Nik, definitely Nik. My friends tease me for being single; they’re convinced I’m holding out for the real Nik to sweep me off my feet. I originally wrote him into my book as a fleeting crush, but when I had to write him out, I found myself shedding actual tears. When I decided to give him a surprise comeback, I couldn’t stop smiling. It was like his story was writing itself, completely unplanned. I wrote the London Marathon scenes on a plane with my computer on my shaky tray table. I carried on writing until my seven-hour flight was over. I got totally in my own head and refused the airline food (not a hard thing to do) as it would have meant closing my laptop and leaving Nik’s world and that story for too long, and I was worried I wouldn’t get back there. It was a place where I was happy. I was in an imaginary life with just me and Nik. Oops, sorry, I was in a world with just Bree and Nik.

Sure, Nik can be a bit cheesy and too good to be true at times. I did write a disgustingly romantic scene with him that made even me cringe, so I had to throw in a plot twist that left me in tears. When I shared the story with a colleague, she was appalled, horrified, and adamant that I had to change it again to something less shocking.

But hey, that’s the beauty of writing—you never know where the story will take you, even if it means shedding a few tears and shocking yourself along the way. And as for the real Nik, well, I’m still waiting for him to make his grand entrance into my life. If anyone knows him, send him my way.