For those interested in exploring the subject or theme of your book, where should they start?
Books about time travel have become their own sub-genre of science fiction. If someone is genuinely serious about understanding the roots of American science fiction, they should read Robert Heinlein and Jack Williamson.
How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your book?
I have always been fascinated by Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity, and the proof that time is not absolute, but is altered by both speed and gravity. The fact that there is a first scientific foundation for time travel can’t help but inspire the imagination.
What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
Taking Time is the first book in my Physics, Lust and Greed series. My initial goal, as is the case with all my books, was to provide readers with an entertaining and captivating story. Time travel provides the stage for a compelling story of relationships among a comedic cast of characters. One goal I set for all of my books is to make people laugh. A new goal has emerged as this series continues. The fourth book in the series is, essentially, a political satire, a commentary on the perilous position American democracy finds itself in today.
Anything you would like to say to your readers and fans?
Thank you so much for your support and interest in my books. Writing and publishing are difficult and solitary undertakings. The real reward is readers who like your work.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
The evolution of my characters. Over the course of four books in this series, they have become very real to me. They lead me on fascinating journeys. I worry about them, and hope they are going to be all right.
Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future?
The fourth book in my Physics, Lust and Greed Series—The Outlaw Gillis Kerg—will come out sometime next summer. As I mentioned above, this tale has lead me into the realm of political and religious satire.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve written for much of my life. I was a newspaper reporter and editor for 30 years. I began delving into book-length fiction ten years ago, when I turned 60.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Taking Time?
Marshall Grissom is a painfully shy and insecure man who has lived his life trying to avoid attention. Sheila Schuler is a beautiful, smart and vivacious woman who embraces her libido and is worried about the ethical implications of time travel. Marta Hamilton—a spy—is a mean and assertive woman from the Caribbean who has studiously avoided emotional entanglement and has no compunctions about killing someone who need killing. Elvin Detwyler is a lazy and obnoxious genius who dabbles in physics and has little use for the human race.
If you could spend the day with one of the characters from Taking Time, who would it be? Please tell us why you chose this particular character, where you would go and what you would do.
Marta Hamilton. Because she is the deepest and most complicated character. We would go sailing somewhere in the vicinity of Grenada, and who knows what would happen alone on that sailboat?
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