Welcome to the Amber Eve newsletter
The not-so-secret diary of a fashion blogger turned romance author
A shopaholic fashion blogger turns to romance writing in an attempt to stay out of the fictional Victorian workhouse after parenthood and a pandemic change her life beyond recognition…
That’s it. That’s the “hook”. It’s also my life right now, and the (rough) topic of this newsletter. I couldn’t think of a way to sum it up in a few neat little words, so I decided to write a blurb for it, as if it was one of my books. Yes, I hate me, too.
(Hey, did I mention I also write books? You can buy them, if you like…)
Anyway, hi, I’m Amber.
People who don’t know me generally describe me as a romance author, lifestyle blogger, or “really annoying, actually,” depending on how much they like me.
People who do know me, on the other hand, are more likely to say things like, “Why do these things always happen to you, Amber?” or “What’s that on your face?” and that’s why, when asked to introduce myself, I normally just mumble a bit then say I write things for a living. Which is true.
So, hi: I’m Amber, and I write things. These days I mostly write books about slightly awkward people who keep getting themselves into ridiculous situations (Don’t ask me where my inspiration comes from, I beg you…), but before that I wrote a blog called Forever Amber, which used to regularly appear on lists of the Top UK Bloggers, even though it was mostly just about things like that one time I touched an electric fence, or paid £50 for a set of eyelash extensions that made me look like Barbara Cartland.
Then I had a baby. And there was a pandemic. People stopped reading blogs, and switched to TikTok instead. And by the time things started to get back to something like ‘normal’ again, I’d aged approximately 25 years, and had lost a large chunk of my income, and what felt like all of my identity. Fun times, people, fun times.
So I started writing romcom novels.
Well, someone had to.
I’m currently two years and six books into my attempt to stay out of the fictional Victorian workhouse I spend my life worrying about, by reinventing myself as a romance author. This newsletter roughly documents my journey, along with some of the stranger and more memorable aspects of life as an indie author living in a small village in the Scottish countryside.
Here’s what you’ll get…
The newsletter goes out every Friday, with an occasional bonus midweek post when I’m feeling particularly wordy. Most posts are free to all, but I’ll occasionally write something a bit more personal, which will be behind a paywall, and accessible only to paid subscribers. Your subscriptions are quite literally the only thing that allows me to keep this newsletter going, so however you chose to read, your support means more to me than I can possibly tell you: and if you ever feel like sharing the newsletter with one (or more!) of your friends, that would be very welcome too.
Here’s a bit more about me…
I am Not A People Person. I love inanimate objects a little too much. I once lived next door to an international man of mystery. I have an unfortunate habit of flooding my own house. I am never knowingly seen without a hair elastic on one wrist. I grew up ugly. As a child, I was obsessed with horses and Enid Blyton stories. I hate birthdays, New Year’s Eve, and cold weather. I am terrified of crabs. I was born and raised in Scotland, but my heart belongs to Florida and/or California; please don’t make me choose which. I quit my job in PR when my husband was diagnosed with kidney failure and had to get a transplant. I’ve been blogging ever since. I’m so pale that if I don’t wear makeup, everyone assumes I’m dying. I’m an only child. I was not named after my red hair. I once declined an invitation to my own party. I love Taylor Swift. I gave birth by elective c-section following one miscarriage, one ectopic pregnancy, and a lifetime’s worth of tokophobia. My son, Max, is 6 years old, and is currently obsessed with the Titanic and Dolly Parton, in that order. I don’t have a favourite book, song or movie, and get anxious when asked to choose one. “Why does it always happen to YOU, Amber?” is the thing people say to me most often. I love sad songs and books about mysterious old houses, and I look like this, but only when I’ve made an effort:
But enough about me: what’s in it for you?
The newsletter goes out every Friday, with an occasional bonus midweek post when I’m feeling particularly wordy. Most posts are free to all, but I’ll occasionally write something a bit more personal, which will be behind a paywall, and accessible only to paid subscribers. (So, yes, this newsletter too is effectively ‘monetized’ by subscriptions, but I hope you’ll understand that, well, a girl’s gotta eat, and that the paid option in no way changes the content of the newsletter — it just makes it possible for me to continue writing it without having to do and work down the mine…)
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