Our exciting conversation about time travel will be given in three (3) parts, over all three of our blogs.
What drew you to time travel?
DENNIS:
Ever since I was a child in Chicago I was drawn to things of old. There was a local TV show on Sunday afternoons called Family Classics, where they would show classic movies. One such movie was the George Pal’s 1960 production of HG
Wells’, The Time Machine, starring Rod Taylor. This movie got into my soul somehow.
LAURA:
I suspect living in Germany early on, visiting castles and ruins in Europe at such a young age, and later, many of the historic sites on our own East Coast, may have drawn me, likewise, to things of old, to thinking about the stories,
the people, the times.
What continues to draw me to time travel, I think, is the interesting question of who we would have been, had we been born into different circumstances. In other words, how much do our surroundings affect who we are? Who would each of us be--and how different--had we been born into the decadence of the last days of the Roman Empire, or by contrast, into a Puritan family in the late 1500s?
DENNIS:
Ah yes, the “what ifs”. I like those thoughts as well. I also have a love for castles.
ANGELA:
I think what draws me towards time travel is the historical elements. However, I didn’t realize what a time travel lover I was until I started reading Melissa Mayhue’s Daughters of the Glen Series. It mixed my two favorite things….time
travel and Scotland! Looking back even my television choices were indicative of my love for time travel without me ever realizing it.
DENNIS:
Yes, I believe the historical elements are what our readers love about our books as well.
I have a follow-up question:
Do you write what happens in the past affects the future?
DENNIS:
For me, I absolutely do, sort of the whole butterfly effect thing.
LAURA:
Me, too. This really comes out in Books 4 and 5 of The Blue Bells Chronicles, as Shawn becomes aware of things that no longer exist, because of his and Niall's actions.
What books inspired you?
DENNIS:
Again it starts with the movies. I first saw Somewhere in Time starring Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve back in the 1980s and I fell in love with the romance and concept the author used. I had to read the book, which originally
was titled, Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson. I discovered that he in turn had been influenced by an author named Jack Finney who wrote many great time travel books. These two authors were my main influences.
LAURA:
I loved Somewhere in Time. And it's a little bit of a thrill to have visited the hotel on Mackinac Island where it was filmed. I like Jack Finney's novels, too, but I only read and saw those later. My first memory of time travel in books is of the book In the Keep of Time, by Margaret J. Anderson, which tells the story of four siblings who go into a Scottish tower--a keep--and come out in medieval Scotland. (Sound familiar?) I was also particularly drawn to the story of a girl who is drawn into the past when she looks into mirrors (unfortunately, I can't remember the title or author), and Time for Andrew,
by Mary Downing Hahn, about a boy, Andrew, who goes into his great aunt's attic and there, trades places with his great-great uncle and look-alike, Drew.
ANGELA:
I decided I wanted to write time travel after reading Veronica Wolff’s time travel series. It was a mixture of historical romance with a bit of fantasy. Loved them!
DENNIS:
Those stories sound awesome. Laura. I wonder if the title of the one you spoke of is Mirror Mirror, which has that element in it.
DENNIS:
Ever since I was a child in Chicago I was drawn to things of old. There was a local TV show on Sunday afternoons called Family Classics, where they would show classic movies. One such movie was the George Pal’s 1960 production of HG
Wells’, The Time Machine, starring Rod Taylor. This movie got into my soul somehow.
LAURA:
I suspect living in Germany early on, visiting castles and ruins in Europe at such a young age, and later, many of the historic sites on our own East Coast, may have drawn me, likewise, to things of old, to thinking about the stories,
the people, the times.
What continues to draw me to time travel, I think, is the interesting question of who we would have been, had we been born into different circumstances. In other words, how much do our surroundings affect who we are? Who would each of us be--and how different--had we been born into the decadence of the last days of the Roman Empire, or by contrast, into a Puritan family in the late 1500s?
DENNIS:
Ah yes, the “what ifs”. I like those thoughts as well. I also have a love for castles.
ANGELA:
I think what draws me towards time travel is the historical elements. However, I didn’t realize what a time travel lover I was until I started reading Melissa Mayhue’s Daughters of the Glen Series. It mixed my two favorite things….time
travel and Scotland! Looking back even my television choices were indicative of my love for time travel without me ever realizing it.
DENNIS:
Yes, I believe the historical elements are what our readers love about our books as well.
I have a follow-up question:
Do you write what happens in the past affects the future?
DENNIS:
For me, I absolutely do, sort of the whole butterfly effect thing.
LAURA:
Me, too. This really comes out in Books 4 and 5 of The Blue Bells Chronicles, as Shawn becomes aware of things that no longer exist, because of his and Niall's actions.
What books inspired you?
DENNIS:
Again it starts with the movies. I first saw Somewhere in Time starring Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve back in the 1980s and I fell in love with the romance and concept the author used. I had to read the book, which originally
was titled, Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson. I discovered that he in turn had been influenced by an author named Jack Finney who wrote many great time travel books. These two authors were my main influences.
LAURA:
I loved Somewhere in Time. And it's a little bit of a thrill to have visited the hotel on Mackinac Island where it was filmed. I like Jack Finney's novels, too, but I only read and saw those later. My first memory of time travel in books is of the book In the Keep of Time, by Margaret J. Anderson, which tells the story of four siblings who go into a Scottish tower--a keep--and come out in medieval Scotland. (Sound familiar?) I was also particularly drawn to the story of a girl who is drawn into the past when she looks into mirrors (unfortunately, I can't remember the title or author), and Time for Andrew,
by Mary Downing Hahn, about a boy, Andrew, who goes into his great aunt's attic and there, trades places with his great-great uncle and look-alike, Drew.
ANGELA:
I decided I wanted to write time travel after reading Veronica Wolff’s time travel series. It was a mixture of historical romance with a bit of fantasy. Loved them!
DENNIS:
Those stories sound awesome. Laura. I wonder if the title of the one you spoke of is Mirror Mirror, which has that element in it.
About the Authors:
Laura Vosika grew up in the military, visiting salt mines,
castles in Europe, and the historic sites of America’s East Coast. In addition
to writing, she has worked as a freelance musician and teaches private music
lessons. She is the mother of nine children.
Angela Rose loves reading, writing, history, romance and all things Scottish!
She is a member of Romance Writers of America, as well as its local chapter the
Heart of Carolina and the Triangle Writer’s Group, both located in Raleigh, NC.
All Bottled Up is her first time travel/romance. Look for her next book, a full-length
Time Travel/Romance, Once Upon A Highlander coming soon.
Dennis Higgins is world traveler and distant relative of Davy Crockett. A native
of Chicago, Illinois, he has always possessed a romance with things of the past that are
"gone but not forgotten". He now lives in the suburbs with his lovely wife, two dogs and three
birds.
Among his influences are: Richard Matheson, Jack Finney, Dean Koontz, Joan Wester Anderson,
Peter S. Beagle and Audrey Neffenegger . The Time Pilgrims series is exciting and is treasured
and loved by young adult, new adult as well as adults.
castles in Europe, and the historic sites of America’s East Coast. In addition
to writing, she has worked as a freelance musician and teaches private music
lessons. She is the mother of nine children.
Angela Rose loves reading, writing, history, romance and all things Scottish!
She is a member of Romance Writers of America, as well as its local chapter the
Heart of Carolina and the Triangle Writer’s Group, both located in Raleigh, NC.
All Bottled Up is her first time travel/romance. Look for her next book, a full-length
Time Travel/Romance, Once Upon A Highlander coming soon.
Dennis Higgins is world traveler and distant relative of Davy Crockett. A native
of Chicago, Illinois, he has always possessed a romance with things of the past that are
"gone but not forgotten". He now lives in the suburbs with his lovely wife, two dogs and three
birds.
Among his influences are: Richard Matheson, Jack Finney, Dean Koontz, Joan Wester Anderson,
Peter S. Beagle and Audrey Neffenegger . The Time Pilgrims series is exciting and is treasured
and loved by young adult, new adult as well as adults.
RSS Feed
