The Grown Up To-Do List: What Inspired The Book?

I recently shared five fun facts about The Grown Up To-Do List, and one of those facts was that the initial idea for the book came to me during my first driving lesson so I thought I'd explain that a bit more in its own blog post.

Back in 2019, I decided it was time for me to learn to drive. I was 36 and had never attempted to learn because I thought it was beyond me (spoiler: it absolutely was) but my big girl pants were deployed and I applied for my provisional license and booked my first lesson once it arrived.

By this point, I was still under the impression that me attempting to drive a car was ridiculous and I wouldn't pass in a million years so I didn't tell anybody apart from my ex (who wasn't my ex at the time, obviously) and my daughters so when I failed it wouldn't be quite so humiliating if people didn't know. So imagine my horror when my driving instructor pulled up six doors away from my sister's house to start my first lesson.

What if my sister or her family walked past on their way out of the house or coming home and saw me sat in the driver's seat of a car with a bloody great big 'L' stuck to its roof? I was already panicking about the driving lesson, about sitting in the driver's seat and very soon having to actually drive the car, and now I was having to face the possibility of being found out.

I can see the funny side now but at the time I was seriously STRESSED OUT about getting caught in the act. Anyway, I drove off, very slowly and very badly without being spotted and a seed was planted. What if someone was in a similar situation to me and was hiding the fact they were taking driving lessons? Perhaps they'd told a little fib and insinuated that they could already drive and now had to take a crash course on the sly?

But why would someone pretend they could drive when they couldn't?

Perhaps they were feeling small and unaccomplished in comparison to the other person? Perhaps the other person had their life sorted with a good, fulfilling job, their own home and the ability to get from A-Z without waiting for the bus in the pouring rain? Perhaps a little fib got out of hand and they ended up reimagining their life to big themselves up and now they had to somehow make it all come true before their lies were exposed?

Cleo and her story started to emerge from that potentially disastrous driving lesson, so at least I got something out of it, because it wasn't a driver's license. I gave it my best go but driving just isn't for me. I was terrible at it and when Covid hit and the lessons had to be put on hold, I wasn't sad about it. I didn't miss the debilitating dread I felt in the days leading up to my next lesson and I made peace with the fact that I wasn't made to be in control of a vehicle and at least nobody other than my household knew of my failure. Until a few weeks ago when I spilled the beans via my fun facts. Like I said, I see the funny side of it now and failure or not, I'm just relieved I never have to sit in the driver's seat of a car ever again.

Her friends are bossing life - is she being left behind?

25-year-old Cleo is happy enough. She likes her job in the fish and chip shop in the North West seaside town where she grew up. But her world has become very small - all her friends couldn’t wait to leave home and are off, apparently crushing life. They have shiny careers and creative side-hustles, while she is still living with her mum and dad.

But when she learns that her dream childhood boyfriend is coming back to town for a party in three months, she decides she needs to start adulting to win him.

But what does being a grown-up really mean? And can she become one in three months?

Amazon UK | Amazon US