Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Origins ~ RIFT

Once upon a time, I wondered what would happen if you were caught in a volcanic eruption and the energy of that opened a portal into a parallel timeline in the past, and you were separated—by fifty years—from someone you love. What would you do to find them and how would you travel back to your own time? And why did it happen? What caused this time portal to open?

I started dreaming about a character who was a time traveler. His name was Ben and he owned the Kairos Coffee Shop, a gathering place for time travelers. Many people wandered in and out of the coffee shop, time travelers on their way to somewhere else, characters who would find themselves on the pages of novels.

Being a kindly soul, having been around for probably centuries, or even eons of time, he helps guide the would-be travelers to their destinations. He appears to be a barista, but he's also a physics professor, and there's more to him than meets the eye.

My first time travel novel—RIFT—didn't start out with a plot. It started with Ben, a character who is so much more than he appears to be. You'll run across him again in my future time travel novels.

In the story, Sara and Jason are newlyweds, on their honeymoon in Hawaii. They're separated by a volcanic eruption. Jason is thrown back into the past—to help his parallel self accomplish something he wasn't able to do before.

I wanted my time travelers to have a dog, because if you were lost in time, you'd definitely want a dog by your side.

Meet Mocha and Macchi (parallels of Mauka and Makai), two German Shepherd puppies named after a coffee. One stays in the present; the other travels to the past. 

They're just as determined to find each other again as Sara and Jason are—the newlyweds who were separated during the volcanic eruption.

RIFT is Book One in the Kairos Chronicles.

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Prologue ~ RIFT

Before you go tripping through a time rip into a parallel reality, you might like to read how RIFT: A RIP IN TIME starts. The story begins in the Kairos Coffee Shop, which is a special place for time travelers, located in the middle of nowhere.

We've Been Here Before...

August 8, 2018

"You two shouldn't be here," Ben said. 

"But I knew you'd show up," he added, handing the elderly woman a mocha latte and the elderly man a double shot caramel macchiato.

"Why don't you both sit over there by the window? They should be here soon."

"It's good to see you, too, Ben," the woman said, smiling.

"Remember what I told you. You can't interfere. You can't say anything to them or warn them in any way."

"We just wanted to see them," the older man said.

"And the dogs," the woman added.

"You know the rules," Ben admonished.

"Rules are made to be broken," the older man said, smiling at Ben.

"You know how that goes. You did tell me not to go in the lava tube. And you helped me figure out the time rip. You've broken a few rules along the way."

Ben shrugged. "It happens. Let's see how it plays out this time." He turned to greet two customers who had just walked through the door.

The man pulled a book out of his duffel bag, walked over to the corner bookcase, and placed it on the shelf when Ben wasn't looking.

RIFT: A RIP IN TIME is available as both a print book and an ebook on Amazon.