What is the title of your latest release?
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A modern retelling of Rapunzel meets The Secret Garden. Quill, a seventeen-year-old powerless dryad, is locked away to tend to his family’s magical garden. Everything changes when someone breaks in, and the prime suspect becomes the very cute—and very human—boy next door. Quill must solve the mystery and save his family’s magic, but things get complicated when his heart gets in the way.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I wanted a small town feel to the book where everything is just cozier. In my head, it was going to be an intimate community where everyone has trouble keeping secrets. In Quill’s case, however, his is huge. His stakes just get that much bigger.
Would you hang out with your hero in real life?
I would, but let’s be honest, I’d probably end up shaking him at some point and telling him to snap out of it. He gets a little too snarky at times and makes reckless decisions that jeopardize the important things. Then again, what teenager isn’t like that?
What are three words that describe your hero?
Witty, sarcastic, and impulsive.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned about mythological plants! Most of the magical flora in the book comes from real legends from around the world, just twisted a little and all brought together.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I want until I’m totally done. I personally get tunnel vision and go after the finish line like a dog goes after a bone. I do, however, have a few wonderful alpha readers who edit as I go so I have a jumping off point when I circle back.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Pasta. Simple, but so flavorful if you do it right. There’s this mom and pop shop up the road from me that has the world’s BEST marinara. If you’re ever in Denver, hit me up for the address.
Describe your writing space/office!
My living room! Brown leather sectional, down comforter, pillow fortress, and movies I’ve seen a thousand times playing on the TV. Oh, and a teakwood mahogany candle burning on the table. I think every writer needs a happy place. I just happen to use mine to create.
Who is an author you admire?
Augusten Burroughs. His memoirs changed my life when I was growing up. He helped shape my sense of humor, and I probably still laugh at things I shouldn’t thanks to him, but my voice as a writer is certainly fed by him.
Is there a book that changed your life?
It may not have changed my life (too soon to tell), but I recently read The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer and it moved my soul. I’ve never read such a twisty, turny, powerful love story between two queer teenagers. It really changed my perspective on how deep YA romance can go.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)
So after over two hundred rejections on my first book (shelved now), I got a shot to write a new book for Entangled. I worked closely with my editor at Entangled during the composition of Evergreen, carefully plotting and double-checking my work, all while knowing that there was still a chance it wasn’t going to happen. Eventually I got to the halfway point, and they let me know that an acquisitions meeting was coming up the following week. Alarms went off for me, so I hunkered down and powered out the last half of the book in five days. Honestly? I was so nervous. But finally, I woke up to an email from my editor saying it was going to be published. I don’t think I stopped smiling that entire day, and people probably thought I was losing my mind.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Queer romance, for sure. I know it’s kind of a niche, but that’s my brand for what I write. I love seeing how other authors subvert tropes and put their original spins on things. The more I devour, the easier it is for me to stay on my toes.
What’s your favorite movie?
Last Holiday starring Queen Latifah. If you haven’t seen that movie, PUT IT ON RIGHT NOW. Holiday vibes, tender feels, and absolute opulence. I’m not one to cry during movies, but there’s this one scene that makes me teary every time I see it. So fulfilling.
What is your favorite season?
Summer. I’m cold. Like all the time. The best thing about living in Houston was that winter isn’t really true winter compared to most other places. If I could avoid snow for the rest of my life, I would.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Just a small dinner with friends is fine. Big groups and decadence aren’t really my thing, so I like to keep things quiet and comfortable.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Fall of the House of Usher by Mike Flanagan on Netlfix. Brilliant mashup of Edgar Allen Poe’s greatest works with a delicious “villain” played by Carla Gugino (I wouldn’t consider her a villain, but you may think differently). Watch out though—it’s a horror. Consider yourself warned.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Comfort food! There’s this family-owned barbecue place south of Houston that has the BEST creamed corn, pulled pork, break pudding, and sweet tea. Again, if you ever find yourself down there, ask me where to find it!
What do you do when you have free time?
Two of the greatest passions in my life? Video games and naps. It’s my dream to write for a video game company like BioWare one day. Mass Effect and Dragon Age are storytelling masterpieces, and I will not be convinced otherwise. So, in my free time, I indulge my high school self and dive in for hours.
What can readers expect from you next?
More twists on fairy tales and maybe even trying my hand at some Adult storylines. Keep an eye on Entangled for more news!
EVERGREEN by Devin Greenlee
A deliciously dreamy urban fairytale about a dryad who risks immortality for love, from debut author Devin Greenlee
All seventeen-year-old Quill wants is a break from the family business. Flowers, plants, the generations-old garden. What he wouldn’t give for a taste of the outside world. Normalcy. But his mom won’t let him out of the house, telling him he’s just not ready…
All because he’s a dryad. Well, not just any dryad, but a male dryad—the first ever. And unlike everyone else in his family, he hasn’t a lick of magic. Just a shock of green hair, matching green eyes, and a growing frustration that there’s an entire world out there waiting to be discovered. Until the night when the outside world—specifically his new neighbor—discovers him.
Liam Watson lives in a culture filled with electronics, mobile devices, and social media—where there is no magic or even the belief in it. And as much as Quill finds Liam irritating (he’s so cute it’s annoying), he can’t help himself.
Now Quill’s getting a taste of the outside world and of Liam…and he wants more. But all is not well in this magical, urban garden, and someone—or something—is changing the very essence of it.
And wherever Quill goes, the danger grows…
Young Adult Fantasy [Entangled: Teen, On Sale: January 16, 2024, e-Book, ISBN: 9781649375377 / ]
Buy EVERGREEN: Kindle | BN.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Devin Greenlee
Devin grew up in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. He fell in love with books at a young age, even “writing” his first one in grade school (seriously, his mom still pulls it out at parties). He continued that passion throughout college and would love nothing more than to create the LGBTQ+ novels he wished he had growing up. He currently teaches high schoolers everything they need to know about performance and sharp wit. On any given night, you can find him bingeing on video games or snoring so loud it wakes the neighbors.
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