Fourteen months ago, in October 2009, I came up with the idea for Sweet Tarts Takeaway. It would be a web show about two women caterers who take on small-time repo. But it has become so much more!

During the past year, I wrote scripts, cast actors, created a series synopsis (18 episodes will hopefully be coming your way), and developed a business plan. In August 2010, I stopped my work as a freelance technical writer to devote myself full-time to getting STT off the ground.

We shot some episodes and edited them. We added music and animated opening credits. I developed the concept to include recipes from local Ottawa chefs on the web site, to broaden the experience users will have there, to create a real user community.

We set a launch date of 14 February 2011, and the scramble was on. No matter how organized you think you are, there is never enough time to get everything done. We not only had to design, implement and test the entire web site from scratch, but we were polishing the episodes for launch. After sending out press releases, I found myself juggling two media interviews (CTV Ottawa and The Ottawa Citizen) just a few days before launch. Oh yes, and I decided, at the last minute, to have the audio properly mixed (thanks, Chris!)

I can't begin to thank everyone who has helped us get this far, and who continues to help. You can read about most of these exceptional people in The People Behind Sweet Tarts Takeaway. But I would like to thank all of my friends and family for encouraging me and supporting me in this venture, especially Janet, John, Mike, Tom, Emma and Tess. Most importantly, I thank David, without whose support and technical expertise I simply would not have gotten this far.

As I write this, we are 48 minutes away from going live. I have come to love the world of the Tarts that I, and all the talented people who are working with me, have created. We hope that you do too, and will tune in each Monday for a new episode!

-Bonnie