In my magical realism world, people are born with a gene that allows them to slip through time. Like all genes, the timegathering gene expresses itself differently in different people, and behaves differently because of environment and natural modifications. For example, the time traveling tour guide that threads all the Timegathering Series novels together, George St. James, has time agility and time flexibility. He can time travel quickly and to many different places in history, but he can’t stay very long in any one time, except the one he was born in, the 2100s. Genetic time travel in our world is the basis for my stories, and researching historical eras and the evolution of medicine is my passion. Here are some timegathering variations that power the stories.
May Gold, his protege in The Renaissance Club, is unaware of her timegathering talent until George escorts her to a meeting with her artist hero in history, Gianlorenzo Bernini. The people from different centuries meet in St. Peter’s basilica in Rome, where she watches him create his early masterpiece, the Baldacchino, a bronze canopy over the high altar. Sparks fly, but May can’t stay. However, she can return. Her time talent isn’t strong, but Bernini’s is, and by the end of their time together, he’s ready to make a choice of which century to stay in.
The Time Gatherer focuses closely on the genetics of time travel. It introduces Dr. Zheng, a 23rd century geneticist who works in a national laboratory in Pasadena, California. He’s investigating the properties of the gene. At the same time, he’s trying to thwart a secret committee of scientists who want to eliminate genetic time travel and are willing to bend history do shape the future as they wish. The story also features another time traveler with the rare ability to live in a century different from his own. Brother Bernardo chooses a monastery in 13th century Italy for a simple habitat from which he can train young time travelers like George St. James to stop those who want to change the timeline.
In Undoing Time, the third book in the series, we see a mature George as the time travel tour guide of The Renaissance Club. This time, he chooses to mentor a young woman who has no idea she has a big time travel gift. Liv Pomeroy thinks of her minor jaunts forward a few days or weeks as undoing time. She has no idea she can use her talent to plunge back centuries, or that timegathering might confer a responsibility as well as a reward.
Genetic time travel may be a fantasy trope, but the field of genetics is a fast-moving science offering mind-boggling possibilities for treating illness, enhancing lifespan, and even selecting appearance and gender. The field has provoked controversy — some of which I touch on in my Timegathering Series. Should we have the right to change the evolution of humanity in any other way than to improve health? Where are the lines drawn? Genetic engineering is already widely used to shape the cultivation of plants for the food we eat. It’s also used to create life-saving vaccines. Gene therapy is the future of medicine.
These issues interest me because it’s some of the newest science and also because I spent many years raising funds for hospitals and medical research. I incorporated gene therapy and genetic engineering into my fantasy fiction also part thanks to my rocket scientist father. As you can see from my bio, I grew up with science and engineering and reading science fiction.
For solid science on gene therapy right now, read this article on the Mayo Clinic website. It’s good to be informed.