I have to admit, one of the most liberating things I’ve found about writing fiction is that the scope for invention sometimes seems limitless. Of course, historical fiction with its clearly defined boundaries can prove tricky – but there’s no reason why these can’t be tinkered with every now and again.  Enter Hayley Lock – imaginaut and artist extraordinaire:http://hayleylock.com/

It’s a rare thing to meet someone with whom you’re instantly on the same page. When I first saw Hayley’s work, which reinterprets portraiture and imagery from the past and creates alternative narratives for them, I got very excited. I got even more excited when we started to discuss (Now That Would Be) Telling, an Arts Council funded project that involved Hayley working with writers in various historic properties throughout the country. The remit was to create a parallel history for a house and/or its inhabitants through words and images.  I was fortunate enough to be chosen to write a piece for Dr Johnson’s House, the modest home of the celebrated 18th century lexicographer, poet, essayist, critic and biographer. Johnson is a tough literary act to follow.

Those who have read about Johnson have probably come across mention of his unconventional household; a motley assortment of strays and suffering intellectuals who that kind soul took in. At one point Johnson played host to a blind bluestocking, a poor Scottish doctor, a former prostitute, a failed school mistress and her daughter, as well as his black servant and ward, Francis Barber. Anyone who has had to put up with difficult house guests is probably wincing in horror at the mere thought of this. Anyhow, this is all good fodder for story telling. I chose Francis Barber as my subject and set about embellishing fact with the golden thread of fiction.  The end product can be read here: http://issuu.com/nowthatwouldbetelling/docs/telling_dr.j?mode=embed&viewMode=presentation&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true&AID=10752329&PID=3662453&SID=skim725X763646X648baf7cc57463fd974ffaaebe97ee01

Next came Hayley’s visual contribution. As my short story masquerades as a chapter in a forgotten 19th century biography about Johnson’s circle, we alighted on the idea of making the installation look as if it were an actual museum exhibition detailing this particular incident in Johnson and Barber’s life. This entailed the creation of several miniature portraits and ‘love tokens’, as well as reproducing the letters which appear in my story. The end result is quite convincing – fact and fiction have been seemlessly woven together, so much so that the house’s curator, Stephanie Chapman felt it necessary to post a word of warning near the display cases!

(Now That Would Be) Telling @ Dr Johnson’s House will be open until the 1st of November, but if you’d like to join us on the night of the 20th of October, Hayley and I will be talking about art, writing and our collaboration. Details can be found on the Dr Johnson’s House website: http://www.drjohnsonshouse.org/

More about the project and installations at Ickworth, Brantwood, and A La Ronde can be read here: http://nowthatwouldbetelling.com/about/

Hayley Lock, Catherine Hemelryk (project curator) and me!

Sitting in front of the computer day after day is one of the hazards of the writing life, which is why it’s really a breath of fresh air to get out and: a.) interact with your lovely readers, and b.) participate in some really stimulating conversation.  I was fortunate enough to have this happen to me today at the Hampstead and Highgate Literature Festival, where I spoke as part of a panel with Alex Von Tunzelmann and James Burge on the the subject of ‘Women and History’.  In the 60 minute slot, I think we managed to cover every aspect of the subject from Heloise d’Argenteuil to Edwina Mountbatten, from ninteenth century historiography to twenty first century TV historians. Quite rousing and quite good fun.

Looking forward to more outings in this autumn, including my talk on Wild Women in History at the Winchester Discovery Centre on the 28th of this month, History in the Court on the 29th, and literary festival events on October 17th  (Manchester), 18th (Guildford),  and November 15th (London History Festival) and 18th (Richmond). 

Hope to see you there!

As one who makes her living by putting words on paper, it may seem strange to admit that blogging never really appealed to me. Confession number two: tweeting never really appealed to me either, but somehow I now find myself in cyberspace, regularly staring at a blank screen and desperately trying to think of witty things to write. This is the way forward. This is the future of publishing. I must have a presence in the digital age. I must. Blog or die.

So, here I am emptying the contents of my head into a public space, albeit cautiously and awkwardly. These are my baby steps, my toe dip into digital babbling.  I suddenly feel very old.

Now that you’ve read my disclaimer, I think it’s reasonable to state that I plan to use this little white box as a responsible adult – which is to say, here you are likely to find a record of what’s currently newsworthy in the microcosm that is my world, rather than my opinions about the riots, phone hacking, conspiracy theories or other larger issues keeping me awake at night. So, it’s best to start with this:

Last month, my most recent book, Mistress of My Fate was launched with many loud huzzahs. Pictures can be seen here, on Transworld’s website:  http://www.between-the-lines.co.uk/?p=1337  And here’s a nifty little preview:

As you will be able to read in the Books section of this site, it’s the first novel in a French Revolution/Napoleonic era series, featuring a female protagonist, Henrietta Lightfoot and her historically accurate adventures. Sadly for some of you, this means she is unlikely to be found swinging from chandeliers with sabres in her teeth. However, there is quite a lot of fast paced fun and some very gory bits about having a woman’s body and attempting to maintain control over it in the 18th century.  I’m currently writing book 2 in the series, The French Lesson, which takes place in Paris circa 1791 – 1793.  Some of you may already have an inkling of what Henrietta’s likely to encounter there…

In the meantime, for those of you who have already read the book, or if you’re just curious and want to learn more about Henrietta and the series, Transworld have created a Henrietta Lightfoot website, which includes everything from 18th century recipes to fun and games:

http://www.henriettalightfoot.co.uk/

During that week of book launch excitement, I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Jenni Murray on Radio 4′s Woman’s Hour. If you missed it, you can listen again, here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012fqn4

And a few great reviews have also appeared. My favourite was in The Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/mistress-of-my-fate-by-hallie-rubenhold-2309808.html

And finally, I can’t not mention Jeff Cotton’s beautiful and informative website, Fictional Cities, on which he has not only reviewed my book but posted a rather quirky interview with me talking about my love affair with Venice:

http://www.fictionalcities.co.uk/venauthors1.htm

Til’ next time!