Geri Halliwell-Horner is spreading girl power to a new generation…
The 51-year-old half-Spanish English singer, songwriter, author and actress has released her literary project Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen, which took the former Spice Girls member to a place she’d never been before: full-fledged, novel-length writing that blends her passions with her signature cheeky attitude.
“Writing is the one thing where you get to control and decide. So, I love it for that reason,” Halliwell-Horner tells InStyle.
Halliwell-Horner, who studied English literature and theater before becoming a Spice Girl, had previously penned a series of children’s books, Ugenia Lavender, in 2008, and a memoir back in 1999, If Only.
For the new novel, she names C.S. Lewis as inspiration for the novel, which she created with a very specific message in mind.
Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen blends Tudor history with myth and fantasy, all the while, introducing young readers to a different kind of hero. Consider it Girl Power 2.0.
“I’d already done younger children’s books before and I thought, You know what? Wouldn’t it be nice if the world had a new hero, someone that you can all identify with that was really fresh and ordinary and not perfect?”
Spice Girls fans looking for references to Ginger and her fellow Spice Girls may recognize the similarities between Frost and the author.
“I mean, obviously the hair color,” says Halliwell-Horner, laughing as she describes any not-so-accidental shared character traits. “But what I like about Rosie is I think she’s us. She’s the raw, vulnerable us that doesn’t know the way and then has to find the courage that she never knew she had. And we all feel like this at different times.”
Although writing is her focus at the moment, fans who’ve been longing for new music from Halliwell-Horner have even more reason to pick up the book. Copies of Rosie Frost include a special QR code that brings readers to two new tracks, the electro-pop “Ghost in the House” and the piano-forward ballad “Beautiful Life.”
“I bought this book for my son, he’s [6 years old], and there was a song in the back and I thought, That’s such a good idea,” Halliwell-Horner says of her inspiration. “I thought, Well, why don’t you just put some music on your book? So, there’s music on the book. I think you’ll really like it. It was a really nice sort of a sentimental song.”