top of page

Current List of Projects

Good Girl's Guide to County Jail for the Bad Girl in Us All: Your Guide to the Incarcer Nation

(Award-winning non-fiction, FriesenPress 2017)

Catastrophic Expectations: Sex, Love & the Pursuit of Marriage 

(Comedy, Romance, The Permanent Press, 2020)

I Stand Corrected (Non-fiction memoir, edited, unpublished)

Moon Over Mandeville (Fantasy/Coming of New Age Novel, being edited. The Permanent Press has first right of refusal)

Otre Mama (True Crime, unpublished)

Travel Stories (Fiction, Short Stories - award-winning Depart Baltimore is one of many, unpublished)

The Guru in Us All (Non-fiction, in development) how to access your inner power for personal freedom

Aya-Wows-Ka (New Age non-fiction) Peruvian Jungle escapades with a Shaman

working title: Canadian Freedom Fighters  (Non-fiction Memoir) uncensored content from the most important voices in Canada's Freedom Movement.  





bgImage

Gwen Devine, libido-licious owner of Lip S​ervice Catering, is aching for the true taste of love. But can she stop having sex long enough to find it? Worried her wanton ways might get her into trouble again she agrees to join the upscale dating service Great Expectations to find a husband. While trying to manage her kitchen staff, her knot-tying clientele, and an ever-changing array of possible suitors, she sumptuously devours every morsel of a man that comes across her plate. Her dreams for a real happy ending are threatened until she learns to manage her own expectations. Abandoning all hope, she goes to a potluck and meets Reuben, who's more than just a mouthful - and leaves her with some tasty food for thought.


Reviews: 


Reviewed by Michelle Stanley for Readers' Favorite


Catastrophic Expectations: Sex, Love, & the Pursuit of Marriage is a humor comedy by Ellen Marie Francisco. Gwen Devine, the owner of

Lip Service, a catering company, yearns to find Mr. Right. Her main problem is that she is man-hungry and a bit on the promiscuous

side. A friend talks her into joining a dating service, but the prospects are sizzling like steaks on a grill, so lusty Gwen decides to

date a few. Her expectations of the perfect man, unfortunately, often flop like a souffle after a couple of dates, leaving an empty

void and confusion. Interacting with her clients who are getting married does not help either as Gwen is often left with mixed

emotions about relationships. Maybe she should just focus on her catering and give celibacy a try. How long will that last?


“Laughter is brightest in the place where food is.” - Irish Proverb. 


I guarantee that you will not only be highly entertained by Catastrophic Expectations but will want to try the mouth-watering foods from Lip Service. Each chapter is dedicated to a function that Gwen caters and includes the menu. The story is original and anyone reading it can sympathize with Gwen as finding that special person can take a while. Her reactions and thoughts regarding some of the dates are funny. Patience is a virtue that she does not have. Ellen Marie Francisco won my respect for her creativity and clever writing structure. The characters are well defined, and the sex scenes are fine. Catastrophic Expectations: Sex, Love, & the Pursuit of Marriage is as amusing as it is meant to be.

Contact Me

Name*

Email Address*

Message*

Please add your name to my mailing list so I can keep you up to date with the projects I'm working on.


I'm offering the first chapter of I Stand Corrected in pdf form if you'd like to read it...this memoir is in the hands of my editor Elaine Ash right now...let's hope she gives it the seal of approval and I can move into the next phase of development.



Advanced Review of I Stand Corrected

Reviewed By Tammy Ruggles for Readers’ Favorite (October, 2020)

I Stand Corrected by Ellen Marie Francisco is entertainment at its best. It's a memoir about a successful real estate agent who loses it and ends up behind bars. The trajectory that led her down this path is almost outlandish, but many readers will relate, even if they have never had to wear orange inmate clothes. The author writes with fresh clarity and hard-won wisdom, hoping to pass the lessons on to you. Life is full of hard knocks, and Francisco has had her share. She hopes to impart some experience that can make life easier for those in similar circumstances. The advice she gives didn't come to her easily. She earned it the hard way.


She didn't willingly commit her crime, but she had to go through the legal process nevertheless. The culture shock of jail life and legal strife was stunning for her, but she had to learn the ropes in order to survive. A felony conviction doesn't look good on a resume, and it isn't as easy for a convicted felon to re-enter society as the media would have you think. Francisco breaks it all down event by event, lesson by lesson until you arrive at the satisfying conclusion. This fast-paced narrative deserves to be a Lifetime movie. Just when you think, "Things like this don't happen in real life, do they?", you read an account like Ellen's. I like the immediate style, the easy flow of plot points, the tumultuous relationship with Patrick, the women she interacts with behind bars, and the lessons left for the reader to glean at the end. When you're in the mood for a real-life crime drama with a sense of humor, and poignancy, give I Stand Corrected by Ellen Marie Francisco a try. You'll be glad you did.

Canadian Authors Association

The Author reads an excerpt...

Ellen Marie Francisco

Good Girl's Guide to County Jail 

for the Bad Girl in Us All

US Review of Books

reviewed by Toby Berry

"Those of us who have been on the inside know how difficult it is in there. Take it from us, be an outie, and help in any way you can."

The author intended this book "...to help incarcerated women gain access to vital information that is not available to them inside the jail..." But those who never have or probably never will land in jail should read it anyway - this guide is eye-opening.

Francisco writes with shocking honesty about her troubles with the law. Her frankness and clarity might startle readers more than once. She interviewed other inmates and got brutally honest, forthright answers. And they shared shocking incidences such as when a seemingly power-hungry warden transporting ill inmates to and from the jail to medical facilities said, "If you talk at all on this bus I will turn the heat up as far as it goes..."  Such abuse of power is described throughout the book. Readers may find themselves cringing with embarrassment for so-called humanity.

Francisco writes it all in clean copy accompanied by her stunning illustrations. The book itself is professionally put together, and the orange cover, and orange, barbed-wire design trim on each page can hardly be overlooked. These add to the dramatic effect that the subject truly deserves. The author's guide may be shocking to most, but the major intent of the book is to provide resources and information to inmates who find themselves with the prison gates slamming behind them or for those preparing to do their time. The author has compiled information, affidavits, and other blank forms for those in need (e.g. a caregiver's authorization affidavit). Helping with the red tape and administrative aspects related to imprisonment, this book should be made available to all prisoners.

                                                                                                                                # # # # # 

copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved  The US Review of Books

Good Girl's Guide to County Jail for the Bad Girl in Us All

Your Guide to the Incarcer Nation

(not your average tour guide)


The book is available on all distribution channels through The Ingram Spark Company. It's available in the FriesenPress.com bookstore. 

How to Save Your Ass with an Affidavit

Don't be one of the ill-prepared when life takes its unexpected twists and turns. Learn how to protect your loved ones, your tangible property, even yourself with simple Affidavits, and Power of Attorney Forms (some are included in the book). Poorly planned is improperly prepared.  In the event you can't act on your own behalf for any reason, having clearly defined instructions is more effective than leaving things dangling for all the wrong people to figure out.

Donate a Book to an Inmate

  • You can help by purchasing a book on behalf of an inmate who can not buy one themselves and furthering my efforts in reaching those than can benefit from the information where they need it, and when they need it most.  Many wait for years on the inside while their cases sludge through the justice system without effective support. Many are forced to plea bargain their freedom away.
  • Please note, only trade paperback books are allowed into jails.

For Immediate Release

New Book GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO COUNTY JAIL Describes Author's Life in Jail, Offers Guide for Survival Behind Bars

Author Ellen Marie Francisco Exposes Life Behind Bars Before Trial and with No Bail

1 2

Good Girl's Guide to County Jail

Good Girl's Guide to County Jail

LOS ANGELES - Nov. 17, 2017 - PRLog -- Millions of viewers have made the television series "Orange is the New Black" a pop culture sensation, but Ellen Marie Francisco (http://www.EllenMarieFrancisco.com) has no interest in watching it or reading the memoir, by Piper Kerman, which spawned the hit show.

Francisco has lived her own version of "Orange is the New Black," an experience she refers to as "innocent in oranges." "Oranges" is prison jargon for the orange jump suits worn by prisoners who have been charged but who have not yet been to trial, Francisco explains.

Francisco, an author and entrepreneur, describes her experience behind bars in her latest book, GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO COUNTY JAIL (FOR THE BAD GIRL IN US ALL). A gripping and candid tale of her journey through three California jails for women, GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO COUNTY JAIL (https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000025993982) also serves as a resource guide for navigating the legal thickets necessary to surviving what Francisco dubs the "Incarcer Nation".

GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO COUNTY JAIL "is a call to action to remedy the lack of support for pre-sentenced women sitting in jails across America who are not educated enough to understand what they're negotiating in the courtroom," Francisco explains, "and for the women who don't realize how close they already are to the courthouse steps."

Francisco was arrested in 2013 in Lake Arrowhead, California and charged with carjacking, assault with a deadly weapon and robbery after an incident involving her impounded car. The charges were ultimately dropped, but not before Francisco had served nearly two months in three county jails. While locked up, she talked to hundreds of women "each on a different path without a definitive end, each living with the certain fear that they were not in control of their own lives."

Those conversations became the nucleus of GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO COUNTY JAIL.

About the Author Ellen Marie Francisco

Canadian born Ellen Marie Francisco worked in feature film development and production in Toronto on Canadian Content film projects partially funded through Telefilm Canada in the '80s. She was transferred to Los Angeles in the early '90s to help expand the production company into Los Angeles. Her work in the entertainment industry continued for decades under a NAFTA Investor Visa in Los Angeles, and environs with her catering company Amazing Graze. Her resort community Real Estate business Cabin Ready operated to the point of her untimely arrest.

Francisco has also worked in the publishing industry. Along the way, she landed a job with writer Sidney Sheldon as a proofreader and fan mail response writer. That experience and her tenure in publishing helped shape her own voice.

Her work as a photographer in Toronto and California in the early '90s landed her backstage access to Cirque du Soleil and one of her first print credits. She has sold and/or shown photographic works in galleries on the Big Island of Hawaii, in Los Angeles and Toronto. The book is filled with her raw and captivating vector artwork, a visual storyboard to her harrowing journey through the "Incarcer Nation."

Francisco is the adoptive mother of two children and a Chihuahua named Piglet. They currently reside in Ottawa, Ontario.

Good Girl's Guide to County Jail

176 pages.

Hardcover, $29.99; ISBN: 978-1-4602-8477-3

Softcover, $27.99; ISBN: 978-104602-8478-0

E-book, $8.99; ISBN: 978-1-4602-8479-7

Publication date: October 27, 2017

Published by Scribbles and Ink Publishing/Friesen Press

Available at https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000025993982; www.scribblesandinkpublishing.com; http://www.amazon.com; and www.bn.com and booksellers nationwide.

Distributed to the trade by The Ingram Book Company.

---

October 2017

Media Contact:

Charlie Barrett, The Barrett Company Communications, 310-471-5764

Email: cbarrett@thebarrettco.com, or barcopr@earthlink.net

Media Contact

Charles Barrett

The Barrett Company, LLC

310-471-5764

***@thebarrettco.com

Photos:

https://www.prlog.org/12675868/1

https://www.prlog.org/12675868/2

End

Follow Embed PDF / Print

Source:Ellen Marie Francisco book

Email:***@thebarrettco.com Email Verified

Tags:Ellen Marie Francisco, County Jail System, Proving Innocence, Women In Jail, Awaiting Trial, Surviving Behind Bars, Posting Bail

Industry:Books, Legal, Lifestyle

Location:Los Angeles - California - United States

Subject:Products

Account Email Address Verified Account Phone Number Verified Disclaimer Report Abuse

The Barrett Company News


bgImage

"Good Girls"

buy my books

https://www.amazon.com/Good-Girls-Guide-County-Jail/dp/1460284771

Good Girl's Guide to County Jail for the Bad Girl in Us All [Ellen Marie Francisco] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. This good girl did ...



Drop me a line. 

Name*

Email Address*

Message*

Email me if you'd like to buy an autographed copy of a book, would like to be on my mailing list, or just need to ask me something.

bottom of page