About
the book:
When
offered a one-way trip to the past, Iz sacrifices everything for a
chance to change her dystopian future—and see her murdered lover
one last time.
• Race
against the clock through a dystopian nightmare.
• Climb
naked into an untested time machine (carrying a seashell and a
promise).
• Wake
up twenty years younger, buck naked and mortally wounded, with your
heart in your throat.
Across
the infinite expanse of space and time, love endures. (Unfortunately,
it’s not going to be enough.)
Author
Interview
1.
What inspired you to write the book?
I
met (and fell in love with!) the man I'm married to when we were 28,
and one of the first trips we took together was to attend the wedding
of his best buddy from college. At the reception, I ended up seated
next to my husband's ex-girlfriend(!), and the two of us hit it off!
We started comparing notes on him (to his obvious horror), and at the
end of the evening, she said something that stuck with me: I
wish I would have met him at a different point in my life.
It
was a very poignant moment for me: How would my life be different if
she had held on to him? And if I had met him first, would I have let
him go and been the one to leave the wedding that night alone,
wishing things had turned out differently?
I
don't know the answers to those questions, but the possibilities
began to fill my head, and a book was born.
2.
When did you realise that you wanted to write a book?
I
grew up reading Asimov, Heinlein, Le Guin, Clarke, and the rest of
the sci-fi greats. I loved their world building, and the glimpse they
gave me of possible futures, both good and bad. But what I love most
are the characters. I can never remember book titles, and a few years
down the road I struggle to remember all the plot twists, but the
good characters stick with you. They change you, became a part of
you. I aspire to that with my writing.
3.
Who helped you in writing the book and what are their contributions?
Every
person I’ve spent time getting to know changed me in some way.
Their life spilled over into mine, and that made my life richer. All
of those people are in my books.
As
part of publishing journey, I took full advantage of many talented
pros. I list them all on the copyright pages of my books, but the one
I lean on the most is my editior, Dave Taylor at theditors.com.
4.
How is your book going to inspire readers?
In
my mind, the characters are ordinary people thrown into extraordinary
circumstances. Diego is NOT a rich, powerful, manipulative Alpha with
a helicopter and a riding crop, nor is he a gorgeous, super-human
vampire who sparkles in the sun. Nevertheless, his love for Isabel is
a very powerful force in his life, and when required, he can do
amazing things (like rescue her from a burning building or sacrifice
his own life to save hers). Look around you, the world is full of
ordinary, extraordinary people who step up and doing heroic things
when given a chance.
5.
What's the
take-away from my books?
Don't
take the one you love for granted. At any moment, he or she could be
taken away from you, and time machines are pretty hard to come by. So
go put your arms around someone you care about and just enjoy the
moment. The journey IS the reward.
6. If you are given the chance to change one thing in your book what would it be?
I’ll let you know after I finish writing the last book in the series.
7.How do you find time to write and which part of the day is best for writing for you?
It’s a constant struggle to find time to write. Life keeps getting in the way of Isabel and Diego’s story no matter how much I plan otherwise. (But I think that’s how it’s supposed to be.)
8.
Which books have inspired you the most, in the journey of writing
this book?
When
I was 6, Black
Beauty changed
my life. My
grandmother read it to me, and I have loved books, horses, and seeing
the world through other’s eyes ever since.
In
4th grade, my schoolteacher read A
Wrinkle In Time
to the class, and I fell hard for Charles Wallace and science
fiction.
In
middle school, I carried Richard Bach's Illusions
around in my backpack and in my heart: "The world is your
exercise book, the pages on which you do your sums. It is not
reality, though you may express reality there if you wish. You are
also free to write lies, or nonsense, or to tear the pages." I
try not to tear the pages.
In
college, Time
Enough for Love
and Childhood's
End spoke
to me (along with The
Hite Report,
lol).
Today,
if someone asks what my favorite book is, the answer is likely the
last book I read: It's
a zombie story, and I NEVER read zombie books, but this one is so
well done! The science in it is cool, and the women are kick-ass. It
starts with this little girl locked up in a wheelchair...
9.
What is the best advice, you would give for writers who are trying
to write a book?
From
Stephen King: “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things
above all others: read
a lot and write a lot.
There's no way around these two things, no shortcut.”
And
the next best advice: "Don't shoot the dog." Unfortunately,
I received that advice too late.
10.
What are your hobbies?
Hobbies? Those are things that people who don’t write books have. ;-)
After
you finish work (so you can pay your bills), do the shopping, make
dinner, clean up the dog barf in the den, do a couple loads of
laundry, load the dishwasher, help with homework, tuck the kids in
bed, pour yourself a glass of wine and reintroduce yourself to your
spouse, there’s not a lot of time left in a day. And if there is,
then you write. (It took me ten years to write the first book!)
11. What can we expect from you in the future?
Love
is the most powerful force known to mankind: It wrecks kings, breaks
down impassible barriers, makes us risk everything for a few stolen
moments together. Love is stronger than the instinct to eat, sleep,
or survive. It motivates us to kill in cold blood, die to save
another, and rail against impossible odds. It brings out the best and
the worst in us.
Love
(and the lack of it) makes for great stories, and I intend to keep
following Isabel and Diego until they finally get it right.
About
the Author:
USA BEST BOOK AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR D. L. ORTON lives in the Rocky Mountains where she and her husband are raising three boys, a golden retriever, two Siberian cats, and an extremely long-lived Triops. In her spare time, she's building a time machine so that someone can go back and do the laundry.
