The dish on Echo in Time
This book was a long time in the making. The first incarnation of Erasing Time was a book called Time Riders I wrote over ten years ago. I won’t go into a lot of detail about that book. I’ll just say it was basically my first draft, and had little if any editing done to it. There are words missing, words misspelled, unclear dialogue and at the climax, Sheridan’s hands are tied, then untied, then tied again. This is the literary equivalent of having your fly way, way down–like pants falling around your ankles down.
I’d planned on writing a sequel, but was so unhappy with the publisher, I decided not to. Poor Sheridan and Taylor have waited a long time for part two of their story. Thanks Harper, for picking up the book and giving it real editing!
Good things about the Echo in Time: I get to play with a time machine! Score! Every author wants to drive one of these around the block.
I got to work on two romance lines instead of just one. Two hot guys. Does it get better than that?
I got to kill people in creative 25th century ways. Not that I’m saying I killed anyone. (Hangs head. Okay. I did. Sorry.)
I get to bring people back to life. I think I should claim this privilege in all my books. I also think I should lend my time machine to JK Rowling so she can save Fred or George–whichever of the twins she killed off. I forget which, but I haven’t forgiven her for it.
Bad things about the book: Changing the Timestream sort of changes the story line in the first book. Readers, I fear, may hate me for this. If you’re one of those readers, you have my permission to pretend it never happened.
Other bad things . . . Did I mention I kill someone off? I sort of regret that now, but I didn’t want to have to rewrite the book to change it. Plus, the death is sort of meaningful, unlike the Fred-or-was-it-George death. I didn’t mind Doby, but the twins? Come on.
If you’re not in AZ, go directly to Amazon and buy it. (It’s out in paperback or ebook)http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E3CV1HW/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1M3F5EKGG9T49FGXS2W5&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1630083502&pf_rd_i=507846
If you’re in AZ, please come to the Echo in Book launch on Jan 7, 7:00 pm at Changing Hands Bookstore
6428 S McClintock Dr
Tempe, AZ 85283
PHONE: 480-730-0205
(If you can’t come on that date, you can buy the book over the phone and have me sign it on that night, then pick it up later.)
See you there!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
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I always forget if it was Fred or George. I also cried when Hedwig died, but I’m a complete sap for animals…
Whenever authors mess with time travel, I always know I’ll have to give them a lot of leeway – changing time always changes other events in the novels, so it’s very tricky. (For example, how come they could use the time turner to save Buckbeak, but not anyone else? I mean, after all, couldn’t they have gone back and saved Harry’s parents?)
Excited to read Echo!
So true. That’s always bothered me.
It was Fred.
From Pottermore, Rowling’s thoughts on time travel:
“I went far too light-heartedly into the subject of time travel in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. While I do not regret it (Prisoner of Azkaban is one of my favourite books in the series), it opened up a vast number of problems for me, because after all, if wizards could go back and undo problems, where were my future plots?
I solved the problem to my own satisfaction in stages. Firstly, I had Dumbledore and Hermione emphasise how dangerous it would be to be seen in the past, to remind the reader that there might be unforeseen and dangerous consequences as well as solutions in time travel. Secondly, I had Hermione give back the only Time-Turner ever to enter Hogwarts. Thirdly, I smashed all remaining Time-Turners during the battle in the Department of Mysteries, removing the possibility of reliving even short periods in the future.
This is just one example of the ways in which, when writing fantasy novels, one must be careful what one invents. For every benefit, there is usually a drawback.”
Ah, poor Fred.
That is the problem with introducing fantasy elements. They can trip you up in so many way–but they’re so fun to read and write about that authors are going to use them anyway. One day I’ll have to do a blog on mistakes in my books.
Happy Book Release Day!! Can’t wait to read it!