In bed with the Bard

In Common Ground, another 26 book project, 30 writers were asked to explore the way a certain neck of the woods has coloured the work of a literary great. Which prompted chapters on Dickens' Kent, the Rev W Awdry's Wiltshire, Thomas Hardy's Dorset, Paul Abbott's Burnley, and many more.

I'd decided to sit this one out as I had already contributed to the last two 26 books. Besides, I have led such a peripatetic life that I don't feel a strong connection with any particular part of the UK. But, at the eleventh hour, the writer who'd taken on the biggest name of all - William Shakespeare - dropped out. As a denizen of Warwickshire, the editors asked me to step into the breach. Only I had just four weeks to write my chapter.

I came up with a piece of pure fantasy in which Shakespeare is shipwrecked the 21st century and lured back to his home town on the promise of a suggestive email message. This becomes the cue for a tour of the more tacky side of modern-day Stratford, and a tale of mistaken identity, love at first sight and bed-swapping. You can read the full, unabridged chapter - as well as 29 others - in 'Common Ground - Around Britain in 30 Writers'.