A Satisfying Time-slip Method
Perhaps I’ve never been very good at decisions. All the way back in college, I completed two majors that were not particularly related to each other (English and religious studies) because when the time came to declare a major, I just couldn’t choose.
As a novelist, my first books were historical, and I sometimes wonder why I didn’t major in history in college (triple major?). But I also love digging into a good contemporary story with a good mystery or social twist (why didn’t I major in sociology?), so I’ve written some present-day stories also.
I’ve had a lot of fun the last several years bringing historical and contemporary together in time-slip novels around unfolding genealogies. Curious readers ask me how I go about writing these books. I’m sure every time-slip author finds a method that works individually. For me, I research, write, revise, edit, and edit again the historical story line before I ever touch the contemporary. I want the historical part of the time-slip not only to serve the contemporary conflict but also to be a story of completeness and satisfaction in itself, especially since often it involves putting fictional characters in true historical events. Will the reader sigh with the last pages of the historical story interspersed among contemporary pages? I hope so.
Nailing down the details of the historical line also lets me plan how to slowly reveal its details in ways that lead the reader through the mystery and tension of the contemporary line. I even make a “What We Know So Far” chart for the contemporary chapters to guide me in making sure I don’t get ahead of myself in how past details is unfold and influence the present. I may know the whole story, but my characters don’t! They don’t know anything more than the reader, so as I tuck the historical chapters among the contemporary chapters, catching any errors in this pacing is crucial to a successful story.
The Tree of Life series began releasing in 2019 with The Inn at Hidden Run. Now book 5 is out, Now That I Know You. Each book’s plot is freestanding from the others with repeating main characters, so they make sense even if you haven’t read them in order. This book offers a little extra fun for readers of books 3 and 4 by picking up favorite spots and seeing what more smiles they bring us. Here’s the summary:
Cate Butler is the distant cousin genealogist Jillian was so certain she wanted to find—and the only connection she has to her deceased mother’s Parisi family tree. So why does she wish Cate would stop pestering her? And why can’t Jillian find a paper trail proving Cate is who she says she is?
Cate wants something for her own career that Jillian can’t give, but she also holds the key to family history Jillian can’t bring herself to walk away from. Nolan, Jillian’s father, steps in when Cate’s chronic career chaos requires legal rescue. Drew, the man who holds Jillian’s heart, has a surprising past with Cate. The truths Jillian, Cate, and Drew find while untangling these knotted threads tie them back together in remarkable ways none of them ever would have imagined.
A question for you: Since I’m writing about genealogy in the Tree of Life books, in the comments tell me an interesting story from your family’s history. Have you seen an influence of the past on the present in your family?
Olivia Newport’s novels blend the truth of how our pasts carry us into where we find ourselves now. Curiosity about history seems to creep into everything she does. Her books include Amish, historical, and contemporary stories that span the centuries from before the Revolutionary War right up to the present moment. She chases joy in stunning Colorado at the foot of Pikes Peak. Her new book, Now That I Know You, is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Booksamillion. Visit www.olivianewport.com for more information.
Good morning, Olivia, and welcome to Seekerville. Wow! I can barely keep one timeline straight in my contemporaries, I can't imagine trying to keep up with two. I'm impressed.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, the biggest influence of the past on our family is where we live. Our ranch is only a portion of a larger parcel of land that has been passed down from my husband's great grandmother. She was an orphan and it's a pretty cool story I hope to incorporate into one of my books someday.
That sounds interesting! Place can be such a strong pull, making us feel rooted to both the present and the past. I love books where place takes on the feel of being a character because it's that important to the story.
ReplyDeleteMy dad has done a bit of geneaology on his side of the family. Good German Mennonites, all of them, with some interesting stories of their own. I know less about my mom's side, into which her dad always said he was reluctant to dig around too much for fear of discovering horse traders and slave owneers :) Now I wish he had, because what great stories they might have made! Thanks for sharing with us today!
ReplyDeleteI know quite a bit about my mom's side, going back to Amish who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1737 and others who came to North America very early. But my dad was a first generation immigrant and the only one who came from his family and I don't know much about his side. Even my cousins in the country he came from don't know much going back farther than our grandparents. Just rumors here and there that are hard to substantiate now.
DeleteHi Olivia, I have worked on my family history and researching genealogy for many years and filled 35 3-ring binders full of records, photographs and ephemera. Most of my family lines left good paper trails and used cameras a lot! I'm lucky to live here in the area where my family lines lived, so have traveled to most historical societies, cemeteries and small towns. To answer your question, a murder that happened in 1907 and the murderer went free caused a lot of heartache in one of my families and they never got over it. Your book sounds good, I'll have to buy it!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! I once got connected to someone whose family still lived on land adjacent to land my earliest ancestors in North America had homesteaded, and she sent me photos. That was amazing. A descendant of those homesteaders 150 years later was a sheriff who was shot and killed in the line of duty and his killer got away.
DeleteI have really enjoyed this series. I can’t wait to read this one. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad! It's been so much fun for me to write.
DeleteOlivia, I'm a huge fan of time slip novels for some of the same reasons you stated. I'm looking forward to checking out your series.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy the stories as much as I loved writing them!
DeleteI spent some time last summer with my parents, investigating our family histories. I found out that one of my forebears served as a fifer in the Revolutionary war when he was 12. I found also that he was the son of a Seneca tribe member.
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool, Erica.
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