Francesca Astraea's Blog

Here's the info: https://www.patreon.com/posts/gift-ph...

Here's where you can order signed copies of my books, although paperbacks from any retailer (including signed copies in stock at Carpe Noctem Frome and Books-on-Sea) count: https://folksy.com/shops/francescaswo...

Happy gifting!

Happy February. How is your reading challenge going this year? You’re already behind? You didn’t read eight books a week? YOU FAILURE.

Most of this blog’s content these days is book-related: my Read, If You Like… series where I talk about books I’ve read and why you might enjoy them if you like a certain theme or feature, or chitchat about writing my own books. I was fairly late to the online-tracking-of-your-reading game – I think I got a GoodReads account maybe in 2017. Or maybe earlier but...

Happy new year! I’ve been meaning to write about The Starless Sea since I first read it in spring 2021. I began writing this post back then, forgot about it and reread the novel at the end of last year. So. Since it is a cold, rainy January in here Bath and The Starless Sea lends itself to an immersive, blanket-covered deep reading session with a delicious hot beverage nearby, let’s talk about it.

Read The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (2019), if you like…Whimsy, but in a deliberate w...

Happy solstice!

I am emerging from a deadline bubble and moving almost immediately into a hibernation bubble, but I’m not going to let the year pass without inflicting upon you a list of books I think you should read, whether you’d enjoy them or not.

I set a reading goal on Goodreads to read 70 books this year, in an attempt to spend less time looking at a screen. I think it worked, although in an ideal world I would throw every device with inbuilt AI ‘help’ into a volcano. In August I wr...

Occasionally I am asked what sort of books I write. I usually say ‘urban fantasy’ or ‘magical and a bit strange.’ Mostly I try to change the subject, because it feels like being asked my bra size. It’s not a secret but I’d rather talk about the weather. I am aware this is not helpful for selling books. So, in attempt to get better at talking about bras books I thought I’d read through reviews left for Rotting Trees by existing readers and and reviewers I sent advanced reader copies to a year ago...

Hello hello,

Looking to buy a gift you know a particular person will love, or searching for ways to support independent artists, educators and creatives when you buy presents instead of lining the pockets of a multinational corporation? You might want to consider gifting a Patreon membership. There are over 300,000 creators using Patreon and creators have generated $8 billion in revenue since 2013, which we can assume has returned more into local communities and raised more in taxes than most...

That sounds fancy, doesn’t it. Like I should be wearing a tuxedo and attending premieres in the Prince Charles Cinema. The actual premiere was in one of the theatre spaces at my university, and I found the experience of watching unbelievably uncomfortable. I’m not normally in the room when people read my books! Also I was wearing regular clothing because it was 3pm on a Sunday.

In the three-ish months since I finished Kendra’s Adventures in Influencerland, the main words that come up when peo...

Psst, you can read the opening chapters of Rotting Trees (young adult, witchy, bad decision making) completely free: https://ko-fi.com/s/621e00a660

Talking about pushing back mirrornovel, my MA adventures and more (plus a lovely reading I reckon): www.patreon.com/posts/tarot-chat-2025...

Hello hello,

I’m chilly and it’s raining. I’ve been hearing about the UK’s false autumn so I’m grateful for rain, but I really enjoyed not having cold knees. And not having to put on socks. And not laundering socks. Where do they go.

I’ve almost finished The Lord of the Rings. I didn’t flick between the main story and the appendices while I was reading so now I’m picking through Appendix A trying to remember which elves I’ve met. In the meantime I read a fantastic contemporary satire a cou...