About

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting Between the Lines which, incredibly, will soon be celebrating its fourth birthday! On this page you’ll find a bit about my past lives. What may (or may not) happen next could be up to you, so do leave any thoughts or comments here, or contact me via email.

I was born and brought up in Dunfermline (made famous by, amongst others, Sir Patrick Spens, Andrew Carnegie, Moira Shearer and  Nazareth) and studied classics at St. Andrews University. After graduating I spent time in Oxford and London before getting married and moving here to Bristol.  Since then my accent has almost worn off, but I remain a Scot at heart, particularly during big sporting moments or when the English language fails to provide a word as vivid as dreich or scunner.

My first career was in university and college libraries until  I found myself mixed up in new technologies, which led to a move into IT Training.  It was around this time (children older but no less demanding) that I realised my ambition to be a writer would never come to pass unless I made a start.

For a while I dabbled with poems and short stories, but it wasn’t until a visit to France in 2003 that I had an idea for a novel and penned (or pencilled) the opening scenes during the ferry crossing home. Luckily I had already met Sarah Duncan, a local writer, whose  ‘How to Write a Novel’ course provided both inspiration and practical advice. When I finally finished A New History of Love, I was thrilled to be a prize-winner in the  A&C Black 2006 First Novel Competition. Since then, I’ve finished novel number two (A Kettle of Fish), had fun with a golf blog and had some success with short stories after all.  I still have other strings to my bow, but I now consider writing to be my career.

In fiction, I think my initial impulse was to ‘write what I know’, but more and more I find myself striking out into unfamiliar territory. My first novel, for instance, begins in a university library but soon heads off to seventeenth century France. The characters with whom I might spend my time range from shady art-dealers, to oddly reclusive mothers and an artist whose life is changed by a scientific discovery.

My third novel is set in Victorian Edinburgh, requiring plenty of research. But the plan remains the same: – uncover the characters,  chisel out the story,  hone it to perfection.

There’s always news of my writing (and reading) on the blog page, or you can find me most days on Facebook (AliB) or Twitter (@AliBacon). Anyone who’d like to share memories of St. Andrews might like to visit my new Alumnus Blog.

Meanwhile, come again, au revoir, or haste ye back!

Ali B.

August 2011