Dear Reader,
There’s one thing you need to know about writers: We’re readers, too.
In most cases, that’s why we became writers – because, from childhood onwards, we couldn’t get enough of stories. We’d read all kinds of stories – adventure stories, love stories, thrilling stories, horrifying stories … everything – and then, because we loved stories so much, we started making up some more of our own.
First and foremost, I approached the writing of How Soon Is Now? as a reader. What would I like to read? What would be my ideal book?
Above all, it had to tell a story worth telling. Something that would speak to readers regardless of age, geography or anything else. So I took some big, universal themes – love, regret, loss, redemption – and wrapped them all up in a plot full of mystery, twists and surprises, sprinkled it with humour and added a hefty dose of time travel, because you can never have enough paradoxes. Then I added stories within stories, because you can never have enough stories, either.
But a gripping plot isn’t worth anything if it isn’t inhabited by believable, relatable characters, so I filled How Soon Is Now? with those, and gave them all stories, desires and motivations of their own. Whether it’s the ex-journalist running from his greatest mistake, the refugee cut off from his beloved home or the car saleswoman with a very dark past, they all had to feel like real people, Like many of us, they’re inexorably, obsessively drawn to visit and revisit something or someone from their past. Unlike those of us out here in the real world, though, these people have a rare talent: They can actually go back in time.
Time is crucial to this story, but I’ve always loved books with a strong sense of place, too, so geography was an essential element of How Soon Is Now?
I set the novel in two cities I love – Glasgow and Edinburgh – and let my characters run free through familiar streets and landmarks. Scotland in fiction is a tricky beast – sometimes it’s a sun-dappled land of heather-flecked glens, sparkling lochs and hunky-but-romance-prone Highlanders. Sometimes, it’s a place of dark streets and even darker deeds. I wanted readers to leave How Soon Is Now? with an unshakeable sense of the Scotland I grew up in – a place where the warmth of the big-hearted, straight-talking people makes up for the often grey skies and invariably damp streets.
These, then, are the ingredients which make up How Soon Is Now?. It’s the book I always wanted to read, and I am unashamed in my love for the people, places and stories within its pages. I hope you feel the same way.
‘How Soon Is Now?’ is his first novel. The second, the Britpop-era romance ‘End of a Century’, will be released early in 2025, and a third is currently a work in progress.
Website & Social Media:
Website ➜ www.paulcarnahan.com
Twitter ➜ https://twitter.com/pacarnahan
Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/paulcarnahan6/
Goodreads ➜ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/211423352-how-soon-is-now
Luke Seymour uncovers the secrets of the eccentric Nostalgia Club as he battles to solve the riddle of their missing leader, honing his newly discovered – and dangerously addictive – talent for time travel and plunging ever deeper into his own time stream … where the terrible mistake that scarred his life is waiting.
Set in Glasgow and Edinburgh in the 1980s, 1990s and near-present, ‘How Soon Is Now?’ is a gripping new novel loaded with unforgettable characters, intricate storytelling, dark humour and a unique twist on the mechanics of time travel – all moving towards a powerful and emotional climax.
Available at:
Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/How-Soon-Now-powerful-travel-ebook/dp/B0D1RG2GL5
Amazon U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Soon-Now-powerful-travel-ebook/dp/B0D1RG2GL5
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