For something completely different, check out The War of the Worlds – In Real Time, which is a collaborative project I’m involved in.

 126 years ago, humanity faced the greatest threat to its existence with the Martian invasion.

Recreated through the diaries, newspapers, and photographs of the time, and with the assistance of H.G. Wells’ seminal work (The War of the Worlds), The War of the Worlds in Real Time will tell the story of what really happened during that crucial month in June 1897 when the Earth stood on the precipice, and civilization teetered on the edge of extinction.

Follow the drama throughout the month of June 2023, tweet by tweet at https://twitter.com/1897WotW (@1897WotW) or post by post at http://wotw.name or https://haguepublishing.com/wotw

The War of the Worlds in Real Time is a fictionalised docudrama by: Michael Cnudde, Andrew J. Harvey, Leonie Rogers, Ken Vickery, and H.G. Wells – based on the documents and diaries of those involved in the Martian War.

The addition of new characters by Cnudde, Harvey, Rogers, and Vickery to the world of HG Wells has enabled a deeper dive into the times, mores, customs, and technologies of 1897, that even without the Martians would have turned the entire world on its head over the next 10 years.

The docudrama acknowledges the support offered by Australia’s ‘Hague Publishing’ (established in 2011 to publish original Speculative Fiction by Australian and New Zealand authors), and Britain’s ‘Sea Lion Press’ (established in 2015 as the world’s first publishing house dedicated to alternate history).

My character is:

 Antoinette Louise Clark

 Antoinette (Toni to her friends), or as we now know her, Dame Antoinette Louise Clark, GCVO, was a contemporary of the brother of the renowned HG Wells himself.

In 1897 Toni was a young female medical student – one of the first of her era. She was heavily influenced by Grace Harwood Stewart, one of the first female doctors, and Millicent Fawcett, a noted suffragist.

Her experiences during the Martian Invasion shaped her service, and she continued to work with those most in need, particularly the poor, elderly, and infirm of London, as it recovered from the disaster.

In May 1897 Toni had been challenged by Wells’ brother, to keep a diary entirely in ‘telegram style’ for a month. Despite the challenges, she kept the style throughout the Martian invasion. For ease of understanding by the modern reader, since words such as Naloopen, or Empanel, are not in current usage her diary entries have been translated to current ‘text/tweet’ speak, for which telegram style was a forerunner.