Beer, Spaghetti, and Pharmaceuticals ||COMPLETED||

Last Authors Ramble

HI GUYS!

First and foremost, I need to thank every single one of you for following this story and this crazy Wattpad adventure I've been on! Every second of this journey has been incredible. There were times where I really didn't think I would finish this story, but finally, the end has arrived! There's no way I could have done it without your support. You have no idea how many times I would be having a really bad day, then I'd get a lovely comment from one of you, and I would immediately have a smile on my face. I can't express how much I appreciate your patience, I really dropped the ball on this story the past 6 months (life likes to get in the way of my fantasy world), but this story was always in the back of my head. I knew I couldn't move on until I finished!

A little bit about the inspiration for this story...

First, I love cliches and I'm a hopeless romantic. There is nothing I love more than curling up on my couch with a cup of coffee and watching chick flicks back to back all afternoon. However, watching hundreds and hundreds of movies, I found myself no longer satisfied with them. Either the romance bloomed too fast, it was unrealistic, or well... it just wasn't exactly what I wanted.

But how can a piece of entertainment be exactly what you want if the writer isn't inside of your head?

So, I decided, fuck it. I'm writing my own damn story.

And it was going to be exactly what I wanted.

I love(d) the millionaire trope. I use past tense because as I got older, I realized how dysfunctional so many of stories could be. Not all of them! But a lot of them were. In fact, the biggest inspiration, in the weirdest (yet probably obvious) way, is actually 50 Shades of Grey. But in a satirical kind of way. I wanted to take all of my favorite aspects of that trope and then blast holes in the aspects I thought were...erm... weak.

Example: Christian Grey is 27 years old but acts like a 45 year old man.

BUT, this is not meant to be a rant against 50 shades of grey, as that was only a small part of the inspiration. It was just something that would crack me up as I was writing it. Isaac would almost be the suave, sexy billionaire...then SURPRISE! He's having a mental break down over a plate of spaghetti. Not so sexy, BUT, it's endearing...ish?

Anyways, another huge inspiration for this story was obviously mental health. Mental health and substance use have always had huge impacts on my life, whether it was from my own personal past or loved ones in my life. I wanted to show the way that it can affect these seemingly normal people. You don't have to be a broken withered soul to experience mental illness, but that doesn't make it any less important and crucial to take care of. Just because you might appear to have your life together doesn't mean that you can't still reach out for help. Also, drugs are bad, mm'kay. But I don't want to get preachy.

I also wanted to depict a healthy relationship built on respect, friendship, and trust. I think I succeeded pretty good in that department. I wanted a strong female lead who was relatable to women. Sometimes I felt Alice was too boy crazy than I wanted her to be, but I wouldn't know how else to write it. BUUUT, that's what rewrites are for.

Regardless, from the beginning, I knew Alice wouldn't be quitting her job for Isaac. Honestly, when I first started writing the story, I didn't think Alice and Isaac would end up together at all. I thought they would just shake hands and agree to just be friends/coworkers and carry on independently. In a lot of ways, I feel like that would have gotten the point I was trying to convey across more.... Buuut... after about 5 chapters into the story I was like "Oh my god, no, Alice and Isaac clearly belong with each other."

Lastly, I'm sure it' obvious, but damn I love a good slowburn. In fact, despite being a hopeless romantic, I believe nothing kills a romance story like a happy relationship. Hence why anytime things would be going well, I'd rip the carpet from underneath them. I'm a jerk, I know. :)

These characters are such a huge part of my life. While I don't identify solely with one character, I can relate to all of them at various parts. Except Mark. Fuck Mark.

Anyways, that's my little ramble about B, S, & P! If you have any questions about the story or characters, please feel free to ask! I'm going to have a huge shout out list to readers in the next couple of days, along with other little goodies.

I feel like this is a good place to do this. It's a bit of self-promotion while also a warning. I'm going to posting a new story (maybe even the first chapter tonight??? ooooo). That said, that story is going to be a lot darker than this one. I can't promise that all of you guys would like it... it'll still be a comedy and romantic, but definitely... darker and probably more infuriating and gutwrenching. I know I'm not selling it very well, but I do think it'll be a really good story and I've been playing around with the idea for a few months now. BUUUT, I'd hate to see you guys walk into it thinking it's the same fluffy fun as B, S, & P, then being like, "WTF ASHLEY???" It's gonna be pretty experimental. A lot of the elements are going to be things I always wanted to do in B, S, & P but didn't feel confident enough and didn't want to lose readers because of the risqueness. So, this story will be like the uncensored mind of Ashley spamming on the keyboard.

ALSO IT'S FIRST PERSON POV! Never tried that before, so we'll see where that goes.

Anyways, that's all for now, folks!

I love you all <3 At the end of the day, you have all been my biggest inspiration!!!!! Thank you for keeping me going!!!