They say novels are autobiographical and while this one is full of fiction one scene was pulled straight from my memoirs.

The Prologue.

That’s right friends, I, Erin Marie Bassett, ate shit when I was going to an interview my senior year of college.

I marched into the lobby of the office building like I owned the place and about halfway through my kitten heel slipped out from under me and I fell faster than I knew what was happening. My bag slid off to my right and landed at the feet of two guys on a coffee break. My shoe was dangling off one of my toes.

One of the dudes picked up my bag and said “ouch, you okay?” and I actually quipped back “yeah, and they have to give me the job now.”

It took them four months to extend the offer but eventually they did. I turned it down. Not because I was embarrassed, no because I already had a job.

Next fun fact? The first draft had the story taking place over the course of 5 years. Liz and Marcus actually dated. Nora and Jeff got married. Marcus and Tiffany hooked up. I tried to put SO much in there that it was tough to follow.

By the third draft I wanted it to be a fast summer romance so I pulled it all together. And that freed up Nora for Upstate Expectations. She’s the uptight, task oriented city gal who falls for the small town man after she flees to Lakeville when the love of her life dies. Her cat, Harold, that is.

Let’s see, what else. I started the first draft in November 2022, and finished the final (fourth? fifth?) draft in August 2023. Danny was the first one to know that I was writing it. I don’t remember exactly who was second but I started to test out the idea of authoring in the spring of 2023.

When it came time to self publish it I couldn’t believe how “easy” the process was. Turns out you just hop on to Kindle Direct Publishing, create an account, upload a manuscript, and click a button. It felt like when they just let you leave the hospital with your baby.

Like, yep, go ahead.

Once I did I gave Danny and high-five, ate chicken salad, joked with him about stripper names (mine is Mitsy Three Meadows, his is Oreo Woodmore), and took out the recycling.

So, you know, just another day in the life!