Thank you to all of my wonderful readers for sharing this story with me. I really hope you enjoyed it. Writing this book has been rather a roller coaster journey! I started writing it when my daughter was three-months-old and finished the first draft seven months later. The following months were spent editing and copy editing, and, as I write these words and put the finishing touches to the manuscript, my daughter is now one. I remember reading an article by a fellow author while I was pregnant, saying something along the lines of ‘you’d have to be mad to try and write a book on maternity leave.’ With a contract already signed and a deadline agreed, I wondered whether I had bitten off more than I could chew! I am incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful support network of friends and family, all of whom, along with my editor and my agent, have enabled me to finish this book, whether through helping with childcare, the writing process itself, or offering moral support and encouragement.
It has been challenging but incredibly rewarding at the same time. The book is dedicated to my family: to my parents, Adam and Polly, and my siblings Sophie, Emma and Robert, as well as to my husband Tom and our daughter Camilla. I’d like to thank my parents for everything they have done, and continue to do, for us all, and for being such wonderful grandparents. To my siblings, thank you for all the laughs, the camaraderie, and the support. Emma, Sophie and Mum, you are always the best sounding boards when I am plotting my books, thank you for all your help, for all the drafts you have read and for all your advice and ideas. Tom you have been my greatest support, as always, and Camilla, thank you for being the best baby we could possibly have wished for.
I would also like to thank my fantastic agent, Bea Corlett. You have been there every step of the way, always there at the end of the phone when I need you. Thank you for your unwavering support and belief in me. I would also like to thank my brilliant editor, Sarah Ritherdon, for challenging me to make this book a bigger, better version of itself. I would like to thank the rest of the team at Aria, my wonderful publishers, for all their hard work: Caroline Ridding, Sue Smith, Sue Lamprell, Camilla Lloyd, Nikky Ward and Melanie Price.
To Ben, Carice and Margs: thank you for all your help and advice and for answering all my questions so patiently. To the ‘Grid Mummies’ who helped inspire me with some of their stories about motherhood, thank you too.
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and it certainly takes a village to raise a child and write a book at the same time! So to my ‘village’ of friends and family, I’d like to thank all of you, wherever you are, for being there, for inspiring me, for all the wonderful times we have shared and for all the adventures yet to come.