Remember me? It's been a minute!

Firstly, I want to thank you all for your love and support over the course of Madi's story, and particularly on the last chapter. I know that it's been a long time coming, and it was such a thrill to finally share it with you & read through your comments! A big thank you to each and every one of you for sticking around.

Secondly, I promised you a spoiler-full q&a. I've carefully selected faqs as well as some of my favorite questions. Make sure you check out the announcement at the end as well!

Once again, thank you so much!

Danielle x

When did you first get the idea for this story? LunarStarlet

I developed the concept around the end of May, back when I was still writing my teen fiction, Sweet Like Revenge. I loved writing SLR; it was very fast-paced, totally melodramatic, and quite dark and somber in many respects. But it did leave me craving something a little lighter. Something less serious and a little more romantic.

I'm a huge rom-com fan, and THH was my love letter to the genre. I wanted to explore everything that makes it great—lovesick romantics, sardonic love cynics, matchmakers and matchmakees, bitchy ex-girlfriends and, of course, a makeover scene. I essentially tried to jam all of my favorite 90s and early noughties rom-coms into a blender and give it a modern-day twist, and THH was the result.

Fun fact: The original title was 'The Boyfriend Project'.

Do you have the book planned out when you start writing? Or go with the flow? withpineapple

Usually, I'm a mix between a plotter and pantser. I like to know where I'm going with the story and characters, but I give myself enough creative freedom to live in the moment. THH was a completely different story! It popped into my head pretty fleshed out. I was out for lunch (pre-lockdown) a day or two after coming up with the initial concept, and every scene poured into my head like I was consuming a book/film myself. I opened my Notes app and made a bullet list for every chapter/scene and added to it over the next couple of days. So when the time came to actually sit down and write the first draft, I had a pretty detailed outline of what happened and when.

Were you always planning for Holly to end up the way she did? toounrealtobelegal

To put it simply—yes. As I touched on above, almost every detail was pre-planned before pen hit paper. I always knew that Holly was crushing on James, and that she was using Dex's attraction to her and her friendship with Madi as a way to get closer to him.

When I conceptualized Holly, I imagined someone who people perceive as being bubbly, charming, charismatic, and (most importantly) always happy. For the most part, Holly is. And a big reason why she's always happy is that she lives in the moment. Unlike Madi, she doesn't think about the consequences of her actions or desires, and if she wants something, she goes after it without much thought as to what that could mean for the people around her.

But do I think that makes her a bad person? Not necessarily, and that's probably going to surprise a lot of you! I don't hate Holly at all. Actually, I think she's a sweet girl who got swept up in the whirlwind of a schoolgirl crush. Just like Madi when it came to her project, Holly convinced herself that the ends (James) justified the means (using Madi and Dex). James and his friends were strangers to her, and she didn't quite account for the fact that they—and particularly Dex—were human beings with feelings. She saw James as a prize to be won and his friends as objects to help her win him.

Just like Madi, I think Holly learned a lot of tough lessons during her first semester of university, and hopefully she'll be more considerate of other people in the future.  

I'm surprised that [Devi] allowed [Madi] to continue with her experiment. You're supposed to get permission to conduct an experiment on someone, right? Nine_fires

Absolutely. In the real world, you are most definitely required to get permission from someone before you do any kind of experiment on or involving them. But Camden isn't the real world, and I don't mean because it's fictional. Rather, it's an academic setting, and not all lessons are in the syllabus.

Devi is based on one of my professors from law school. He was a complete eccentric, very innovative, and deemed a little 'left of field' by other members of faculty. He was also absolutely brilliant. But what made him such a great and memorable teacher was the freedom that he gave us; he created a safe space within his classroom to make mistakes. As he put it: 'I'd rather you make mistakes in the classroom than in practice'. While the rest of our teachers drummed ethics and legalities into us from day one, he sat back and watched us circumvent those rules, not because he was a bad teacher, but because he knew that we would try to circumvent them at some stage anyway. He knew that we needed to learn the value of ethics and policies for ourselves, and he preferred that we did that in the safety of an academic setting where consequences were minimal, rather than in the field where much more is at stake.

Devi is wired similarly. She knows that, at some stage in their careers, most of her students will try to bend the rules. As a rule breaker herself, she knows firsthand the ramifications of doing so, and she'd rather that lesson be learned today than tomorrow. But she also knows that merely telling young people not to do something isn't always effective; what is effective is having them experience the consequences for themselves.

In simple terms, Devi knew what she was doing with Madi from the beginning.

I hope that makes sense!

Sidenote: If you remember, Devi was the one who suggested that Madi change her assignment from a simple matchmaking experiment to one about the inevitability of heartbreak. She saw that the latter was Madi's true (and cynical) view of the world, and she wanted her to challenge her beliefs. 

What was your inspiration behind Dex? xRigorMortis

Dex came to me as a pretty realized character, and that's because I needed him to be a couple of things. I've mentioned previously that I think a lot of male leads in rom-coms tend to follow the same formula. They can be quite cynical when it comes to the idea of true love, whereas the female leads are goofy and romantic idealists committed to finding their Prince Charming. Madi and Dex were my versions of what it would look like if those stereotypes were switched. So, most of all, I needed Dex to be the opposite of Madi. Where she's closed off to and skeptical about the idea of love, he's a hopeless romantic who believes in it fully.

Sidenote: When I was conceptualizing him in the drafting stage, I thought of him as a mix between Seth Cohen and Tom Holland's Peter Parker. A bit awkward, a bit goofy, but with a heart of gold that's always in the right place.

What scenes came to you first? What characters? LunarStarlet

The first scene that came to me was actually the first scene (chapters one and two), and that's because it happened to me! Hands down one of the most awkward moments of my life, but I guess that's why it stuck in my mind!

Madi and James came to me first, the rest sort of bundled together.

What are some scenes you would've liked to have added but didn't really fit in? toounrealtobelegal

I love this question!

I had a whole storyline that revolved around Holly inviting Dex to her sister's wedding and the others having to teach him how to dance. Noah couldn't make it at the last minute, so James (in true James style) stepped in as Madi's partner. Pre-Madi-and-James-kiss, this would have been our first real #Jadison moment. 

When I decided to have Madi and Holly stay overnight at the Bennet's after the garden party, the wedding storyline didn't really fit anymore, so I scrapped it and extended the first kiss scene instead. 

WHAT HAPPENED WITH TYLER? - everyone

I never expected people to be so invested in Noah's relationship! Then again, I never expected anyone to read my books in the first place.

This story is allll about first heartbreak, and I wanted to explore a few different ways that relationships can end. Cheating is a big one—we're looking at you, Eli and Jarrod—but sometimes, there just isn't a definitive answer as to why couples break up. Sometimes, one party doesn't get closure. Noah didn't get closure with Tyler, so we didn't either.

That's not to say that there aren't some clues sprinkled into the story regarding the nature of their relationship. I've always thought of James as a pretty good judge of character, and Madi notices on a few occasions that his demeanor changes whenever Tyler is mentioned. The way I see it, Tyler was a free spirit who probably didn't want to be tied down, but was happy to take advantage of Noah's love and kindness when he wanted it. When he didn't need him anymore, he dipped.

I know that's an unsatisfying answer, but endings in real life can be unsatisfying, too. Again, sometimes you just don't get a reason. Sometimes, you have to find a way to grant closure to yourself.

Should we expect spin-offs about the other characters? Your_Daily_Potato

Yes.

I'm also still planning to write some bonus chapters from other characters' POVs. Don't forget to leave your requests in-line on the author's note of chapter twenty-nine!

Lastly, but most importantly, thank you.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting. Thank you for voting, for following me, and for adding my story to your reading lists. I appreciate every bit of support more than you know, and this story simply wouldn't be what it is without you. THANK YOU!

(I'm sorry if you weren't included! I could only include those who visibly engaged with the story, but I'm just as thankful for my silent readers as I am for everyone else.)

But, because a mere thank you isn't nearly enough, I may or may not have something else for you ...

Despite my initial plans NOT to write a THH-centric sequel, I've written a THH-centric sequel. It's up on my profile now, so make sure you add it to your library if it sounds like something you'd be interested in checking out! I can't promise that you'll have the whole thing by Christmas, but I can promise that it's going to be an interesting ride ♥

So, I'll see you in the next one!

Danielle x