Somewhere along the line, I decided to break a rule. I’m a writer of women’s fiction, and my first WF novel was time travel/magical realism. The second also had a supernatural twist (ghost), but i chose to return to time travel. The rule I broke in WF was to feature the time tour guide from my first book, a male protagonist. So now my genre is science fiction or science fiction romance, but my cover shows an intriguing young man — George.
George St. James isn’t your average adventure-seeking, hard-nosed character busting through time and chasing bad guys while seeking to right the wrongs of history. Well, he is busting through time, and he is being followed by bad guys. And he does wind up trying to change history for the better. But George is a guy with emotional depth.
Which we all have, only we get to step inside George’s feelings, and he pays attention to them, in ways that aren’t typical in time-travel science fiction. I was interested in George’s feelings and his decision to use his timegatghering ability to help others.
Something in me will always be a rebel. I find it hard to stick to expectations in my stories. I like breaking rules, though I mostly follow them. George is a character who was pivotal in my first novel, The Renaissance Club. He’s the mentor of a young woman who’s trying to launch a career in art history and figure out her problematic love life. George takes her on journeys into history that will define her decisions.
I couldn’t continue with more time travel stories featuring George without learning what motivates him, and how that motivation came to be. Once I went down that rabbit hole, I discovered a new world of genetic time traveling heritage, a eutopic 23rd century future, and a 13th century medieval monk who’s a time travel mentor and trainer. I thought about how the future arises from the past, and how time travelers have to be careful of the Butterfly Effect — one tiny thing rearranged changing humanity’s future world.
Stay tuned for more news of the next installment in George’s story. I find myself writing several stories at once, but that may just be in branching universes.