It's Valentine's Day, a very important day in the cupid calendar. So here are 6 random facts that you might not know about Cupid's Match!
1. Cupid’s Match was almost set in London!
I almost set Cupid's Match in London, which is where I live, rather than California – which would have led to a much rainier setting for the cupids!
Early readers on Wattpad might remember the scene where Cal and Lila are in The Cupids Matchmaking Service surveillance room. In the first version Lila says 'You're a dating service, not MI6!' Which was then changed to 'You're a dating service, not the freaking CIA!' when I decided to move Cupids Matchmaking Service headquarters to Los Angeles!
In both versions Cal then grumpily went on to proclaim they were cupids, not a dating service!
2. Cal almost didn’t have a big part in Cupid’s Match!
Can you imagine?! He’s such an integral part of the series now, but when I first started posting Cupid’s Match on Wattpad I’d planned for Cal to be a much smaller character.
I hadn’t planned for him to go to Lila’s high school to help her deal with Cupid, and I thought he’d just be a secondary character that Lila checked in with from time to time at the Cupids Matchmaking Service!
Early readers loved him so much though (and I fell in love with him, too!), that I decided to make him a main character and send him to school with Lila to keep an eye on her (and teach her the ‘arts of the cupids’)!!
3. The Love Shack is named after a song that I can’t get out of my head!
You may have noticed that the place names in Cupid’s Match are associated with love. There’s Romeo’s Diner, Juliet Hill, and of course, the beach themed bar called The Love Shack that Lila and the cupid gang hang out in
I actually named The Love Shack after the B-52’s song of the same name which I swear has been stuck in my head for the past decade! In the published version I also brought in a team mascot for the Forever Falls Football team which was a lobster – also after a B-52’s song: Rock Lobster!
4. I used to call my boyfriend lovebug!
The reason behind Cupid’s little nickname for Lila is that I used to affectionately call my boyfriend lovebug!
We’ve been together for over six years now though and nowadays pretty much exclusively refer to each other as ‘poops’, lol, so who knows what Cupid will end up calling Lila if I continue to write cupid books!!
5. Cal isn’t Cal’s real name!
A lot of people mention that out of Cupid, Valentine, and Cal, Cal has a pretty mundane name! But Cal isn’t actually Cal’s real name!
I didn’t reveal this in the book, but I imagined Cal to be Anteros – who in Ancient Greek Mythology is Eros’s brother! Unlike Cupid and Valentine – I reasoned that Cal would want a name that went under the radar and didn’t identify him as a cupid, so I called him Cal!
6. I almost didn’t write Cupid’s Match!
At the same time that I posted the first chapter of Cupid’s Match on Wattpad, I also posted a chapter of a book called ‘Sirens’ – which was about a siren (aka mythical sea creature) who was also a Criminology student and fought paranormal crime (it was basically a play on police sirens – which I still think is pretty funny and I might write it someday! XD).
At the time I was uncertain which story I was going to continue with. And in fact, when I was talking over my ideas with my boyfriend, he preferred that one over Cupid’s Match! There was something about Cupid’s Match, though, that really grabbed me. And I’m so glad I chose to go ahead with it!
It’s kind of changed my life!
Get hold of your copy of Cupid's Match, here!
LAUREN PALPHREYMAN is a writer based in London. She is best known for her supernatural teen romance series, Cupid's Match, which accumulated over 60 million views online and was published by Wattpad Books / Penguin Random House, October 2019. Her urban fantasy, Devils Inc, is out now! Find her on Instagram @LaurenPalphreyman and on Twitter @LEPalphreyman.
Get hold of her debut, Cupid's Match, here!
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