IN THIS MOMENT - Gabrielle Meyer - One Free Book
Bio: Gabrielle Meyer has worked for state and local historical societies and loves writingfiction inspired by real people, places, and events. She currently residesalong the banks of the Mississippi River in central Minnesota with her husbandand four children. By day, she���s a busy homeschool mom, and by night she pensfiction and nonfiction filled with hope. Find her online at GabrielleMeyer.com.Full of love, courage, and the agony of choice, Gabrielle Meyer���s Timeless series captivated readingaudiences with its intriguing premise reminiscent of Outlander. Sincethe successful release of book one, When the Day Comes, readers haveclamored for a second installment, and now Meyer delivers on this promise with In This Moment. Featuring aunique twist on time travel that fans of history and romance will adore,Meyer���s brilliantly researched and immersive sophomore novel will keep readerson their toes until the unpredictable but oh-so-satisfying end.
Maggie inherited a gift fromher parents that allows her to live three separate lives in 1861, 1941, and2001. Each night she goes to sleep in one time period and wakes up inanother. Until, that is, she turns twenty-one, when she will have to forfeittwo of those lives���and everyone she knows in them���forever.
With so much on the line, howcan Maggie choose just one life to keep and the rest to lose?
Can youplease tell us a little bit about the plot of your new novel, In This Moment? Maggie is born with a gift she inherited from her parents. She lives,simultaneously, in three different time periods: 1861, 1941, and 2001. Eachnight, she falls asleep and wakes up in the next path, rotating through allthree without any time passing in the other paths while she���s away. In 1861,she���s the daughter of a prominent senator, trying to uncover spies in thenation���s capital. In 1941, she���s a navy nurse, caring for her grieving sisterand wrestling with her knowledge about Pearl Harbor after she���s asked to servethere. And in 2001, she���s a medical student, gaining knowledge that she cannotshare in her pervious paths for fear of changing history. Though she has noplans to fall in love and further complicate her decision, she meets a man ineach path that captures her heart. A mysterious British gentleman working inthe White House, a moody and demanding doctor leading the medical crew to PearlHarbor, and a charming young congressman with big ambitions. She must choosewhich path to keep and which to forfeit by her twenty-first birthday. Animpossible decision to make.
In ThisMoment
is book 2 in your Timeless series. Can you explain the connecting elementbetween these two books? In the first book, Whenthe Day Comes, we meet Libby who is a time-crosser living in 1774 and 1914.She inherited the time-crossing gift, which is accompanied by a sunburstbirthmark on her chest, from her mother. At the end of When the Day Comes,Libby gives birth to Maggie, who not only has the mark on her chest but anotheron the back of her head. The mark on Maggie���s chest sends her forward from 1941to 2001, and the one on the back of her head sends her back from 1941 to 1861.Which means Maggie has three paths instead of two.Eventhough they���re listed in a series, do these books have to be read in order orcan they stand alone? These books standalone and do not need to be read in order. However, book one is full of twistsand turns, with a big surprise ending. Book two reveals these surprises right away,so if the reader would like to read book one without spoilers, they might wantto read it first.
Your protagonist, Maggie, must jugglethree timelines and the unique challenges that they bring. How did you balancewriting three equal and fully-formed storylines? It wasn���t easy!I���m a super-plotter. I never start writing a book until I���ve worked out all theplot points. I spent more time plotting In This Moment than anyother story I���ve written! After a LOT of research, I created three historicaltimelines (1861, 1941, and 2001) next to each other, lining up major events Iwanted to include in the story. Then, I plotted each of Maggie���s paths as threeunique stories, making sure they had all the story-structure elements and linedup with the major historical events. Then, I combined all three on aspreadsheet, each in a different color, adjusting them so that each chapterflowed smoothly into the next. Though Maggie lives three different lives, theyimpact each other every day. After I had all three combined into one story, Icreated a synopsis and detailed characters analysis. After I felt like I had agood handle on the story and the characters, I began to write.
Thesetimelines revolve around major events in history���the outbreak of the Civil War,the attack on Pearl Harbor that initiated the US involvement in WWII, and 9/11. What lead you to choose these specificevents as the backdrop for this story? I���ve alwaysbeen fascinated that the American Civil War took place from 1861���1865 and thatWWII lasted from 1941���1945. The similarities in their years were intriguing tome. Then, on September 11, 2001, when we watched the terrorist attacks and Ithought we were entering another war, it didn���t escape my attention that it hadalso started on a year ending in the number one. When I started to brainstorm InThis Moment and decided that Maggie would have three timelines, and theyeach needed to end with the same number, I knew which ones to choose. 1861,1941, and 2001 were intriguing years to study and write about. It was fun toput Maggie in the midst of all of them.
What wasone of the most interesting things you discovered while researching for thisbook? Therewere so many interesting things to discover as I researched 1861, 1941, and2001. One that instantly stands out to me, though, is what I learned about thehistory of penicillin. Since the late 1920���s, Scottish physician AlexanderFleming had been experimenting and treating patients with penicillin mold, butcould not convince other scientists and doctors of its abilities. Eventually,they began to see the possibilities, but could not mass produce it. In 1941,two scientists came to America to see if the United States government wouldmass produce penicillin. Fearing that their bottles of mold would get lost orstolen, the men smeared the mold inside their pockets to travel to the US!Eventually, they worked out a deal with the USDA Northern Regional ResearchLaboratory in Peoria, Illinois, and penicillin began to be used extensively,especially towards the end of WWII.
Manyreaders have pointed out the rich historical detail that makes this series cometo life on the page. When did your love of history begin? My love of historystarted very early. When I was a little girl, my dad was the caretaker for ahistoric estate on the banks of the Mississippi River in my hometown. I grew upabove the carriage house on the estate and loved living in the shadows of twoVictorian-era mansions. I was also homeschooled, and my mom fostered my love ofhistory. She took me to the local historical society to volunteer at a veryyoung age. I eventually went on to work there, and then in high school, Istarted to work for the Minnesota Historical Society at the Charles A.Lindbergh Historic Site, which is also in my hometown. Along with my work, Iloved reading historical fiction and reading research books for fun. I was notyour typical teenager!
What sparked the idea for a series withsuch a unique concept of time travel? The idea was born one day when I wasthinking about the Outlander books, and other time-traveling stories. Inmost, a character accidentally falls through a portal in time and then races toget back to their ���normal��� life but meets challenges along the way. Eventually,they usually find a reason to love the time period they fell into, and itcauses a conundrum. Which do they choose? It made me wonder: What if someonewas born with two different lives and had to choose between them at acertain age? My mind immediately began to spin with ideas, and the three booksin the Timeless series were born.
What doyou hope readers take away from reading In This Moment? As I wroteMaggie���s story, the theme that kept presenting itself to me is that of faith.Often, we are presented with choices in our life, but don���t know which way togo. Many times, we are required to take a step of faith, hoping and prayingthat we are doing the right thing. In my own life, I���ve realized that when Imake a decision, it should always be made in faith and not in fear. This issomething that Maggie is called to do repeatedly. It is my hope that readers ofIn This Moment will identify with this struggle in Maggie���s lifeand have the courage to take their own steps of faith.
Will there be another book in this series?
Yes. There will be a total of three books in the Timeless Series. Book three will releasein May 2024.
How can readers connect with you? I love hearing from readers! The easiest wayto send me a message is to contact me through my website, www.gabriellemeyer.com. You can alsosign up for my newsletter there. I send it out four to six times a year. Theother way is through social media. I���m most active on Instagram@gabrielle_meyer or on Facebook at Gabrielle Meyer, Author.
Thank you, Gabrielle, for sharing InThis Moment with my blog readers and me. I���m eager to read the book, whichI will do after I meet my next book deadline.
Readers, here���s alink to the book.
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