Dear You...

In 2012, I was signed to a YouTube partner company called ChannelFlip. They were amazing when YouTube was at its height of popularity and excitement. They had all the big YouTubers like Dan and Phil, Emma Blackery, CharlieIsSoCoolLike and I was excited to say the least when they emailed to say they were interested in taking me on, too! Very early on, they let me know that something they would provide is their address should anyone want to write to me. Now, as someone a little obsessed with stationary, postcards and mail in general, I let my online audience know ASAP where to write to and I made the *explicit promise* that if you included a stamped and addressed envelope, I would reply. Letters came pouring in and nineteen year old me, had all the time in the world. I spent hours fawning over the gorgeous letters, kind words and exquisite handwriting. I wrote back on my abundance of fancy coloured paper and pretty envelopes in coloured pens and sometimes, I'd even go the extra mile and add stickers! I know. Full out with feeling. I'd get through a hundred or so letters in a day and eagerly await the next time ChannelFlip emailed to say another bag was full and ready to be collected. 

Photo from an interview with TenEighty Magazine back when YouTube was booming!

Then when I was twenty, I was cast in Les Mis and, as with anyone going from funemployment to a full time job, my free time was shrunk dramatically. My only day off was a Sunday and I'd spend it sleeping off the week or with family. In the week during the day, I was in meetings or rehearsals and in the evening I was on the Barricades being violently shot in the chest! However, my audience was also growing with this new exposure in theatre and so the letters weren't only being posted to ChannelFlip but also to the Les Mis Stage Door. Then I became a published author and I started doing book signings and events when I'd be given a couple hundred letters at a time...

...Five years later and the medium sized bag of a hundred or so letters that would only appear once every six months, became two giant bags of maybe 600 letters that would frequently be added to. Safe to say, I couldn't stay on top of it. I was reading them whenever I could and when I saw that they were dated 2014-2015 my head would hang in shame. I began avoiding the bags because the task seemed endless and I couldn't face the embarrassment and the guilt of how long I'd kept people waiting. However, THIS YEAR, I said to myself, THIS WOULD BE THE YEAR I SAW THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG. I took them to the Sondheim Theatre in a little flowery briefcase and any chance I got I would open, read and reply. Open, read and reply. Open, read and reply. Each reply was on a postcard (Harry Potter, Jane Austen, Disney Pixar/Princesses, Beatrix Potter, etc) and I would also include a signed photo of myself in one of the roles I'd played. And suddenly...the letters were gone! It took me just over a month. The bags are empty and my heart is full.

SO, I've learnt my lesson. No promises. I can't guarantee a reply nor a quick one if I do but I can promise that I will read your letter. So if you would like to write to me, here are some helpful tips...

1. As I said, I won't guarantee a reply but I will be putting all letters requesting replies to one side to go through when I can. So if you would like the chance of a reply, despite how late it may arrive, make sure you include a stamped and addressed envelope.

2. Stick the stamp to your self-addressed envelope. People have often put the stamp loose in the envelope and it has sometimes fallen out as I've opened it. Luckily, I've always manage to spot it fluttering to the ground but to avoid lost stamps, go ahead and stick it to the envelope!

3. I get a lot of stamped and addressed envelopes adorned with the beautiful stamps from your wonderful countries but sadly, our UK Royal Mail won't accept them. If you're writing from outside of the UK and want to include a stamped and addressed envelope, you'll need to obtain something called an 'International Reply Coupon' from your local post office. I can then take it to my local post office and exchange it for the correct postage.

4. Speaking of, please make sure the postage on your letter is correct! I've had a few notices from Royal Mail over the years to say that the sender hasn't paid the correct postage and if I want the letter, I need to be pay the outstanding fee which has sometimes been as much as £31! So, if you want to make 100% sure that I will receive the letter, make sure you have to correct postage before sending! 

5. Date the letter! You don't have to do this but it's always nice for me to know when the letter was written so I know how profusely I need to apologise for the lateness of my reply...!

Finally, if you would like to write, here is the address: 

Carrie Hope Fletcher

C/O Helen Clarkson 

Curtis Brown Group LTD

Haymarket House

28-29 Haymarket

London

SW1Y 4SP

Thank you so much to anyone who has sent me letters over the years. The outpouring of kindness and warmth has been overwhelming and I can't believe how lucky I am that such incredible, kind-hearted, bright-minded people want to write to me so often. 🖤