Hello, Protagonists!
In this post you’ll find:
📚 What’s Filling My Creative Well—books or articles that are lighting up my brain
📰 Media/Press Roundup! - everywhere I’ve been in the last few weeks
✍🏼 Diary #1: Moving from publicity for one book to working on the next…Introducing Ideal Life
📚 What’s Filling My Creative Well
Exhalation by Ted Chiang - I had heard about this collection of short stories for many years but never read it, because
I don’t usually read short stories, and
I don’t read much sci-fi.
But oh wow, was I wrong about these… I’d say they’re less sci-fi and more like slightly speculative yet grounded stories about what it means to be human.
I absolutely loved this collection because it was easy to pick up and put down during my very busy period of book publicity. And I always appreciate a story that makes me think long after I’ve closed the book.
These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean - This was a more book-clubby read. It’s about three adult siblings who are pitted against each other in order to inherit the huge fortune their father left behind. But what begins as long-simmering sibling rivalry turns into deeper understanding of each other and, perhaps, changed perspective about what each one of them really needs to be happy. I really enjoyed this one.
📰 Media/Press Roundup!
Wow, what a wild few weeks of publicity for me and The Incredible Kindness of Paper. Thank you to the amazing journalists and podcasters for taking the time to interview me and talk about my happy little book!
If you’re curious what it looks like when you’ve got amazing book publicists (thank you Holly, Brittani, James, and Kelsea!), here’s a round-up of everywhere I’ve been in the press for The Incredible Kindness of Paper!
Newspapers & Magazines:
PEOPLE - In Evelyn Skye’s New Novel, Paper Roses Carry Uplifting Messages: Read an Excerpt! (Exclusive) / LINK
NEWSWEEK - Newsweek Staffers Favorite Books to Read on Summer Vacation 2025 / LINK
PSYCHOLOGY TODAY - The Power of Kindness / LINK
THE MIRROR - I’m a bestselling author - here’s how I’m connecting people with my latest book / LINK
THE MIRROR - I’m a New York Times bestselling author - these are my top three vacation reads / LINK
THE MIRROR - I wrote eight books before becoming a published author - here’s how I didn't give up / LINK
WRITE OR DIE - Week in the Life of an Author / coming soon!
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST - New York Times Bestselling Author’s New Novel Recalls Origami Cranes She Received as a Kid / LINK
WORLD JOURNAL - / LINK
PALO ALTO WEEKLY -Bestselling Author Evelyn Skye’s Newest Novel Celebrates the Power of Kindness / LINK
BOOKBUB - The Best New Books Coming Out in August / LINK
BOOKRIOT - 18 New August Romances / LINK
MOCHI MAGAZINE - What We are Reading in August / LINK
DIGITAL JOURNAL - Evelyn Skye talks about her new book ‘The Incredible Kindness of Paper’ / LINK
KOREA IT TIMES - Through the Lens of NYT Bestseller, Evelyn Skye’s Insights on Life's Magical Moments / LINK
ADAM MENDLER LEADERSHIP - Innovation Comes From Finding Creative Solutions Within Existing Frameworks: Interview with New York Times Bestselling Author Evelyn Skye / LINK
TATTLE MAGAZINE / coming soon in the Fall print issue!
Trade Journals:
LIBRARY JOURNAL, starred review - “A heartfelt, feel-good novel full of warmth [and] wonder. Perfect for anyone in need of a little hope” / LINK
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY- “Delightful . . . Readers are in for a treat.” / LINK
BOOKLIST - “A cozy, uplifting tale that is as romantic as it is sincere. The Incredible Kindness of Paper celebrates human connection and hope, all with a touch of enchantment”
TV / YouTube:
CBS New York’s Book Club - Club Calvi / LINK
The Morning Blend on NBC (Milwaukee) / LINK
Ink in Your Veins / LINK
About the Authors TV (Tubi and YouTube) / coming soon!
The Exclusive Book Club - Amazon.tv book club meeting on Sept 24th / LINK
Radio:
Page Turners at Woof Boom Radio (Indiana)
Podcasts:
The Long Road to Publishing with Eva Langston - Episode 4: The Most Positive Person in Publishing / LINK
Was it Chance? - The Write Amount of Delusion / LINK
Ink in Your Veins - How to Define True Success / LINK
✍🏼 Diary #1: Introducing Ideal Life
I’m sitting in the liminal space between books. Taking a deep breath. And waiting.
The Incredible Kindness of Paper is out in the world now, doing what books do when they leave their authors’ hands. I’ve been doing interviews, bookstore events, and the careful social media choreography that comes with book publicity (see above!) The machine is still running, but it’s starting to wind down.
Meanwhile, Ideal Life sits in my editor’s inbox, marked FINAL REVISION—which feels both definitive and laughably optimistic. Because publishing a book is like raising a kid to age 18, then sending her off to college where professors and classmates and others will shape her in ways you don’t really control.
The copyeditor will find inconsistencies I missed after a gazillion read-throughs.
The designer will choose fonts and layout that influence how readers experience every sentence.
And the sales and marketing teams will decide what three sentences sum up my 80,000 words. 😳
I’m done writing, but the book isn’t finished becoming itself.
What fascinates me is how The Incredible Kindness of Paper led directly to Ideal Life, even though I didn’t see the connection while writing either one.
The Incredible Kindness of Paper explores the transformative power of small, intentional acts—how Chloe’s origami roses with handwritten messages could change lives in ways both magical and deeply human. It celebrates spontaneity, trust, and the way kindness ripples outward when we’re not trying to control the outcome.
But as I was finishing that book, wrestling with my own relationship to revision and perfectionism, I kept thinking about all of my friends who are exhausted by their own efforts at being perfect.
There are meditation apps, life hacks and productivity systems, and don’t get me started on the endless stream of articles that tell us “You’re doing [fill-in-the-blank] wrong!”
That’s when I realized that, for my next book, I wanted to delve into the flip side of the kind of intentional living modeled by Chloe in The Incredible Kindness of Paper.
Questions I wanted to explore in my next book:
What happens when our beautiful impulse to grow and improve becomes another form of pressure?
When does self-care become self-criticism in disguise?
IDEAL LIFE - coming in Summer 2026
Ideal Life follows a woman tech founder who’s built her career helping others optimize their decision-making through neurotechnology.
But then she discovers a watch that allows her to rewind the last 24 hours.
At first, she just uses it to re-do a bad date or to get a second shot at a meeting with investors.
Soon, however, she’s trapped in endless do-overs, because she’s just like us.
Too many of us think that if we can just change one little thing next time, we’ll finally get it right… and finally be happy.
On the surface, The Incredible Kindness of Paper and Ideal Life sound completely different.
But both books are ultimately about the same thing: how we connect with ourselves and others.
The Incredible Kindness of Paper celebrates the messy beauty of spontaneous connection.
Ideal Life asks what we lose when we try to engineer it.
So here I am, wrapping up the final publicity push for one book while my next one prepares for its journey from “final” draft to actual publication.
Over the next year, I’ll take you behind the scenes of what happens after a writer types “THE END.” From cover design to marketing strategy sessions—all the ways a book continues to evolve even after its author thinks she’s finished.
Tell me:
What questions do you have about the “space between books”?
What would you like to know about the journey from “final” draft to published book?
Let me know in the comments—your curiosity always helps guide these diaries.
💛 💛 💛
For more Author Diaries, check out my series from the past year, where I tackle everything from why fonts are important to why it takes so long to publish a book.
(These are all based on my experience in traditional publishing with the Big 5, since that’s where my career has been.)
The woman is nonnnnn STOP :-) (Hamilton beatboxing)
Very intrigued by Ideal Life!
Similar sentiments, but totally different - one of my favorite books was "Momo" by Michael Ende, about the grey men who come to Improve Your Life with all kinds of time-saving gadgets, but turns out they're stealing everyone's time. The title character's distinguishing characteristic is her ability to really listen to people. A parable for modern life and losing community connection.
https://michaelende.de/en/book/momo-0
I can't wait to read both books! The questions you're exploring in Ideal Life are ones I've asked myself many times. And I love your analogy of a teenager leaving home but still becoming something more. It's going to stick with me now :)
Do you typically allude to your next book during promos for your current one? Like are you hinting at Ideal Life like you did in this post?
I imagine it's a tricky balance between keeping the focus on your new book vs next book.