Time Travel – The Great Escape

Today I am pleased to host Sarah J. McNeal, paranormal and fantasy author, who has just released her time travel novel, Harmonica Joe’s Reluctant Bride, which you may have seen reviewed and talked up all over the blogosphere last week.

Sarah is kindly giving away an ecopy of Harmonica Joe to a reader, so make her feel welcome.  I’ll draw a random winner from among the comments after midnight on Thursday, April 28th, MST, and will announce the winner here.

Take it away, Sarah.

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Why do we love time travel stories? Is it the enjoyment of seeing the contrast of modern to past? Perhaps the hope that we can fix things and make a better world in the future? Maybe we want to go back in time and read about a simpler, calmer way of life. Whatever it is, some of us are attracted to time travel and all the possibilities it allows.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we each had our own time traveling DeLorean Time Machine like the one in the Back To The Future series?

If you could travel in time, what time would you select? Why? Would you like to spend a day with someone you miss or relive a time when you were genuinely happy? Perhaps you’d like to go to a period of time you associate with peace and tranquility. Was there ever such a time? Maybe you would like to go to the future and live on board a Starship like Enterprise and travel among the stars or enjoy life on Earth with robots to do all the work we detest.

Whatever your reasons for enjoying time travel stories, we authors of time travel stories share a kindred spirit with you. We love them and we write them.

My latest time travel release, Harmonica Joe’s Reluctant Bride, is about a time I particularly love, the early years of the twentieth century when industry and life in America was rapidly changing. The year is 1910.

A haunted house, a trunk and a date with destiny.

Harmonica Joe’s Reluctant Bride

By Sarah McNeal

Available at Western Trail Blazer Novels

Available at Amazon.com

Also available in print soon

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Joseph Wilding left his prosperous Virginia ranch and his grieving father to live in obscurity and guilt over his brother’s death until he marries Lola instead of Callie McGraw, the woman he abhors but whose life he was attempting to save.

Lola discovers a warp in time in an old trunk when she falls into 1910. She finds herself married to Joe, a stranger shadowed by secrets. Mistaken for Callie McGraw, a thief and a woman of ill repute, Lola finds her life is threatened by a scoundrel who believes she stole his money and only Joe stands between her and death.

With danger threatening all around and secrets keeping them apart, can Joe and Lola find their destiny together or will time and circumstance forever divide them?

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The dirt road twisted along between groves of trees and meadows. Fluffy tufts of cottonwood blossoms drifted to earth like snowflakes. The scent of wildflowers permeated the air, honeysuckle and wild jasmine. “What time is this?” Lola held her breath as she waited for the answer.

Joe pulled out an expensive looking pocket watch, flipped open the smooth, gold lid and peered at the hands. “It’s a quarter to five. Got somewhere you need to be?”

She felt the vibration of his laughter against her cheek. “I meant the date, dufuss.”

“I’ll overlook the name calling but don’t let it happen again.” He glanced behind him to give her a narrow look but there was a teasing curve to his lip. “I can see where a woman like you would lose track of the days,” he said with a touch of sarcasm. “It’s Tuesday, May tenth, nineteen hundred and ten.”

A sound almost like a sob, escaped Lola. Why had this happened to her? What had she ever done to deserve such trouble in her life, the impending danger of being murdered by someone she didn’t even know and this freakish displacement in time? She wanted it all to go away, to not be real.

Her thumb ached and, when she examined what cause the discomfort, she saw a splinter had lodged in it. Sucking in a deep breath, she pinched the splinter between her index finger and thumb and pulled it out. It hurt worse for a second then settled down. The sight of the droplet of blood that oozed from the tiny wound clarified the reality of her situation. All of this was real. What had happened to take her away from her life into this place, this time?

Could it be possible that the infamous Callie McGraw had switched places with her? Was she living her Great-Great-Aunt Callie’s life? How was such a thing even possible? Had something mystical happened? Was her life in possession of the corrupt Callie McGraw? A streak of cold impending doom ran up her spine.

Lola took a deep, calming breath to still the hysteria running in rampant energy in her veins. Regaining her emotional balance, she centered on the important thing to do right now. It wasn’t how she came to be here or whose life she displaced when she arrived, but rather, how to restore herself to her rightful place and time. She intended to find some answers and get back to her century because the very thought of that horrible woman taking over her life made her grit her teeth with panic.