Simon Rose's Blog, page 12
May 5, 2025
What’s it all about? An excerpt from The Time Traveler’s Guide
Chapter One: What is time travel?
Time travel is defined as taking place when there is movement between specific points in time. This is achieved in the same way that objects and living things move through space. In fiction, this kind of travel is made possible by the use of a time machine, device, or method. While nothing is carved in stone, I tend to think that time travel involving machinery or some kind of technology should be defined as science fiction while time travel that makes use of magic or similar methods is probably best classified as fantasy. However, these genres frequently overlap, particularly with time travel stories.
Over the years, novels, movies, and TV shows featuring time travel have included methods involving highly sophisticated machinery, scientific laboratories, various items of jewelry, wearable technology, vehicles, ancient artifacts, books, portals and doorways, dreaming, food and drink, and so many more. Time travel stories have featured journeys to the past, the future, and to alternative timelines created when previous events were changed so that they occurred differently, thus affecting what happened next in various different ways. Time travel has long been a theme in books, short stories, TV shows, and movies and shows no signs of declining in popularity anytime soon, although of course only time will tell.
A common theme in time travel tales involves someone being sent into the past by accident. When they arrive at an earlier point in history, the device or machine is somehow broken, fails to operate properly, runs out of power, is misplaced, or is stolen by the story’s villain. The reader is thus left in suspense, wondering if the heroes will be able to return safely to their own time. Of course, the reader most likely believes that the heroes will eventually escape from danger. However, the plot still has to imply that the lead characters might be marooned in the past permanently or that their lives are in jeopardy. In my time travel novels, the main characters always face serious challenges from the moment that they appear to be trapped in a dangerous historical era.
Some time travel stories simply feature an adventure in a different period in order for the characters to experience what life was like. Perhaps the character discovers an old piece of jewelry that sends them back in time when they wear it or adjust it some way. The characters then witness historical events or meet famous people. Many time travel stories concern the consequences of traveling either backward or forward through time. The idea of changing the past, either intentionally or by accident, is a common theme in science fiction and fantasy. When events that have already taken place are altered in some way, what the time traveler knew as the present day has changed when they return home. This might lead to a further adventure to restore things to what’s perceived as normal, depending on the nature of the alterations to the timeline. As you’re probably thinking already, time travel can sometimes be very complicated but the creators of these kinds of stories are aware of the potential issues at the outset and work hard to make their story entertaining, plausible, and realistic. Some stories in the genre concentrate on the paradoxes involved in time travel, such as the well-known grandfather paradox. This is when the time traveler is responsible for the death of his or her own grandfather, meaning that the traveler was never born. If this is the case then how could they have gone back in time to cause their grandfather’s death in the first place? Time travel has lots of issues like this, some of which I examine in Chapter Nine.
Time travel stories involving journeys into the past overlap with the genre of historical fiction. This kind of fiction involves stories that are set in the past. There are no firm rules, but the setting is usually at least fifty years earlier than when the story is written. The setting is a particular period in history and often includes real historical personalities. The story’s main characters are usually fictional, although the social and other conditions of the time are presented accurately. Historical fiction stories usually take place during a significant period in history. In some stories the characters are part of the events taking place but in others the events merely serve as the background to the story. In The Sorcerer’s Letterbox, the story takes place in 1483 and features the aftermath of the Wars of the Roses and the mystery of Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, known as the Princes in the Tower. The princes appear in the story, as does their uncle, King Richard III, along with some other historical characters. In The Heretic’s Tomb, the story takes place during the period of the Black Death in England in the mid fourteenth century. The novel features imaginary characters but also refers to the effects of the Black Death on society, medieval medicine, and living conditions, and to some of the personalities and events of the era. In The Alchemist’s Portrait, Matthew’s time travel adventures take him to Amsterdam in 1666, the French Revolution in 1792, the American Civil War in 1865, and the Russian Revolution in 1917, all of which needed to be portrayed accurately. The Doomsday Mask has scenes that take place in Berlin in May 1945 and the characters needed to fit into that world. In Flashback, Max finds himself in the mid 1990s, not too long ago perhaps, but he still needed to inhabit an environment that’s correctly portrayed. Next, we’ll look at some of the many time travel stories that have appeared in printed form and on screen over the years.
The Time Traveler’s Guide is available as an ebook and as a paperback on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Smashwords and many other locations.
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May 3, 2025
Writing Fiction for Children and Youth – University of Calgary
My online course Writing Fiction for Children and Youth will be running online in May and June at the University of Calgary.
Writing for children and youth is a rich and vibrant global market. The focus is on writing fiction for readers aged 8 to 12 years. Students examine the writing process from initial concept to finished work including turning ideas into stories, story structure, developing characters, creating outlines, and the importance of editing and revision.
Registration is available here at the University of Calgary.
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May 2, 2025
Where Do Ideas Come From?
I’m honoured to now be a Contributing Editor at Write By The Sea, where you’ll find all sorts of helpful resources for writers with new materials added to the library regularly.
The latest post is all about where ideas come from. This is also an excerpt from my book The Children’s Writer’s Guide, and you can learn more about the post here.
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April 30, 2025
Writing Historical Fiction – Alexandra Writers’ Centre
6 Weeks | Wednesdays | Begins May 7, 2025 | 1pm-3pm MT
Historical fiction combines the events of the past with characters and stories from the writer’s imagination. This course examines the art of writing historical fiction and the need to fully immerse yourself in a particular time period to make your storytelling more believable. Learn how to write effective, authentic and appealing historical fiction and how to turn your ideas into compelling stories. Understand what defines historical fiction and different historical time periods, create believable settings and plausible characters and learn how research plays a crucial role in the creation of your novel.
The course involves assignments, discussions, and writing exercises, and also deals with aspects of the writing process.
This class takes place in person at the Alexandra Writers’ Centre in Calgary. Register at https://www.alexandrawriters.org/stor...
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April 28, 2025
Writing Fiction for Children and Youth – University of Calgary
My online course Writing Fiction for Children and Youth will be running online in May and June at the University of Calgary.
Writing for children and youth is a rich and vibrant global market. The focus is on writing fiction for readers aged 8 to 12 years. Students examine the writing process from initial concept to finished work including turning ideas into stories, story structure, developing characters, creating outlines, and the importance of editing and revision.
Registration is available here at the University of Calgary.
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April 27, 2025
Calgary Expo 2025 – Day Four
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April 26, 2025
Calgary Expo 2025 – Day Three
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April 25, 2025
Create Something From Nothing
I’m honoured to now be a Contributing Editor at Write By The Sea, where you’ll find all sorts of helpful resources for writers with new materials added to the library regularly.
The latest post is all about getting inspiration from daily life. This is also an excerpt from my book The Children’s Writer’s Guide, and you can learn more about the post at https://www.writebythesea.com/create-...
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Calgary Expo 2025 – Day Two
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April 24, 2025
Calgary Expo 2025 – Day One
Today I’ll be at the Calgary Expo, taking place at Stampede Park on April 24, 25, 26, and 27. Please stop by and visit my table in booth A257, where I’ll be signing copies of all my books. Hope to see you there.An Untimely Death – The Stone of the Seer – Royal Blood – Revenge of the Witchfinder – Shadowzone – Into The Web – Black Dawn – Parallel Destiny – Twisted Fate – Future Imperfect – Flashback – The Sphere of Septimus – The Time Camera – The Doomsday Mask – The Heretic’s Tomb – The Emerald Curse – The Clone Conspiracy – The Sorcerer’s Letterbox – The Alchemist’s PortraitThe post Calgary Expo 2025 – Day One appeared first on Simon Rose.
