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.
