Hi everyone!

I know it's been a long time - too long - since you've seen any new stories from me. Life has not been very conducive to writting, or even reading for that matter. I have wanted to and have missed it and all of you but up until now it hasn't happened.

Over the last several months, I have had messages from quite a few people asking me if I would be finishing the story I was co-writing with Jenny-Gibbs-forever, "Chance Encounter". Initially I wasn't inclined to because I wasn't confident I could devote enough time to it but then, knowing how much many of you have enjoyed it, I reconsidered. However, I knew that because the story wasn't published on my account that I couldn't simply pick it up. As a result, I tried to get in touch with my co-writer but was sadly unsuccessful. (Jenny-Gibbs-forever, should you ever read this, please don't take offence to my continuing it alone! I simply couldn't leave it be in the end.) Because of this, I have now posted a direct continuation of "Chance Encounter" under this new story title which was inspired by the title song of the series "Chant it Like a Mantra" by The Man.

If you are new to the Freezing fandom but are familiar with Cobert (Robert and Cora from the Downton Abbey fandom) then this is essentially them as a modern day couple, as portrayed in the three part series "Freezing". The irony is that Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern play husband and wife in this series which predates Downton (and even alludes to it in the third episode) and everything that transpires on the show is inspired by the reality of Elizabeth's life in London as a middle-aged actress at that point in time. It's directed by her real-life husband Simon Curtis (Matt's character is loosely based on him) and includes both fictional characters as well as actors and actresses playing themselves. For example, Richard E Grant (whom you'll know as Simon Bricker in Downton) appears as himself in Episode 1 while actress Joely Richardson appears in the same episode and same scene as a character called Rachel. As such, I am keeping to the way in which "Freezing" was written so some characters will appear as themselves and others will be written as new characters.

If you haven't watched the series yet, I really recommend doing so before you start reading this fic and you can find the links to all three episodes on my FF profile page. It's brilliant and so funny! And if you have not yet read "Chance Encounter" (there is also a link on my profile as well as it being in the Freezing category), I strongly recommend reading that first too or the first (seventh chapter) is going to seem a bit odd. If you'd rather jump straight into this though, here is the blurb for the original story:

Matthew is a successful businessman in the realm of publishing. Based in West London he finds he is using up all his creative energy on his girlfriend Heidi. One night they head to a party at a friend's house where Matt happens upon an American actress called Elizabeth. Will this chance encounter lead to something more?

At this point, you should know that my updates may fluctuate a bit because of other commitments but now I've started again I am determined to finish this story once and for all. I hope you can all be patient if I am taking more than a few days to update. Indeed, I hope that some of my wonderful readers from the old days will rejoin me on this journey and welcome to all of you who are just discovering what is now a two-part story! So without further ado, let us begin!