Guest Blogger: Jeanne Barrack
And the winner of the perfume is: J.M. Snyder! Congrats J.M.! Please send me your snail mail info and I'll pass it along to Jeanne. Thanks to everyone who participated. Psychic Time Travel: Or Preventing the Dreaded Time Travel Paradox
Thanks for having me at Parnormality!
When I was a little girl I saw the movie The Time Machine. Wow! Traveling backwards and forwards in time! How exciting! And then I discovered science fiction and read the original H. G. Wells' novel and was even more entranced with the notion. My favorite book written by Mark Twain is A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The adventures of 'the Boss' as he dealt with figures from the legendary court of King Arthur tickled both my fancy and my funny bone. Imagine jousting on bicycles! Defeating wizardry with science!
Harlan Ellison's script, The City on the Edge of Forever, for the original Star Trek show on TV captured my imagination and left a deep impression on me. Over the course of my life I've experienced moments when I found myself drawn back in time. Unlike the characters in the books I loved to read, I never was physically transported to a bygone era, but boy, my visions were vivid! When I was sixteen I "knew" that my friend's eighteenth century home in Brooklyn had been a boarding house and that one young cabin boy had taken his own life there. You can imagine how weird I felt when my friend corroborated this information. How did I know all this? I had channeled the woman who ran the place!
In my early teens I fell in love with Ireland. Kind of strange for a nice, little girl from Flatbush in Brooklyn, New York. But so much of Irish history from long ago was familiar to me -- before I read any books. Even my "real" first name is a derivation of Danu, an ancient Celtic goddess. I recognized places in travelogues before they were named. And finally, dreamt about the ancient soul I had channeled. When at last, I traveled to Ireland on my honeymoon, the places I had dreamt about were all familiar And over the course of 1600 miles of traveling some of the narrowest, unnamed, unpaved roads, I never got us lost. I recognized my way.
When I knew that I wanted to be a writer, I didn't need to question what genre I wanted to write, it was clear as could be. I write paranormal romance. But I never wrote anything involving time travel, because I read Ray Bradbury's classic short story, A Sound of Thunder and I realized just how treacherous time travel could be if you encountered the (drum roll)
Time Travel Paradox. You know what I mean. You step on an insect in the days of the dinosaurs and you go back to your own time and the world is ruled by honeybees.
Time Travel Paradox. You know what I mean. You step on an insect in the days of the dinosaurs and you go back to your own time and the world is ruled by honeybees.
Huh? You know, you go back in time, meet your own grandfather and you kill him and you're never born.
Say what?
Well, that's how it goes. So they say. But I had all these visions from my youth crowding my brain. I wanted to write about times long gone by, but with a paranormal twist. And safely. So I wrote The Crystal Flacon, #5 in the Collector series from Loose Id and voila: I had written a psychic time travel romance.
My heroine, Abby Foster, commissioned to steal a perfume crystal flacon once owned by Lucrezia Borgia, winds up channeling Lucrezia through visions and dreams. Antonio d'Este, Lucrezia Borgia's direct descendent, falls in love with Abby but also falls prey to the strange effect making love with her has on him.I did a tremendous amount of research while writing The Crystal Flacon. By the time I finished the ms, I had fallen in love with the much-maligned Lucrezia Borgia. Learning how educated she was, I imagined that she would write a journal and I left it hidden in a carved wooden chest. When Abby finds the journal and reads it, she's transported in her mind to Lucrezia's time. But the psychic connection is stronger than she could ever believe and occurs during the most awkward moments and seems to be beyond Abby's control. And Abby isn't the only one who becomes enmeshed in this psychic time travel.
And are there any paradoxes? I don't think so. I hope not.
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To win a sample of Lucrezia's perfume just answer this question: If you had the ability to travel through time, where would you go, when and why?
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The Crystal Flacon is available at http://www.loose-id.com/detail.aspx?ID=410
Learn more about Jeanne's work at:
http://jeanneworldsnewsletter.blogspot.com/
http://jeanneworldsnewsletter.blogspot.com/
posted by Lynda Hilburn at 7:48 AM
23 Comments:
Thanks so much for having me, Lynda.
I had a blast recalling memories from my misspent youth.
;~D
You're welcome, Jeanne! I'm glad you're here. And thanks for giving away perfume! What a great idea.
Lynda
i would love to visit the future
to see all that is to take place
in the future
Hi Jeanne! Great post :)
I've always had an affinity for the past, too, but my favorite times are early America (from the Revolutionary War through the whole Old West). I don't know which I'd prefer, if I had to choose a time to go back to. I love the sense of adventure and revolution in early Colonial America, the honor and tough choices of the Civil War, and the harsh lawlessness of the Wild West.
I will say, though, that to me one of the WORST time travel movies ever (and I'm probably going to get stoned for this) is "Somewhere In Time." Gah! I thought that just ludicrous. I didn't enjoy it at all. Gimme H.G. Wells any day!
Have a great day!
J.M. Snyder
http://jmsnyder.net
Peggy:
You're braver than I am!
I'd be too chicken to travel into the future!
J. M.
I love that period in American history, too.
Living near Gettysburg, the American Civil War has come to life in a really big way!
Whenever I visit the battlefield and walk on the ground where men fought and died I feel I can almost touch them.
This timeframe in the United States also inspired one of my stories.
I still wonder how far off The Time machine is. Looking at people, I can begin to notice the Morlocks rearing their ugly heads. lol Twain has been a favorite writer of mine, and it sickens me to see his books banned for "racism" and other nonsensical things. he understood humanity and made fun of our stupidity... and we prove him to be right about our idiocy.
So, you have some psychic ability, eh? I bet you'd be great company for a ghost hunt. I'll remember that if my current endeavours begin to take off. I'll file you away in the list of possible guest investigators...
I also understand having strange affinities to places. I felt drawn to England most of my life. Walking the streets of London felt like "home", yet I did get lost. And then there are the dreams and visions I have had throughout my childhood of a small English town, my favourite brown corduroy pants, watching my best friend get hit by a train in the English countryside, and that stone house atop a hill... the white windows and balcony, drab olive-painted toy room upstairs, and being pushed off the balcony...
As for where I would go, probably back to the 1880s and trade my time between England and the United States. I would love to see cities as they were... travel by horse-drawn trolley... meet famous people and perhaps leave a tiny imprint (something like craving my initials in a stone wall somewhere obscure and looking for it back in present day. Nothing too intrusive...
Hi, Ken
Loved your comments.
What a neat idea to carve your initials somewhere. But I'd hope you wouldn't date it with the year 2008!
That would be too weird and perhaps even produce -- gasp -- a time paradox!
;~D
Thanks for the interview!
My answer to the question is completely un-altruistic. I would go back in to see every gig in the 1987/1988 Duran Duran Strange Behavior Tour. *sigh* I loved that tour...
Lynda...I'd maybe like to visit the flapper days as an adult. Anything earlier is all way, way too restrictive to women for my taste. When I read historicals I can barely tolerate the clothing that was worn ~ much less the attitude....Nancy
Katie, not too far back, but I *do* understand the allure!
I'm a big fan of the Beatles. I would have loved to be in the audience when they performed on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Nancy, I agree with you that women in days gone by were restricted by society.
That's why I loved reading about Lucrezia Borgia. For a woman of hre day, although used as a pawn by her brother, Cesare, and her father, Pope Alexander VI, she finally managed to come into her own when she wed Alfonso d'Este. In Ferrara, she is much revered. She served as her husband's regent when he was away at the many wars in which he fought.
Now that's my kind of woman!
I would want to go to the future and see what my life is like 10-20 years from now.
Jeanne, fantastic post. Lucrezia Borgia has always been a fascination to me as a powerful woman in her time.
Wow, your remembrance of Ireland. I'll bet the whole experience was more than phenomenal.
Actually, I've had dreams of being in Atlantis. I think that's where I'd like to visit again. Although about any historical period would be amazing.
Hi Jeanne! Terrific interview, and the book sounds great!
I'm a student of history, which puts a bit of a damper on the notion of traveling back in time---the eras which interest me most (namely classical Greece and Rome) were just terrible for women! But like you, I am fascinated by the women who were able to overcome the restrictions placed upon them, so I'd love to travel back to the time of the Egyptian queen Hatshepsut. She was the longest ruling female pharaoh of an indigenous dynasty, and I'd love to see first hand how she cemented her power.
Your fascinating post was a delight to read. I have always had an interest of experiencing life during the 1930's especially travel through Europe, specifically Italy and the Mediterranean. Love to have seen it all then before the major changes.
Thanks for your wonderful post today. No adventures in the future for me at all. Instead what appeals to me greatly is having the chance to live and see England and France during the British Colonial era. The estates, bucolic countryside, lifestyle and perhaps I would meet Winnie himself.
Hi, Jeanne. Time travel has always interested me ever since I first watched The Twilight Zone. Then Star Trek. I must say, though, that if I could travel back to the West during the time of Wyatt Earp and his brothers. Living in Tombstone and witnessing their lives would suit me fine.
Hi, Jeanne. My interest in the past has surged each year for nostalgic reasons. If I could capture certain eras and live through them it would be an ultimate dream. The charm and simplicity of the turn of the century seaside NE U.S. Escape from it all to this setting.
Walking through the cobblestoned streets of the villages where Puccini,and Verdi composed their operas. The culture, history and uniqueness of these places have always captivated my imagination and emotions.
I would like to travel back to the 1950's when poodle skirts and bobby socks were in. I think it was a fun time to live.
I grew up in the 1950's and wore poodle skirts and saddle shoes. Loved that era and remember it fondly, but I would appreciate a chance to live through the exploration of the West. This area and time has such an appeal for me, the adventure, pioneeer spirit and the lives that created ral history.
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