BOOKSMARTS AND BROOMSTICKS
- a little thank you from me to you<3

❝ if you have children someday, when they point to the pictures, please tell them my name! ❞

DEAREST READERS,

       ( disclaimer: if long and soppy, appreciative rambles aren't your vibe, i might advise you slide on by this chapter as it's going to be just that — sorry, not sorry! )

      after just over four and a half years, i'm bringing my quite literal BABY and gorgeous passion project to a close.

     when i started putting together the tiny slivers of inspiration for this book in the depths of lockdown 2020 (cue war flashbacks!) i was very much flying blind.

      i'd dabbled in harry potter fanfic when i first joined wattpad in 2013 ( we don't talk about it, i feel old, also who let me online at 11? mental behaviour ) and rest assured those drafts about professor lupin's daughter who was also an animagus by birth by the way (yikes!) are very much buried and shall never see the light of day again.

     and, to be honest, writing an oliver wood fic was not really on my radar! that was until i was inspired by the fantastic elyse and her book formerly known as you can't cancel quidditch (throwback!) and now known as kiss with a fist — which, in every way, was and is completely brilliant. so i will always be completely indebted to her for that !!

     b&b has honestly even with me through some TIMES from the ages of eighteen all the way to now, at twenty three!

     through coming out of covid, going to uni, moving away from home, graduating, moving to london, entering the working world, making friends, losing friends, heartbreak, grievances — it has been an amazing constant through an incredibly formative time in my life. no matter what was happening in the real world, i always had it tucked away as a pocketful of sunshine!

     writing these characters has never been a chore, it's been a true pleasure. the easiest and most fun writing i've ever been able to do, it's been amazing to explore and learn about different parts of myself through dria and her journey — as well as jackie, penny and tess, all of whom i also see a lot of myself in.

     i never anticipated b&b would reach over 300k reads in this time, that it would garner so much love and support or that i — and readers, for that matter — would become so attached to these characters. i cannot explain to you how much i am going to miss them.

i don't think i could have imagined collaborating and creating such an in depth universe of connected stories as a result either. late nights of brainstorming, manic messaging and big brain moments over the last four years have been such a delight!! so a big shoutout to the miraculous minds of elyse, kristy , rika & the rest of the works in the lovefool universe:

     black magic by elyse
( percy weasley x alita byrnes )

strangeness & charm by elyse
( nora cleary x viktor krum )

     accidentally on purpose by kristy
( heidi wood x george weasley )

dragon's blood by rika
( mia eragon x charlie weasley )

as well as my other (albeit slightly neglected) passion project:

coffee shops and confidantes
( caroline lockaby x sirius black )

      you may have noticed, especially in the last act of this book, a fair few references to a mystery girl (sorry couldn't help myself) called caroline — whose book will be getting much more undivided attention from me now that its big sister ( or is it niece? idk ) is complete ... so keep your eyes peeled — that is if you have any remote interest in this ridiculous little universe of ours.

anyway, i've rambled enough, but the point i really want to hammer home is that without reader support and encouragement, this book would have never got to where it has today and i'm not sure if i would have even managed to complete it — and so for that, i'm extremely grateful.

maybe this is end, maybe it's not ... ? but for now, i'm tying up b&b with a lovely little bow and saying goodbye to dria & co.

      thanks again for everything!

so much love,
kat <3

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