The Time Writer and the Notebook

The Time Writer #1

by Alex R. Crawford, Cassandra Medcalf (Narrator)

Beware of doorways through time… and the French.

While on a routine research trip, author Amelia Murray walks through a doorway at an old fort and slips back in time to 1754, leaving her friends and college-aged daughter behind.

Taken hostage by a French military unit, her confiscated notebook, with the dates and locations of battles for a young George Washington, could lead to his early death and the demise for the future United States.

Amelia must escape the French, retrieve her notebook, and save Washington without changing the course of history.
When the door she traveled through won’t exist for another year, where will she find another doorway through time?

How is a modern-day woman going to survive in Colonial America on the brink of war?

The Time Writer and The Notebook is a Historical Time Travel Adventure exploring the beginnings of the French and Indian War through the wit and mindset of a 21st century woman.

Genres: Time Travel, Historical Fiction

Audible Audio

First published August 15, 2022

About the author

Alex R Crawford is the author of The Time Writer, A Historical Time Travel Adventure series. Alex lived in California, Texas, Georgia, Missouri, Virginia, and over six years in Germany with her military husband and daughters. She now calls the history-rich Washington D.C. area home.

Once upon a time, she worked for the United States Federal Government as a writer, copyeditor, social media manager, and webmaster. Prior to working in public affairs, Crawford worked for the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army managing various outreach programs in support of service members and their families. Now, she is a full-time novelist, avid reader, and dog and cat wrangler.

When her nose isn’t in a book or fingers typing away as she snickers at another half-crazed adventure for her characters, she enjoys visiting historical points-of-interest and museums.

Stay in touch! Join Alex’s monthly newsletter for updates on upcoming books, adventures in research, and more shenanigans. Your information is not shared, nor will you be spammed. If you like SPAM®, Alex recommends her favorite SPAM® recipe, SPAM® fried rice.

Visit Alex’s website for information on an exclusive ebook prequel, The Time Writer and The Cloak: https://alexrcrawford.com/newsletter

The Time Writer Series order:
Prequel: The Cloak

Season 1: 1754 - 1755 Colonial Virginia
#1: The Notebook
#2: The March
#3: The Hunt

Season 2: 1690 - Golden Age of Piracy
#4: The Escape
#5: The Chase
#6: The Surrender (Coming Summer 2024)

Season 3: 1840 - 1869 Wagons West (Coming Fall 2024)
#7: The Trail
#8: The Frontier
#9: The Battle

Reviews

[Martine · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 20%
The premise sounded like a fun read, but the story needs editing and someone to review the French translation. Made me hike my shoulders up to my ears...yikes not good

[Jessica Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book. The suspense of Amelia's will to correct her mistake of the lost notebook makes this an exhilarating time-traveling adventure. You will laugh and talk to the characters all while learning about American History. This delightful and entertaining book will make you unable to put it down. I am thrilled to add this book to my library and can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

[Lars · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun romp through a little-explored era of history! The Seven Years' War (known as the French & Indian War in North America) is often overlooked, but it was critical in bringing about the conditions that later led to American independence.

Crawford takes us to the scenes of some of the pivotal moments in that conflict, and lets us see familiar figures from history in a wholly new light. All of this rich detail is leavened with humor, terrific banter between the characters, and even some romance.

Crawford has established herself as an author to watch, and I'm already reading the next book in this series!

[Elizabeth Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I live in Virginia, the main setting. I've visited Fredericksburg a few times and Colonial Williamsburg many times. I was looking forward to exploring these places in the past as well as the years of the French and Indian War, which are rarely visited in fiction. One of the reviews called this novel a "fun romp," which is what I was seeking. Nope. This author either didn't have an editor, had a terrible editor, or ignored her editor. It's full of errors that were like nails on a chalkboard to me. Worst of all, these errors made it into the audiobook. Some grammatical, others just bizarre turns of phrase like the way the heroine referred to her husband's death. Her thought patterns were just "off." She's unexpectedly hurtled through time, and I believe it's weeks before she thinks of her potentially twice-orphaned, college-aged daughter. Not a single "If I never make it back, I'll miss the rest of my daughter's life" or "I hope Hannah will be OK and can move on from my disappearance." The heroine was supposedly a historical novelist, but her knowledge of the past was practically nonexistent. She spent months in the 1700s, but her behavior and speech were relentlessly 21st-century. She didn't even try to blend in, sometimes to her peril, which made me roll my eyes often. And of course she finds a soldier/plantation owner who is not only an English lord (no commoner for this Mary Sue!) but also a feminist and an abolitionist. The supposed heroine was Too Stupid To Live, certainly the stupidest time traveler ever, and the author was just lazy. With so many obvious errors, I couldn't trust a thing she wrote or get lost in the story; I was constantly reminded that this is a 21st-century woman's fantasy with a tiny bit of history sprinkled on top. I needed to spare other readers this mess.

[Kenneth J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable story in all respects. A twenty first century, 40 year old woman is dropped into the 18th century unexpectedly. Of course, her attitudes, clothing and manner of speaking make her stand out like a sore thumb. On top of that she is carrying the notes to a book she is writing about G. Washington and his involvement in the French and Indian war, a very detailed list of the time and places he will be.
Naturally, she is captured by the French and realizes immediately that her notes are so detailed that they could easily change the course of history........ This is not a story about battles, though they do occur. It is a story about her survival in a strange time and place, how she deals with that and how her knowledge of the war allows her to survive.
All of that said, the ending of the book forces her to re-think what exactly has happened and what is yet to come.....

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Time Writer and The Notebook

Writing about George Washington needs more research. During which Amelia suddenly went to the past. Met young George and captain Lord Henry Spencer that she fell in love with but was suddenly back to the future.

[Joni Swift · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun book where a spunky, middle aged 21st century woman meets 18th century society in, shall we say, less than ideal conditions. It was a fun read and I can't wait to dive into The Time Writer and The March to see what happens next!!

[Ms F Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absorbing, rollicking good read

If you want to get lost in a book, this is for you.
I can't wait for the next instalment.

[Suz Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main character, Amelia Murray falls back in time to 1754, right before the French and Indian War. She gets wrapped up in some historical shenanigans with the bad guys. She’s rescued by a British soldier and there are more historical shenanigans and maybe some sparks fly.

The story is interesting, but not incredibly suspenseful or engaging. And the same is true for the characters. The writing is ordinary and in need of a good editor to eliminate repetitious word use. For example, “We sat there like sitting ducks.”

The audiobook should have been more carefully “proofread” I cringed when the narrator spoke the word “exasperated” instead of “exacerbated.” At first I wasn’t sure if this was a written mistake or a narrator mistake. But it happened again a few chapters later so it was clearly the narrator.

It annoyed me that the main character constantly swore and used idioms that people in 1754 never would have understood.

I don’t know if I’ll be continuing this series. (I’m rounding this up to 4 stars, but my rating is really 3.5.)

[John Fockler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Worthy Read

I almost left this one unfinished. I've read quite a few time travel stories in my time, and while the particular historical milieu was not one I had visited in other novels, the general theme seemed quite familiar. The main reason I almost left is that I felt that the story moved rather slowly over the first quarter or so of the book. I stuck with it, and the pace of the story picked up quite nicely. The protagonist and her main companion in 1754 British America both flesh out into well-rounded characters that I came to care about. All in all, an enjoyable novel, and one that does leave me curious to learn what happens next.

[Herb Williams-Dalgart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun romp through time with the help of an excellent writer! Alex R. Crawford take us on a journey back to the 18th century, following the adventures of Amelia Murray, a fun, snarky widow and mother whose life in the current time is in a rut. Needless to say, her adventure--and the misadventures that ensue--bring out the best and worst in her, and it's a delight to follow the whole way through. The audiobook is made all the more wonderful, through the voice of Cassandra Medcalf who perfectly captures the tone and attitude of this wonderful protagonist.

[Ian Bannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was totally encapsulated by this wonderful story. The narrator did a wonderful job in bringing the characters to life, to point I forgot I was listening to an audio book. This is the second book in the series I have listened to and have already bought the next one. The author has written a well crafted story with very engaging characters. I highly recommend this.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this one up at a local comic con as it caught my eye. Time travel stories are definitely a favorite genre. :)

This one didn't disappoint. It was fun, adventurous, and a little quirky. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of modern sensibilities with history. This was also a creative story and engaging narrator, so I was able to really dig into it.

[Cheryl Lyons · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slow with no point

Too much history and not enough story. Going back two hundred sixty years should be more exciting. Story line was weak.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could definitely use a good, thorough edit, but nevertheless a fun read.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good time travel book with history.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.