AN EXTENDED JOURNEY (September 2013

[Paul]

Lincoln wrote: "The End...or a blessed new beginning...A true Revolution. I think this book should be read in every high school in America... Furthermore, I am curious if Paul has continued writing so that we can continue living in this newly established timeline. ..."

Wow. Thank you so much, Lincoln. Much appreciated! I'm writing stories set (mostly) in two different centuries now, but I'm also missing the eighteenth and would love to visit again, perhaps with old friends. I'm "taking notes" now, just in case.

[John, Moderator in Memory]

Well, I finally finished the book. Unfortunately, I didn't have any computer access this past week so I was not able to keep up with the crowd and answer the reading questions as I went (such as speculating on Harriet's method of time travel since I already had the answer before reading the question). So I will comment instead on the book as a whole.

What a great book!! I enjoyed this a lot, and it is clear that Paul really knows his stuff regarding Colonial history. I also love his writing style, and would love to read more from this author. My only criticism is that the story seemed to get a little bogged down in the chapters about (view spoiler)[the new battles that resulted from the changes to history. (hide spoiler)]

Personally, I liked the way the book ended. (view spoiler)[ I was glad to see that the family was not in a hurry to return to the future because they seemed to become such an important part of the Williamsburg community as well as the politics of the past. While it would have been interesting to read how the changes to the past affected the future as we know it, I think staying to relearn history by living it was probably more satisfying for the family than spending the rest of their lives relearning history by reading about it in a book. (hide spoiler)]

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys time travel, early American politics or Colonial history.

[Amy, Queen of Time]

John wrote: (view spoiler)["I think staying to relearn history by living it was probably more satisfying for the family than spending the rest of their lives relearning history by reading about it in a book. (hide spoiler)]" (hide spoiler)]

Good point. I suppose that if you find a time that you like, it's not so bad to stick around and (view spoiler)[live history (hide spoiler)].

[Paul]

I enjoyed comments about “endings” last week, but I’ll try not to borrow any without permission. :-) Particularly Amy’s idea of starting out with a history different from the one we know. The possibilities.

To follow up, let me mention why I chose the ending I did for AEJ. I didn’t know details when I started, only how I wanted it to feel. So I considered several options, with some eliminated immediately as too cute, too clever, or simply no fun. (view spoiler)[“No fun” would include a TT apocalypse, with the family going home to find civilization in ruins from too many changes. But what's the point? Apocalypse or not, there's no excuse for slavery.

I thought of the family returning to their own time so we could discover resulting changes along with them. Tempting, but doesn't work because, as Amy pointed out, their time is our own time and we have a long way to go. We can check the news to refute any claim of a perfected society. No credibility, not yet.

I also eliminated David narrating wonderful changes in the more distant future. That would be fun, but still doesn't work since David is a first person regular guy narrator and has no way of knowing. And I wanted to keep first person immediacy in the story.

So I went with a sense of Victory in the past and real Hope for the future, our own future. Surely the world, race relations included, has already changed in more ways than the people of the 1780s could have imagined -- but is this it? I don’t think so. David talks about triumph over slavery in the 18th century, and about Harriet's promise of more as events of the past fall into place. We know the family left their temporal home in 2006, when few people could have imagined other than a white male as the American president. So maybe the changes have already started? Soon to accelerate with more on the way, hopefully more than we can imagine. (hide spoiler)]

[Paul]

John wrote: "Well, I finally finished the book. Unfortunately, I didn't have any computer access this past week so I was not able to keep up with the crowd and answer the reading questions as I went (such as s..."

Hey John! Thanks so much for reading AEJ and for your comments. I'm so pleased you enjoyed it. I really like your assessment of the ending, and I relate. I miss Williamsburg myself.

I hope your good health progress is continuing, but I should warn you -- soon as you're back to full speed, we're all meeting at your house to celebrate. :-)

Thanks again.

[Heather(Gibby)]

I started this book last night-and I am loving it!

[Lincoln, Temporal Jester]

Favorite book I read in the year 2013 enjoy it Heather!

[Nathan, First Tiger]

Just made the journey home from the 1780s. That was quite the ride! Great book, Paul! Excellently researched and such an easy to read writing style. Very fun adventure.

[Paul]

Hey, Nathan, thanks for reading and for your comments and review. Much appreciated!

[Garrett]

Paul has written an excellent book. See our review at:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lincoln, Temporal Jester]

Moderators Reviews for An Extended Journey

Mine:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Amy's:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Nathan's:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Paul]

Lincoln wrote: "Moderators Reviews for An Extended Journey

Mine:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Amy's:
https://www..."

Hey Lincoln, you've been busy. I just saw your very cool graphics for the prestigious Temporal Jester Award of 2013. Thanks so much for the honor! Now I have to figure out how to post your artwork here so everyone can see it. You'll have lots of potential recipients for 2014. THANKS!

[Lincoln, Temporal Jester]

An Extended Journey

Congratulations Paul...Winner of:

[Paul]

Hah! Beautiful. Well, I'd uploaded to my pictures and deciphering the HTML code would have been next. Thanks again.

[Paul]

While we're counting down to 2015, Amazon will also be Counting Down with AN EXTENDED JOURNEY from December 26th through New Year's Day, when the Kindle book will be available for 99¢. Enjoy the holidays!

An Extended Journey

Here's the Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FQSVWI