heart her. We have total writer crushes on her. Something Borrowed and Something Blue are two of our favorite Chick Lit books...and the novels that finally inspired us to get off our lazy asses and write that book we'd been talking about writing for, um, like, 10 years! (Thanks, Emily!) All four of her books - Something Borrowed (2004), Something Blue (2005), Baby Proof (2006), and Love the One You're With (2008) - have been New York Times bestsellers and translated into a bazillion languages! And her fifth book, Heart of the Matter, is due out in Summer 2010. (We can't wait!) Love the One You're With (LTOYW) is out in paperback now and is the perfect book to throw in your beach bag and devour while you soak up the summer rays. (PS: It's really juicy--about a girl who gets a chance at a "do-over" on her love life!)