I just want to take a little moment to talk about this story. What started as something a little self-indulgent turned into the most important story I've ever written. I wanted to write about kids in college and the experiences they go through. The college course Adele and Harry were on is the one I was on when I went to college, but I certainly never made it as far as Level 2 because as much as I love cooking, it's not something I very quickly realised I wanted to do all day every day.
Life Is What You Bake It very quickly took on a life of its own. It was one of those stories that almost wrote itself, and the characters came into their own without much planning. There are parts of me in Adele, while at the same time we are completely different. Her social calendar is much busier than mine, for one thing. I also learned early on in the writing process that the topics I wanted to talk about (particularly Bella's suicide) would have to be handled very carefully, and I'm hoping that it came across that way.
From the outset I knew that I wanted each book in this story to have a different focal point. Book 1 I wanted to be about that first real relationship - finding someone who understands you for you and appreciates you for all that you are including the things that you don't particularly like about yourself.
Book 2 would be about family - learning the importance of those around you. Not everyone has such a supportive family as Adele does, and I know that. It wasn't supposed to just be about relatives, but the people who integrate themselves into your life because they want to know you and be there for you.
And Book 3 would be about friendship - learning, the hard way, that people come in and out of your life when you least expect them to. And some will stay forever, and those you think will last a lifetime actually probably won't. But that's okay. Surround yourself with people who make you the best version of yourself.
I said at the beginning of this that I'd be proud if even one reader stuck it out until the very end, because it was never going to be an easy story to read or write. But there are way more of you here reading at the end than I thought there would be, and I mean it genuinely when I say I'm so grateful. To anyone that has read even one chapter or the entire thing, or will read the entire thing, commented, reblogged, voted, anything for this story, I am so grateful.
Lots and lots of love, always,
Kate xxx