Francesca's Thoughts

Let's go old-school internet and hold a conversation.

No. 1 Reader's Club

08/05/2021

Pre-Empting Burnout and Turning Off the Internet for a Bit (except not here, here is nice)

This time a month ago I wrote about feeling like we were all living in the Nine of Wands. I still do, but the end is in sight. Or if not sight then it’s around the corner and down the road a bit. My diploma is almost finished. This stage of lockdown is almost finished.… Continue reading

Books, brain chat

Call Down the Hawk, easing out of lockdown, getting your eyebrows waxed for the first time since Christmas, Mister Impossible, nine of wands, No. 1 Reader's Club, taking a holiday, taking a social media break, The Raven Cycle
04/02/2021

Making Money: introducing a quarterly income round up!

Hi hi lovelies. A slightly quicker post from me today. More of a heads up kind of a thing? I’ve been sharing a survey on my socials about how I can improve my Patreon page, the No. 1 Readers’ Club (please take a couple of minutes to do it, whether you’re a member or not,… Continue reading

brain chat, DISCUSS., Money

author income round up, book royalty information, Francesca Burke on Patreon, Francesca’s Words, Indifferent Ignorance, No. 1 Reader's Club, Patreon writer, writers on Patreon
02/01/2021

New Year’s Intentions 2021 aka Aiming to Survive the Year

Happy new year lovelies! How are we doing? Does 2021 feel any different from 2020? I’m not going to write a post about Girl Bossing© 2020, nor a detailed plan for Girl Bossing© 2021, because who can actually take that seriously? I’m writing this in December of 2020, and have not at time of writing… Continue reading

Books, brain chat

'Eileen' Ottessa Moshfegh, 'House of Ashes', 'How to Build a Girl', Indifferent Ignorance, new year’s intentions, No. 1 Reader's Club, reading goals 2021, writers on Patreon, writing goals 2021
28/09/2020

In which I am grateful to be kind of snotty

Evening! (It’s not five as I start this but it’ll be waaaay past five by the time I publish.) How is everyone doing with the new-ish social distancing/lockdown rules? I’m assuming they’ll have changed by the time you read this. At time of writing, I’m 90% sure that I can’t socialise with more than 6… Continue reading

brain chat, Etsy, School

Francesca's Words on Etsy, Francesca's Words on Folksy, going back to school, Indifferent Ignorance, No. 1 Reader's Club, the Cornell method of note-taking

Let’s close the door on the rest of the internet.

Francesca Astraea here.

When I began this blog in 2009, I was a teenager. That’s why you’ll find some posts have been hidden behind a paywall. I was an incredibly different, less eloquent person when I was a teen, so if you want to read the thoughts of that teenager, you can join the No. 1 Readers’ Club for access.

What will you find here now?

This blog continues to evolve with me. My favourite topics are books and reading, travel adventures, the extensive works of up and coming rock band My Chemical Romance and the occasional update about my life and work as an author and scriptwriter. I’m also interested in digital minimalism, how we can solve environmental issues and why it’s probably a better idea to make a cup of tea than it is to shout at people you disagree with.

Speaking of tea… Make a cup and settle in.

Leave a comment on posts to continue the conversation and tell me your favourite MCR song! Oh, and while you’re here: this is a no-gen-AI household. You may not put any of my posts through an LLM. If you’re going to email me or write a comment, do it yourself.

Here’s how we can stay in touch:

Stories to escape into

Algorithm-free newsletter

let’s keep chatting at the No. 1 Readers’ Club

Keep this independent, conversational, anti-AI part of the internet going with a tip.

Or enter a custom amount

No. 1 Reader's Club

Pre-Empting Burnout and Turning Off the Internet for a Bit (except not here, here is nice)

Making Money: introducing a quarterly income round up!

New Year’s Intentions 2021 aka Aiming to Survive the Year

In which I am grateful to be kind of snotty