(Sorry! I have accidentually published this on Monday. But I am sending it again if you haven’t read it.)

Hello, this is Celeste. I have been writing poems since 2017 and my low-fantasy crime novel Project Dylan since 2022. Letters for Creatives is the place where I share my thoughts on writing, creativity, resources for creatives, and interview creators and authors.

Nice to meet you

It was a little dream come true when I got to interview Rebecca Jones on her countryside life in France.

Can you tell us about you and your background?

I am Rebecca Jones, a writer and former journalist. Along with my husband Tim, we sold almost everything we owned in the U.K in 2017, packed up our two children, two cats and the few belongings we had left, to move to a neglected petit château in a quiet corner of France and have an adventure.

I left behind a career working for women’s magazines and threw my lot in with this house hidden between woods and wildflower meadows, which we now run as a bed and breakfast and creative retreat venue. We are open and hosting guests every summer and spend our winters slowly renovating, rescuing and restoring the house and the estate.

I write about our life on Substack weekly and share additional posts each month about our backstory, the renovation work and our life in France.

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Why did you decide to start writing about your life in France on Substack?

I was sharing regular posts on social media about our life in France (and still do) and lots of people were asking me to write more. I had tried to write about our life here on Patreon but it felt complicated and didn’t sit comfortably with me. The idea of a weekly newsletter though sparked the notion of a weekly journal about our day-to-day life and I decided to try it. 

I wanted to write honestly about a life that many people dream of living, to share the ups and downs, the highs, but also the lows. I felt a journal would allow me to do this in a way that social media wouldn’t. I’m never dishonest on social media, but because it promotes our business, it does tend to be the highlight reel. 

The journal allows me to share the huge amount of work that goes into caring for a crazy house like this, the happy moments, the sad and frustrating ones and everything in between. I hope one day my children might read it and be proud of our life here and the risks we’ve taken to live this life. 

I also write it for me. Journaling has been eye-opening for me. It is actually incredibly easy to forget or take for granted what you have achieved in a week. Writing each day allows me to see progress where I might not have before. Even on days when I feel I have done nothing, there is always something to say. It makes me take note of and appreciate the little things that would otherwise be lost.

How did you decide to move to the French countryside? And why a château?...