Welcome to Temporal Affairs

Hello, and welcome to my blog. I’d like to use this forum to set out what ‘Temporal Affairs’ is all about. First of all, maybe I should tell you what it is not. ‘Temporal Affairs’ is not “hard” science fiction. The two fathers of modern science fiction, Jules Verne and H. G. Wells established a dichotomy from the dawn of the genre. Jules Verne wrote speculative stories based upon what was known about science and technology and projected it into the future, often achieving startlingly accurate predictions of technology decades beyond the era he wrote in. H.G. Wells, by contrast, seemed to start his stories with the question “what if?” and proceeded to tell his tales without undue contemplation of their scientific plausibility. I, as a lifelong science fiction fan, have always felt that the best sci-fi stories start with “what if?” Perhaps there should be a genre called “science fantasy.” If such a classification existed, ‘Temporal Affairs’ would comfortably fit that tag.

Being the author of a time travel adventure, perhaps it’s no surprise that I’m in the Wells camp. Having chosen to write a story with this subject matter, I was acutely aware of the various clichés that have grown up around time travel tales, and set out to avoid them in my own story. So, there will be no going into the past and changing history, no casually running into famous historical figures (or worse, helping them achieve what they are famous for), and no meeting oneself. Basically, I had to rewrite the laws of time travel for my own story purposes. I also felt that it was important to acknowledge that a lot of historical episodes are really quite horrible, so don’t expect something like “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”

So to get back to my original point (sorry for the long-windedness, by the way), I have striven to make ‘Temporal Affairs’ a slightly offbeat adventure story populated with an expanding cast of relatable male and female characters that avoids or gently winks at the clichés of time travel and young adult fiction in general and provides the occasional (hopefully) pithy observations on life, the universe, and everything. There will be adventure, laughs, and yes, romance, but don’t go in expecting stories of torrid affairs and obsessive love. (Fans of supernatural and fantasy romance: sorry if I misled you with the title.) Some serious drama and tragedy will also await you in the pages of my books, and the story will take some dark turns. Characters will be introduced and reintroduced in surprising new contexts. It will be a grand ride by the time it’s over, and I invite you to take the ride along with my two main protagonists, Tony Marco and Caroline Montano. Prepare for jump!