Today I’m giving an update on one of my latest projects:

This graphic novel is a fictionalized biography of the forgotten mother of Gothic fiction, 18th century author Ann Radcliffe. The details of her life are nearly undocumented due to her secluded lifestyle. In this alternative history narrative, Ann’s sensational and tragic tales of women abused and tormented by a brutal patriarchal society become the coded blueprints for her secret rescue operations.

Swapping genders, identities and faces, Ann travels throughout the war-torn world of the late 1700s. The calls of women in distress bring Ann from the bandit-riddled mountains of Northern Italy, to haunted castles, to revolutionary France during the Reign of Terror.

 Although often disguised as a man, she uses distinctly feminine channels to transmit her coded communications. Her secret international network consists of unassuming haberdashery shops placed in strategic hotspots. Her male adversaries are unlikely to detect hidden messages in children’s toys, ladies’ jewelry, ornate lace designs, embroidered handkerchiefs, perfume bottles, and bonnet ribbons.

Her unique skills with both the rapier and the sewing needle make her exceptionally qualified for her chosen mission in life –  to save, avenge and empower women.

Listen to a recording of the first two pages of the script here: