Camilla Evergreen - Sweet, Closed-door Romantic Comedies

Camilla Evergreen writes sweet, closed-door romantic comedies full of snark, swoon, and slow-burn chemistry. Her stories celebrate neurodivergent heroines, grumpy or flirty heroes, lots of banter, and plenty of found family.  Fueled by too much anime and an overactive imagination, Camilla spends her days dreaming up stories with love, laughs, and lore. Her favorite tropes include: fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, and boss/employee. Expect a little magic and a lot of heart as everything she writes focuses on the message that, no matter what, you are not alone.  As our Author of the Day, she tells us all about her book, How to Find Love When You're Weird.What inspired How to Find Love When You’re Weird, and how did you decide on that wonderfully honest title?I don't usually work under "inspiration," and I just picked a title that fit in the series. Generally, I decide to write something based on tropes and market, so I know (or can get as close to knowing as possible) that the book will find a place to land. It's a fairly clinical process, to be honest. It's something I believe the main female lead, Ellen, would approve of.Ellen and Hayes make such a perfect opposites-attract couple — how did these two characters first take shape in your mind?I started with the grumpy/sunshine trope and just wrote. I don't really outline or plan anything. I put tropes on the table and hope for the best. The characters become whoever they are from there. More recently than this series, I've done a few picture collections to understand the vibe I'm going for, but back then it really was just "pick an archetype pairing and roll with it."Readers have praised how authentic Ellen’s neurodivergent voice feels. What kind of research or personal experience helped you write her so compassionately?I gave her a few of my special interests and wrote through the lens of experiences I've had. I've found that many of the characters I've written even without an "ah yes, you'd probably be diagnosed" still get...um...diagnosed by readers, so. I think, perhaps, I'm just weird.Hayes has been described as a tattooed teddy bear — big, grumpy, but gentle at heart. What made you want to pair someone like him with someone as vulnerable and quirky as Ellen?I was just writing the grumpy/sunshine trope and understood the assignment. Please never be fooled into thinking I plan anything. My love of spreadsheets goes something like, "Woo! Color-coding! *tucks away* *forgets exists*" My stories are almost always entirely vibes.Fake dating is a classic trope, but you give it a really fresh twist. What do you think keeps this trope timeless, and how did you make it your own?The fresh twist is that I got like three chapters into their "fake dating" and said, "Are they actually fake dating...or is this practice dating...or..." and by that point since both characters are extremely earnest, they were already at the "hey let's try this for real" decision so I didn't have to think about it anymore. Calling the trope on this one fake dating is mostly just because it's close enough and the marketable language. There's a reason book one has "Fake Date" in the title and this one does not. That said, the scene where they officially stop "fake dating" is probably one of my favorites. It's timeless because people like it. It's my own because I wrote it this time. So long as copy and paste isn't involved, I don't think it's possible to write something and not have it be yours. No matter how many times it's been done, the moment you do it, it's different. If even only a little.Ellen sees the world through the lens of romantic tropes, almost like she’s aware she’s living in a rom-com. Was writing that self-aware element tricky or just plain fun?The entire series has a meta edge to it, so by this book I wasn't particularly struggling with the concept. It felt satirical. Sarcasm and dry humor come easily enough to me.Your romances are sweet, closed-door stories that still manage to feel incredibly passionate. What’s the secret to keeping that spark alive without explicit scenes?Love has nothing to do with explicit scenes. I try to write the yearning for emotional closeness that then bridges into physical nearness without ever going into the more repetitive content.Found family is a recurring theme in your books. What does that concept mean to you personally, and why do you think readers connect to it so deeply?Found family is the family we choose. The friends we make who feel like home. The rare ones we can count on and trust because they're so them that you don't need to worry about being anything less than you. Everyone wants that kind of place. I just hope that the people who read my stories know that part isn't fictional.You often feature neurodivergent or chronically ill characters who still get joyful, hopeful love stories. Do you see that as a form of representation or even quiet rebellion in romance writing?I'm just writing what I see or experience. I don't know how it would be considered a rebellion in romance, and even calling it representation is odd to me because I don't usually set out with an "ah yes, I'll represent ARFID today." The characters are just people, and other people connect with them and feel seen. Representation is very much a marketing word used to alert people that there's someone with similar struggles here, but often it doesn't do anything unless the particular situation is trending, and while I do try and time my tropes to trend, I cannot say I've done the same with this stuff because I don't plan this stuff at all. The characters just people, and I say, "Ah, cool, a person." And I think the point of romance is for peopling people to fall in love.Many reviewers describe this book as “a warm hug” and “a magical clean journey.” How does it feel to know your stories bring readers so much comfort and joy?It kinda gives me the anxieties.Your stories always carry the message that “no matter what, you are not alone.” How has writing this series helped you embrace your own kind of weird, and what do you hope readers take away from it?I don't know that it would have been possible to write this series if I hadn't already embraced it. It does start on a book that openly includes Word Girl fanfiction after all. Things really started working in this career when I said, "Ah, whatever. I'll just be me." So if there's anything to take from the absolute chaos that goes on over here in the Milla Verse, it's this: You are unique, but you are not so unique that being anything other than yourself will achieve anything. Don't waste time trying to find people who will connect with something that isn't actually you.What are you working on right now?I am desperately in the process of retiring at the moment. Unfortunately, a sneaky snake from my That's (Para) Normal series is against the idea, so he's kidnapped me, taken over my social media channels, and won't let me out until I write his story, Falling in Love with My Unseelie Kidnapper. It's all very inconvenient, and I am most certainly distressed.Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?Right now, all my work is available on Amazon, and I am most active on Instagram and my newsletter. Or I should say that at the moment the sneaky snake is most active on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/authorannemilla) and my newsletter (https://subscribepage.io/rTEOEr). I am currently in his dungeon, plotting how long I can con him into handling all my marketing. He's doing such an amazing job that I'm considering hiring him as my PA after I'm done with his story.