Hello and it’s nice to meet you. My name is Kotoko. Thank you for picking up Fake It to Break It! I Faked Amnesia to Break Off My Engagement and Now He’s All Lovey-Dovey?! The title is so long that it’s a little scary.
To start with, I started writing this story last September when, on my birthday, I thought to myself, “I want to write one of those trendy stories with the scarily long title, and I want to write something cheery and fun!” I never thought that the story would turn into a book the following September. It’s the best birthday present I received this year. Thank you so much!
I only came up with the title and basic plot, then started writing it. So I never imagined that Phillip would be such a lame and cute protagonist... He’s my favorite protagonist now.
In saying that, though, I’ve only ever written love stories where the protagonists are madly in love with each other, so this was the first time I ever wrote something comedic. To tell the truth, it was really difficult. I suddenly had so many readers for the web version, and it raised my standards for the story, so I rewrote parts many times until I was happy with them. I remember writing until the early hours of the morning every day, with the energy drink Kyokyo Daha in hand.
The popular true heroine of the story, Little Vio the parrot, was also something I thought of while writing in the middle of the night. I want to praise last year for giving birth to Little Vio.
I’d like to give a big thank you to Esora, who gave me wonderful illustrations of all of my too-quirky characters. Phillip’s handsomeness, Viola’s slightly cold beauty, and Rex’s playboy hotness were all so much better than what I had imagined. I was so touched! Even Little Vio was so cute, from her little head to her little toes... She’s adorable.
I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank my editor, who asked if I wanted to turn Fake It to Break It! into a book and always sends me wonderful comments on it. I’m the type of person who gets better with praise, so I was really able to work hard on this. It turned into a fantastic book thanks to their meticulous care. Thank you to everyone who helped with the publishing and distribution of this book.
Right now, the comic version of this book is in production. I myself am very excited to see everything—from the fishing scene to the ice bucket scene—illustrated. However I’m just worried that the artist will have a hard time drawing things like the handkerchief Viola embroidered. Just what does a cute worm even look like...?
This is the last thing I’d like to say, but thank you for reading all the way here. Fake It to Break It! is a work very dear to my heart, and I love it and all of the memories I made as I wrote it. I’m really, really happy that I got to see it published as a physical book. Thank you so much.
I hope you will all continue to watch over Phillip and Viola. Also it really encourages me when I receive fan mail! Hopefully, we’ll see each other again in volume 2.