those years between us

author's note

omg it's done it's done it's done!!!

this book started completely unplanned. i was studying for my gcses (it was literally during gcse period) and then i just. had this idea. and i decided to write it even though i probably should have focused on studying instead (my exams ended up fine, dw).

i've always been so obsessed with the idea of childhood friends to lovers, especially the sort of "boy next door" idea. and it was during this time i was consuming a lot of chinese online novels, so the idea of the "white moonlight", the baiyueguang, really struck me. and i wanted to write a book like that! a protagonist who's usually so rational, who always has everything in her life planned out, and that one boy who manages to push that all apart. her love for him is completely irrational, illogical. it doesn't make sense she loved him for this long. it doesn't make sense that she remained in love with him even though half the time he didn't even know she existed.

the story was actually initially going to happen in hong kong, after the two of them had already graduated from university (in the original version, they went to different unis). salome was going to move into the apartment across from orion, and that's how the story was going to start. i actually have the draft of the first two chapters still of this setting, but i ended up scrapping it, mainly bc i have 0 idea how to write a real job.

(ofc, not that i'm saying i know how to write uni life either, since i'm not quite there yet. but it seemed slightly easier.)

so instead i moved the story to the uk. redchester, to be exact, which is where livia and james ended up in hexes for exes. and, i decided a little later on, honoria as well from the bridewater duology. unlike most of my other stories, romance actually is the main focus of this story, so i'm glad about that. that was also part of my goal in writing this.

overall, i'm quite glad with how this story turned out! it really made me wish i had an orion in my life (lol unfortunately all the boys at school are a bit unhinged), but hey! that's what stories are for!

originally i had plans to write a full-novel sequel for cami and dean. but then i sort of lost interest in the idea of that, or at least i don't feel like dedicating so much time to such a project. i might eventually write a few chapters for the two of them, or maybe a short story? but. not a full blown novel. 

i am somewhat intrigued by the idea of writing something set at arlington, where the characters studied at before redchester. but this might come a bit later. i have some vague ideas for potential sequels to hexes for exes too, and you might see that these sequel ideas end up sort of mashing together the way a lot of my novels usually do... but that might take a while.

for now, if you really enjoyed this book and want something similar to it, do check out hexes for exes and the bridewater duology (we smile at the moon, a sun that ever sets)!!! both books are kinda similar to this and somewhat set in the same universe. if you want to try something different, my silk and steel chronicles always exists (there are three paid novels but you don't have to read them to be able to enjoy the rest of the series). there's also the ongoing ballad of eternal glory if epic historical style novels are more your thing!!! (shameless self promotion cough cough)

anywayssss, happy reading!