Breakfast

A couple of recipes from the baking book

I am so thrilled to be able to tell you that my books are almost here.

It was a very strange yet exciting moment when they arrived a couple of weeks ago. There was a huge thud as they arrived through the letterbox, tumbling onto the doormat. To be honest, in recent months, after the stress of deadlines had passed, this is a moment I’d thought about a few times. I was just so excited to see how the books would feel and look in my hands. The fact that I’d just written three cookery books would all become real.

Well, I have to tell you, it was a lovely moment. But it did take me a few weeks before I could sit down and read them properly.  The content was just so familiar. I cannot begin to tell you how many nights I stayed up until the small hours, scrutinizing my Word documents before they were submitted, and then the same happened again over and over with the edits from the copywriters.

Finally, when the PDFs arrived, I felt under even more pressure to ensure everything was perfect before it went off to print. I have a keen eye for detail and can generally spot a typo at ten paces, but when it’s your own work, it’s so much harder. Especially when you have around 300,000 words to work through across three books.

And because I knew practically every word off by heart at that point, I struggled to actually read the books. But I have done now, and it was a wonderful moment.

But it still doesn’t seem real. I’ve had lots of lovely comments and good wishes from kind people, but I can’t quite believe I’ve done it yet. Maybe that will change when I see the books for sale in a shop for the first time.

It’s no exaggeration to say that these books have been pretty much my life for the last 18 months. Blood, sweat and tears have quite literally gone into them. My lovely Editor told me just last week that the thrill of opening a book for the first time never goes, even for the publishers.  I imagine it must be like having a baby, waiting for so long until something amazing happens.

For those of you who have been asking about them, you can find more information about the books here.

Thanks to everyone who has supported me throughout the process, in so many ways. I couldn’t have done it without you.