Strange and Curious Dispatches from Two Reluctant Time Travellers
When I’m not writing stories about The Time Travel Diaries of James Urquhart and Elizabeth Bicester, I often find myself returning to James and Elizabeth in other ways.
My Substack gives me the freedom to record new ideas, revisit particularly enjoyable moments from the diaries, explore alternative versions of events, and reflect on how James and Elizabeth cope with each other’s very different worlds.
It also allows me to step away from the constraints of plot. Not every observation, conversation or small domestic disaster needs to involve saving the world. Sometimes it is enough to discover what Elizabeth thinks of a modern supermarket, how James manages at a Victorian dinner party, or what happens when either of them attempts to explain the other’s century.
Many of these shorter pieces I publish on my Time Travel Diaries Substack,
Their adventures have involved Martians, alternative timelines, mysterious caverns beneath ruined castles, improbable scientific devices and the occasional appearance of Mr H. G. Wells.
Experience has shown, however, that none of these is quite as hazardous as Victorian etiquette, modern technology or allowing James to explain anything without interruption.
What you will find on the Substack
The Substack contains humorous pieces inspired by the world of The Time Travel Diaries, including:
- diary extracts from James and Elizabeth;
- observations on Victorian life and manners;
- strange history and improbable science;
- reflections on time travel, artificial intelligence and free will;
- extracts and scenes connected with the novels;
- occasional pieces that have escaped from the books altogether.
Some posts are written in the voices of James or Elizabeth. Others explore ideas that appear in their adventures, from Martian civilisation and nineteenth-century science to the consequences of trusting machines to make our decisions for us.
Visit the Substack
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—Bruce Macfarlane
Author of The Time Travel Diaries of James Urquhart and Elizabeth Bicester