A book deal, deep thinking about a book series, and a special opportunity coming Dec 30
About a minute ago, I was writing my last newsletter. That, it turns out, was in September. Classic. Apparently, I’m long overdue for another.
Biggest news first.
There was a little (read: giant) announcement on various social channels on Sept 25, 2025…and it’s taken me until now to share it here.
I wish I could say I were more organized than that, but the social media thing is hard, it often ends up the last thing on my plate, and I vow to be better about it in 2026. This is the constant argument in my head: Claire 1 says, “I want to write. I need to write. I must write.” Claire 2 says, “Yeah, but you’re your own back office. You need to post about that writing on social media to help get it out there, live in the world, get seen.” You won’t be surprised to hear that Claire 1 almost always wins—she’s very persistent. There’s also this that lurks in the recesses of my mind:
But here I am now, better late than never (like I said, I vow to change it up in 2026).
So, the announcement! This, from my book agency, Transatlantic Literary Agency:
And also in Publishers Marketplace:
I’m beyond excited about Lost in France and about working with Alcove Press. My editor there, Faith Black Ross, is great, intuitive and smart, and things have been moving quickly to keep the book on schedule to come out on June 23, 2026.
Faith and I have been through an edit, I’ve consulted on the cover, watching that progress from artist’s pencil sketch options, to colour, to finals. We’ve gone through multiple choices of book cover font. The book has been copy-edited and typeset, and I’ve been through first and second pass pages. It’s been very busy, given Kirk and I also produced the premiere of our play, Spycraft, over the fall (worthy of a whole other newsletter—part of my 2026 promise) but so great to be part of the publishing process again. This time, I knew more of what to expect than I did when I published my first novel At Last Count in 2022 with the wonderful Invisible Publishing.
I’m also learning new things this time around, which is always exciting and creatively stimulating. For example, I have started plotting out and writing Book 2 of a hoped-for Lost in France series. This feels like both familiar territory for me, given my work in television, and also brave new territory, because building a series in books is the same but different structurally.
Starting on the next book had me thinking carefully about what I needed to set up in Book 1 so that Book 2 would hit the ground running. I implemented changes during the edit process with Faith: tweaks to cement those moments that will come clear in Book 2 as catalysts for characters and plot.
For the writers out there, I am reading several books on how to write a book series that are excellent:
· Sara Rosett’s How to Write a Series
· Lewis Jorstad’s Beyond Book One: How to Plan and publish a Successful Fictional Series
· Helen B. Scheuerer’s How to Write A Successful Series
They're littered around the house next to notepads and pencils, so that when I am waiting for the kettle to boil, or settling in for the night, I can read a few pages and let them help me structure not only the next book, but hopefully several books to come. Very helpful.
And oh! The book has also sold in the UK to Bedford Square Publishers for 2027—just as exciting. Stand by all UK friends.
Lost in France is already out there getting early reviews and shout-outs from bookstagrammers (how fun is that). A giant thank you to people like Julia K. Porter (@juliakayporter), and Kimberly Morales (@thereaderista) who are sharing their excitement about the book.
Lost in France is also already available for pre-order, so it would mean so much if you felt moved to do that. AND! News about an extra-special pre-order opportunity comes out on December 30, so I will send out information about that in a short 7 days.
Read on. Write on. And have a restful holidays. I’m serious. This is my wish for all of us:
Talk soon.
Claire