In the recent past a friend asked me if there was any genre or sub-genre I enjoyed reading but which I had never written. Didn’t take me long to respond. Science Fiction and Time Travel. Two of the genres to which I turn during contemplative times and breaks in my own writing are Science Fiction and Time Travel. Countless episodes of the original Star Trek played on my family’s television in years past, and I marveled at the way my mind conjured so many “what ifs” and “hows” as those voyages aired. English, Composition and History were always my favorite subjects, but the Sciences were hot on their heels. Though I've written multiple manuscripts, I haven’t yet been spurred to plot a Time Travel or Science Fiction novel. So many have mastered these genres, most especially Ray Bradbury and Madeleine L’Engle. The tales those two authors told totally engrossed their readers and nudged them to consider the existence of alternative universes and scientific breakthroughs. They created characters whose conflicts and thought processes mirrored and stimulated those of readers. In essence, they achieved the closest thing to perfection with their plotting and stories. I’ll always remain grateful to my parents and teachers for introducing me to these authors and so many others over the years. Reading, and reading often, is a pastime all writers should learn to tap as their best resource for recharging their own creativity. Will I ever write a Time Travel novel? Probably not. But I will continue reading them.
During my moments of pondering and plotting, I often mull what it would be like journeying back to some of my favorite periods in time. The Jazz Age. The Civil War. Antony and Cleopatra’s Rome. The Salem Witch Trials. The Summer of Love. Although I am a woman who totally embraces creature comforts, the history buff in me would relish an opportunity to travel back in time to witness firsthand the happenings of the historical periods previously listed. During my beloved mother’s bout with cancer, a battle she unfortunately lost, I longed for a chance to see into the future. To learn of medical breakthroughs that would save my mother’s life. I also wished I could have traveled back in time and perhaps spotted any clues as to my mother’s illness before it became inoperable and terminal. The futility of my yearnings was evident at the start. But the writer and wonderer in me granted those thoughts a rapt audience.
While leisurely soaks in fragrant bubbles, steaming mugs of espresso and cappucino, running water, electricity, internet and automobiles are fabulous, I would be willing to trade them for a time in order to explore yesteryears and future decades.
Readers, if you had an opportunity to travel backward or forward in time, to shun the trappings and creature comforts of our modern-day society, would you?
In the event you find this blog post a bit serious-minded, I’ll switch things up a bit and put this to you. What if the world/time period you had a chance to visit offered the bonus below? If you were guaranteed a return to your real, current world after a short time, would this make you consider a journey forward or back in time, or a journey to a world not yet discovered?
Wishing you all many happy reading moments,
Shawna Moore
TORMENTED -- Ellora's Cave (MUST-READ from Dark Angel reviews)
ROUGHRIDER -- Ellora's Cave Exotika
HELLE IN HEELS -- Ellora's Cave Exotika
TO HELLE AND BACK AGAIN -- Coming in 2009 to Ellora's Cave
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