Hello!

Christmas came a day late for me this year.

I spent yesterday in bed, trying to coax my pain levels out of the heavy-metal mosh pit and into gentle ballad territory, and failing. There was a moment when I thought I might rally, and for about ten minutes I felt a sliver of hope, but then the eleventh minute ticked over and it was all screaming guitars and high-pitched wailing. So I had to go back to bed. Total turkey.

No tree.

No turkey.

No food.

No visitors.

No nada.

Not even a single piece of chocolate. 😡

But my husband did buy me some lovely presents, including a new iPad seeing as mine had to be retired earlier this year. And our son is with us, which is an unexpected treat. So Christmas wasn’t a complete washout, but I couldn’t relax and enjoy the day in the way I’d hoped I would.

And then this morning happened.

I woke up to find an email from the wonderful Alisa Kennedy-Jones of Empress Editions, with a new (temporary) cover for my romantic comedy, Just Like A Movie. Because Gemma, Emilio, Celeste, Laura and the rest of my quirky Ibiza cast are heading into a brand-new chapter with Empress Editions.

I still can’t quite believe this is happening.

I’m so grateful to Alisa and the Empress team for this opportunity. I’m excited for this new adventure, which has really cheered me up after a complicated and stressful year health-wise. I will also be releasing my second poetry book, so there is a lot to look forward to.

So it wasn’t the kind of Christmas Day we normally have, with laughter, and good food, and – increasingly – walks along our favourite Catalan coastal path in the sunshine. It’s actually pouring with rain today, and yesterday was grey, but if you could see the grin on my face as I type this, you’d know I don’t mind so much.

Wishing you a slightly belated Christmas,

With love and gratitude,

Francesca xx

PS: this book definitely seems to have quite a few lives!

GREY DAY, GREAT NEWS

SOUTHBOUND