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It's odd to be packing up to return to Morocco for the winter, but at the same time be planning what on earth I'm going to say in my talk at the Festival of Writing in York when I come back in April 2010 about 'keeping it real: the balance between fact and fantasy in fiction' - truth is, I've always been drawn to the exotic and the bizarre, and no matter how realistic the fiction I'm writing, it always creeps in somehow. Or just happens to me and manages to sneak in that way. Honestly, some of the research I've been doing for the new novel, set in the 1670s and 80s in the court of Sultan Moulay Ismail, the bloodthirsty ruler of Morocco who was a contemporary of Louis XIV, beggars belief.

Here's a sample: 'Among Ismail's particular treasures were his collection of cats. There were 40 of them, each of which came when he called it by name. He always fed them himself, throwing whole quarters of mutton into their cages. But one animal committed the indiscretion of eating a rabbit in the royal rabbit-warren. 'This Crime,' notes a European visitor to the court 'seem'd to deserve an exemplary Punishment. The King accordingly gave orders that an Executioner should take the Cat, that he should drag it along the Streets of Mequinez, with a Rope about its Neck, scourging it severely, and crying with a loud Voice, Thus my Master uses Knavish Cats, and that then he should cut off its Head, which was executed to a Tittle.' I keep telling my cat she has an easy life; but she just gives me that look cats have. You know the one...

Anyway, the Festival site looks terrific and the organisers have attracted a lot of experts in all fields of writing an publishing, so if you're in the region, and are interested in books, or have a novel up your sleeve, it looks like a great event to attend. Have a look, and start planning your travels:

http://www.festivalofwriting.com/wshop.shtml