We continue our 3-way conversation with time travel authors, Laura Vosika, Angela Rose and myself, Dennis Higgins.
Who
is your favorite time travel author?
DENNIS:
As I said in Part 1, Richard Matheson and Jack Finney.
LAURA:
I also really liked Jack Finney's time travel novels. I think maybe my all time
favorite is Michael Creighton's Timeline. I particularly like that he
gives a very realistic portrayal of the time. We see the researchers enamored of
the romance of the time, and then we see the brutality of the time close up. We
also see that question answered, both in the character who has become trapped in
the past and the character who chooses to stay: what do they become, living in a
very different set of circumstances?
DENNIS:
I am also a Michael Creighton fan. Timeline was brilliant.
ANGELA:
The aforementioned…..Melissa Mayhue and Veronica Wolff.
What kind of research did you do on time travel?
DENNIS:
All of the time travel in my stories comes from my imagination. What I did have
to research was the subject matter of my books. In other words, I had to
research the various time periods. In order to write Parallel Roads (Lost on
Route 66), I actually travelled a good portion of the decommissioned, yet
historic route. That book was set in the present as well as 1946, so I had to
research life in that one particular year for events, attitudes and speech
patterns. Some of this just comes to me and I’m not sure why. I’m not a huge
believer in the supernatural, but often I feel like I channel the time periods,
somehow.
LAURA:
I've done a bit of research both on time travel in literature--the history of
authors using time travel, and the methods they use--and a bit of research on
scientific looks into the possibilities. There are scientists who take it quite
seriously and have some ideas about how it could be done. I also did a fair
amount of reading on a phenomena known as time slips, in which--at least if the
stories aren't hoaxes--there are those who believe they've accidentally slipped
into the past.
ANGELA:
I prefer it when people travel into the past rather than to the future.
Although, I do enjoy a bit of both. I always do an extensive search of the time
period my hero or heroine is traveling too. I love using stories that are based
on true facts as inspiration.
DENNIS:
I have read about people experiencing time slips with keen interest. I have a
friend who swears he experienced it. I also prefer the past, Angela. There just
seems to be more romance and intrigue there.
LAURA:
Angela, I also prefer the past for my 'time travel experiences.' I think it's
because I'm curious about actual events, and how they affected
people.
What is the mode of travel in your novels?
DENNIS:
My answer is a little bit unique on this one. There are multiple components to
being able to travel in time in my novels. First, a person has to be born with
the God-given ability, but then they must know the secret, which is contained in
the simple element of water. The water that is all around us and within us every
day, is the same water that has existed in every time period since the Earth was
formed. It is the conduit to every possible time period. So it is the same
water as my character’s Kevin and Cheryl encounter down Route 66 in 1946, or
Katya and Cyrus encounter during the great Chicago Fire of 1871 and even the
Kennedy assassination of 1963. One could say that when Shawn Kleiner found
himself in the world of medieval Scotland from your Blue Bells
Chronicles, Laura, the same water was present as in the modern Lock Ness.
That same water existed in the time period in which James came to Robin Summers,
via Zahir the Genie in All Bottled Up in your story, Angela. I am not
saying this was Shaun and James’s mode of transportation, just that the same
water was in all these time periods. But it is water, along with concentration
that my character’s use as their main mode of travel.
LAURA:
Fascinating theory! To an extent, I used something similar--the idea that Shawn
and Niall switch when they are both in a castle that existed both then and now.
Of course, that's not the only time they switch. They also cross between time
when a re-enactment of a historic battle (Bannockburn) occurs at the same date
and place as the historic battle. The real answer, though, seems to be that the
time switches only happen when Shawn and Niall are in those locations together,
on the same dates. So as not to give away spoilers, I'll only say that the
answer, for them, seems to involve a particular item and an ancient prophecy.
But I leave it to the reader to decide, is it time travel that they can
control, or is it the work of more powerful forces?
ANGELA:
So far it’s been a genie’s bottle, ancient books or journals.
DENNIS:
I love all of these modes of travel. Truly fascinating.
Do you think in future works (no pun intended) you might use a different method?
DENNIS:
Sure, it’s possible. I don’t like to limit myself.
ANGELA:
Absolutely! That’s what I love about time travel, uncovering different portals to the past!
LAURA:
I'd have to agree. Anything is possible. When I finish The Blue Bells
Chronicles (which I expect to conclude with the fifth book), I'll be getting
back to another Work In Progress, tentatively titled The Castle of Dromore.
Like The Blue Bells Chronicles, it's a story of modern and medieval
Scotland, of past and present touching one another. But it's more via haunting
and visions, than actual time travel.
DENNIS:
The Castle of Dromore sounds fascinating.
LAURA:
Thanks, Dennis! I'm looking forward to getting back to it!
is your favorite time travel author?
DENNIS:
As I said in Part 1, Richard Matheson and Jack Finney.
LAURA:
I also really liked Jack Finney's time travel novels. I think maybe my all time
favorite is Michael Creighton's Timeline. I particularly like that he
gives a very realistic portrayal of the time. We see the researchers enamored of
the romance of the time, and then we see the brutality of the time close up. We
also see that question answered, both in the character who has become trapped in
the past and the character who chooses to stay: what do they become, living in a
very different set of circumstances?
DENNIS:
I am also a Michael Creighton fan. Timeline was brilliant.
ANGELA:
The aforementioned…..Melissa Mayhue and Veronica Wolff.
What kind of research did you do on time travel?
DENNIS:
All of the time travel in my stories comes from my imagination. What I did have
to research was the subject matter of my books. In other words, I had to
research the various time periods. In order to write Parallel Roads (Lost on
Route 66), I actually travelled a good portion of the decommissioned, yet
historic route. That book was set in the present as well as 1946, so I had to
research life in that one particular year for events, attitudes and speech
patterns. Some of this just comes to me and I’m not sure why. I’m not a huge
believer in the supernatural, but often I feel like I channel the time periods,
somehow.
LAURA:
I've done a bit of research both on time travel in literature--the history of
authors using time travel, and the methods they use--and a bit of research on
scientific looks into the possibilities. There are scientists who take it quite
seriously and have some ideas about how it could be done. I also did a fair
amount of reading on a phenomena known as time slips, in which--at least if the
stories aren't hoaxes--there are those who believe they've accidentally slipped
into the past.
ANGELA:
I prefer it when people travel into the past rather than to the future.
Although, I do enjoy a bit of both. I always do an extensive search of the time
period my hero or heroine is traveling too. I love using stories that are based
on true facts as inspiration.
DENNIS:
I have read about people experiencing time slips with keen interest. I have a
friend who swears he experienced it. I also prefer the past, Angela. There just
seems to be more romance and intrigue there.
LAURA:
Angela, I also prefer the past for my 'time travel experiences.' I think it's
because I'm curious about actual events, and how they affected
people.
What is the mode of travel in your novels?
DENNIS:
My answer is a little bit unique on this one. There are multiple components to
being able to travel in time in my novels. First, a person has to be born with
the God-given ability, but then they must know the secret, which is contained in
the simple element of water. The water that is all around us and within us every
day, is the same water that has existed in every time period since the Earth was
formed. It is the conduit to every possible time period. So it is the same
water as my character’s Kevin and Cheryl encounter down Route 66 in 1946, or
Katya and Cyrus encounter during the great Chicago Fire of 1871 and even the
Kennedy assassination of 1963. One could say that when Shawn Kleiner found
himself in the world of medieval Scotland from your Blue Bells
Chronicles, Laura, the same water was present as in the modern Lock Ness.
That same water existed in the time period in which James came to Robin Summers,
via Zahir the Genie in All Bottled Up in your story, Angela. I am not
saying this was Shaun and James’s mode of transportation, just that the same
water was in all these time periods. But it is water, along with concentration
that my character’s use as their main mode of travel.
LAURA:
Fascinating theory! To an extent, I used something similar--the idea that Shawn
and Niall switch when they are both in a castle that existed both then and now.
Of course, that's not the only time they switch. They also cross between time
when a re-enactment of a historic battle (Bannockburn) occurs at the same date
and place as the historic battle. The real answer, though, seems to be that the
time switches only happen when Shawn and Niall are in those locations together,
on the same dates. So as not to give away spoilers, I'll only say that the
answer, for them, seems to involve a particular item and an ancient prophecy.
But I leave it to the reader to decide, is it time travel that they can
control, or is it the work of more powerful forces?
ANGELA:
So far it’s been a genie’s bottle, ancient books or journals.
DENNIS:
I love all of these modes of travel. Truly fascinating.
Do you think in future works (no pun intended) you might use a different method?
DENNIS:
Sure, it’s possible. I don’t like to limit myself.
ANGELA:
Absolutely! That’s what I love about time travel, uncovering different portals to the past!
LAURA:
I'd have to agree. Anything is possible. When I finish The Blue Bells
Chronicles (which I expect to conclude with the fifth book), I'll be getting
back to another Work In Progress, tentatively titled The Castle of Dromore.
Like The Blue Bells Chronicles, it's a story of modern and medieval
Scotland, of past and present touching one another. But it's more via haunting
and visions, than actual time travel.
DENNIS:
The Castle of Dromore sounds fascinating.
LAURA:
Thanks, Dennis! I'm looking forward to getting back to it!
Here are links to Laura Vosika's first three books in the Blue Bell Chronicles:
Come back to Part 3 for more questions answered about our time travel characters. There will also be links to Angela Rose's wonderful books.
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