Dear Reader,
I’m so glad that you’re about to read The Five Watches: An Accident of Time. I’m guessing you, like many others, share a fondness for time travel tales. If you’re like me, you appreciate the ability of traveling through time as a means for conveying us into the realm of ‘what if’. What if we really could look into the future to find out what happens next?
Of course, many time travel novels examine the past, usually in an effort to change something—to correct a mistake, to find or recover a loved one, or maybe even change history. You’ll find some of that in my story, however, I’m focusing on the future, and I’ll tell you why.
There is the ‘anything goes’ approach to writing time travel stories, which I admit can be quite fun, but most authors are compelled to research the scientific possibilities of moving about in time before writing their novel. Once you know a little about the subject, you realize that going back in time to change something runs up against a problem generally known as a paradox.
There are many different paradoxes related to time travel, but they all add up to one of two outcomes: you can’t change events in the past, or you can’t change the outcome of an event in that past’s future (meaning you’ve created another future). If you’re an “anything goes’ reader, then you don’t care about such things. But if you’re the kind of reader who appreciates a bit of reality in the unrealistic world of time travel, then you might value an author’s effort to find ways to steer around the paradox issues.
I really enjoy reading and writing science fiction, and I like a good space opera as well as the next guy. But I lean toward stories that I consider more feasible. For example, the two sci fi novels I’ve published involve life in parallel worlds rather than life from outer space. So, when I was preparing to write this book, I decided to stick with traveling into the future as the main theme.
Now, let me assure you that the characters in this book do travel back in time, otherwise it wouldn’t be as interesting. But my focus is on the future of the future, and in an effort to make the outcome seem more plausible, my story results in changes to the future that, theoretically, impacts the ongoing future. I know this sounds a little confusing now, but I don’t want to give away too much before you read the book. But keep this in mind when you get to the part of the tale where the characters from the past are causing changes in a future that will dramatically alter a future that hasn’t happened yet.
If you’re a reader who cares about, and thinks about, and maybe worries about all the turmoil in our world today, you’ll understand where I’m coming from in this tale. With all the bad news about shootings, war, civil unrest, climate change, and the advent of artificial intelligence, it’s difficult to avoid thinking about where our future is headed. That’s one of the things that motivated me to write this novel. However, let me assure you my primary goal in writing this story was to create an entertaining experience within the pages of The Five Watches — just for you.
I think you’ll find my characters are the kind of people with whom you can relate. The setting and the events will be familiar to you as well. As for the future, I think you’ll be able to agree with the possibilities. One thing I’m pretty sure you do throughout this story is think about time and how important it is.
Thank you. I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. I’d love to hear from you. I look at all my emails. You can contact me through the Contact page on my website: www.johnryork.com.
With gratitude and hope for the future,
John R York
www.johnryork.com
Website: www.johnryork.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.york.9277
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnryork and www.tiktok.com/@dreamwriter
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-York/author/B0771RCZJ2?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21571052.John_York
What might happen if a handful of people living in different eras became entangled in time, some intentionally and some accidentally? The nineteenth-century scientist, Dr. Wilhelm Gussen, is passionate about improving the welfare of mankind, and so he begins a journey through time in a quest to learn about future advances in epidemiology. Physicist Emory Lynch, from the twenty-seventh century, studies an old pocket watch, said to be a time travel device, and accidently stumbles into the twenty-first century. In 2019, Jim Zimmerman, the de facto neighborhood go-to guy, finds himself caught in the middle of a clandestine, future conspiracy. True to his character, he becomes inextricably involved in future affairs that involve saving humanity from itself—dragging his wife and a few neighbors along for the ride. Thus, begins a time travel adventure that examines the stubborn predictability of human behavior and how some things, even over time, never seem to change.
Praise:
“The Five Watches is filled with interesting characters and enchanting tapestries woven into the fabric of time itself. John explores not only the ravages of time but more importantly the impact of individual kindness, caring, and selflessness towards others that is heartwarming. I enjoyed this suspenseful page turner, the connection to everyday people and to imaginable heroes that we can all strive to become. Uplifting! – Jim Richards, Beta Reader
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/46fjjp6f
No comments:
Post a Comment