Writing any book is such a huge undertaking and involves lots of people who deserve huge amounts of thanks. To my agent Hannah Ferguson for telling me to keep going every time I emailed saying that I wanted to stop when things got tough. And to the rest of the team at Hardman Swainson for all you do.

To Emily Kitchin and Melanie Hayes at HQ, thank you so much for shaping this book into something readable. Edie and Joel’s story is all the better for your suggestions and comments! Thank you to Donna Hillyer for the copy-editing – and the much needed timeline. Thank you to the rest of the HQ team – in particular: Tom Wright, Kate Oakley, Katrina Smedley, Becca Joyce, Sarah Lundy, Sara Eusebi and Angie Dobbs.

I really couldn’t have written this book without thinking about my own experiences leaving home at eighteen. I read far too many of my old emails from both then and the mid-noughties to get the tone right. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. I’m so pleased that I am still in touch with so many of the same friends – so thank you Laura, Hannah, Kaf, Jo, Sam, Sarah, Sonia, Christie, Ali and Ross for both the fun and cringey times back then and also now.

I really struggled to write during the pandemic, so I wanted to say a big thank you to the lovely writers that have kept me writing over the last couple of years with both support and much needed word races. Thank you to Victoria Walters, Isabelle Broom, Lucy Vine, Cathy Bramley, Cressida Mclaughlin, Katie Marsh, Rachael Lucas, Liz Fenwick, Katy Collins, Pernille Hughes, Alex Brown, Jo Quinn and all those in the Mirepoix Women’s Writers’ Group.

Thanks also to my friends and family who have supported me writing and been such enthusiastic cheerleaders when needed. Mum, John, Heather, Harold, Katie, Rich, Debs, Lynne, Janine and Ken – thank you for everything!

The biggest thanks, as always, is to Steve for spinning the rest of the plates when I’m writing, and to Evan and Jessica for putting up with me when I’m ‘always thinking about my book’. I couldn’t write without having you guys being my number one supporters – thank you, I love you all so much.

Lastly, thank you so much, lovely reader, for reading Note to Self – I really hope you enjoyed it! You can keep in touch via my newsletter or follow me on Twitter (@annabell_writes) and Instagram (@anna_bell_writes).

Extract

Turn the page for an exclusive extract from the hilarious and heart-warming romantic comedy from Anna Bell

Prologue