Tales of the Sweet Magnolia

“Perhaps we will gradually get used to the weird ways of our cosmos and find its strangeness to be part of its charm.” ~Max Tegmark, Cosmologist

From the time moment I saw Somewhere in Time with Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeves, the idea of time-travel has fascinated me. Though admittedly I am still in the dark as to which theory(there are a number of them!) on time-travel I find most fathomable, one thing is remarkably clear—if time-travel is possible, then while it may take another ten thousand years to discover the secrets of it—it is, in fact, inevitable. That alone intrigues the ‘geek’ in me and if you’re a fan of Dr. Who or Torchwood, then I have little explaining to do to convince you. However, for the romance writer in me—it opens up a whole world of possibilities. One of the first truly romantic time-travel books I ever read was Christina Skye’s Highland fantasy, Christmas Knight (Avon, 1998) aside of Skye’s brilliant storytelling skills, it is a portrayal of what is possible when the power of ‘love’ is added into the equation. It took me several years before I attempted my first time-travel and it came in the form of a tiny novella called, “Wild and Unruly” about a sequestered present day librarian who finds a necklace and is transported back to a mining town in 19^th century Nevada. Here she meets and falls for the town's Sheriff. Now another passion of mine is researching and in my studies of the old west I have developed a particular fascination (if not new regard) for the ‘soiled doves’—the women who owned and operated the saloons, bordellos and parlor houses of that era. It intrigues me, in a way only human nature can, that while these women were popular among the men who frequented their establishments for the obvious reasons, at the same time they were often shunned, ostracized by the general public. They were subject to sub-standard and dehumanizing rules and regulations and yet it was most often the madams of the bordello houses that became successful businesswomen (as we would define successful in that era.) Aside from working unofficially with the law to help keep the peace with unruly transients like miners and gamblers, great sums of money subsidized the projects that kept the town thriving. Funds, however, that were passed under the table to merchants, clergy and other administrative officials. Put simply--many a town survived (literally) on the backs of these ‘soiled doves.’

But I digress…romance and time-travel. “If you build they will come…”

spoken by James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams, is not too very far off the similar concept when you talk to an author. We’re in the business of transporting readers to places they may never have been before, or giving a different perspective of a place they may be in now—for most romance readers, we just want everything to turn out okay in the end. We want good to win out over evil, even if the evil is the hunkiest, ‘bad boy’ on the planet—we hope that somewhere, somehow –love will touch him, he’ll find redemption and wind up with the girl.

Time-travel is simply another extension of that ‘escape’ into another world philosophy. The method I choose in writing my style of time-travel is a bit more ethereal, rather than scientific—for example, in Wild & Unruly, I have tangibles (necklace, a quirky secondary character who pops up unexpectedly as a real time person) but I prefer to play upon the unknowns—the deeper psyche of human nature, if you will. Is it the necklace, the funny grey-haired gent that makes the time-travel possible?Or is it that the timing is right in the universe combined with my heroine’s deepest heartfelt longing that makes her fantastic journey possible? In a nutshell, is it the power of love—that makes time-travel possible? Such a simplistic notion, isn’t it?

I’ve taken this concept and created a series called tales of the Sweet Magnolia. The first book, Wild and Unruly, is an extended version, with new scenes added to the original novella. It features the journey of librarian /bordello madam Lillian White and her legendary hero, Sherriff Jake Sloan and asks the question, can a love so powerful that it draws two people together through time—also keep them together? I suppose I could tell you that outcome, but you’d be better to read the story and experience firsthand Lil and Jake’s fiery, complicated romance and find out that answer for yourself!

In my second book in this series, another resident woman of the Sweet Magnolia wishes she could meet the man who wrote the music played by her one-time mentor, Miss Lillian. By taking lessons from a traveling grey-haired piano teacher, she finds a greater connection in the music. It reaches deep into her soul, drawing her to present day Reno, where her life is upturned when she becomes witness to a drug cartel murder and injured, is taken in by a scarred undercover cop on a personal mission to find the guy who killed his brother. Fallen Angel, is slated for release later in 2012, just in time for a steamy, romantic holiday read!

If you happen to be in the Chicago area, I’ll be signing Wild & Unruly at the upcoming RT Booklover’s convention multi-author bookfair, on April 14, 2012.

Meantime, I’d like to pose the question—do you believe in time-travel and if so, what time period would you want to travel to? Leave your comment for a chance to win a signed copy of Wild & Unruly!

Until we meet again~

Amanda McIntyre

www.amandamcintyre.net

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