Reflections ~ 2021

I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on books, writing, and writing-related stuff that happened during the year, and to look forward to what the new year will bring.

A look back...

I published my debut time traveling novel, RIFT, at the beginning of the year. It was featured earlier this month, along with a prologue.

I did new covers for a lot of my books, along with a refresh of the interiors and back matter. 

I also published two box sets ~ Echoes of Light and Echoes of Time and a short book on dreams ~ Dream Doorways.

I have about a bajillion scribbles for books I'm working on. Some of them will come to fruition in the new year. More about that later.

I created a Facebook page in conjunction with this blog. I have a few followers, and would really love it if you'd follow me on Facebook.

A look forward...

I have two books planned for publication in 2022, and possibly a third. I know some writers can write a book a month, or lots of books in a year, but I'm not one of them. My average is two to three books per year. But maybe I'll surprise myself with more than two books. We'll see what happens. 

I'm currently writing a book I've been wanting to write for about three years now. My first book, Magical Mind, Magical Life (which will be featured next month) is all about being happy and using the magical power of your mind to live a positive life. 

MAGICAL MIND GARDENS is based on that book and will feature 365 ways to grow your mind into a magical garden of harmony and joy. More about that next month. Pub date is November 17, 2022. It's on pre-order for $3.99.

I'm also working on another book in the Echoes of Mind series. It's about the reality of illusion and playing a magical game.

There are a lot of other books running around in my mind and appearing on pieces of paper and on my laptop screen, all asking to be written. Currently thinking about writing a novel about writers who get stuck in a time warp. Also thinking about writing another book on Zen. Maybe a chili cookbook, too. And there's that time travel trilogy that's been whispering to me...

Origins ~ Rift

Once upon a time, I wondered what would happen if you were caught in a volcanic eruption and the energy of that opened a portal into a parallel timeline in the past, and you were separated—by fifty years—from someone you love. What would you do to find them and how would you travel back to your own time? And why did it happen? What caused this time portal to open?

I started dreaming about a character who was a time traveler. His name was Ben and he owned the Kairos Coffee Shop, a gathering place for time travelers. Many people wandered in and out of the coffee shop, time travelers on their way to somewhere else, characters who would find themselves on the pages of novels.

Being a kindly soul, having been around for probably centuries, or even eons of time, he helps guide the would-be travelers to their destinations. He appears to be a barista, but he's also a physics professor, and there's more to him than meets the eye.

My first time travel novel—RIFT—didn't start out with a plot. It started with Ben, a character who is so much more than he appears to be. You'll run across him again in my future time travel novels.

In the story, Sara and Jason are newlyweds, on their honeymoon in Hawaii. They're separated by a volcanic eruption. Jason is thrown back fifty years into the past—to help his parallel self accomplish something he wasn't able to do before.

I wanted my time travelers to have a dog, because if you were lost in time, you'd definitely want a dog by your side.

Meet Mocha and Macchi (parallels of Mauka and Makai), two German Shepherd puppies named after a coffee. One stays in the present; the other travels to the past. 

They're just as determined to find each other again as Sara and Jason are—the newlyweds who were separated during the volcanic eruption.

RIFT is Book One in the Kairos Chronicles.

Kairos Coffee Shop

The Kairos Coffee Shop is a place for time travelers—characters created in my imagination—from different times and places, dimensions and realities, who stop for coffee on their way into stories that lead into the pages of novels.

As near as I can tell, the Kairos Coffee Shop is located in the misty realm of another dimension, though it does appear to be located in the wide open spaces of the Midwest. The coffee shop is run by Ben, who is a time traveler.

Kairos is the Greek god of "special" time—moments when something "extraordinary" happens in "ordinary" time.

RIFT is my debut time travel novel—Book One in the Kairos Chronicles, a series of standalone novels and novellas set in the world of the Kairos Coffee shop.

It features a couple who is thrown back in time during a volcanic eruption and are separated by fifty years.

You can browse the book on Amazon.

Prologue ~ RIFT: A RIP IN TIME

 Before you go tripping through a time rip into a parallel reality, you might like to read how RIFT: A RIP IN TIME starts. The story begins in the Kairos Coffee Shop, which is a special place for time travelers, located in the middle of nowhere.

We've Been Here Before...

August 8, 2018

"You two shouldn't be here," Ben said. 

"But I knew you'd show up," he added, handing the elderly woman a mocha latte and the elderly man a double shot caramel macchiato.

"Why don't you both sit over there by the window? They should be here soon."

"It's good to see you, too, Ben," the woman said, smiling.

"Remember what I told you. You can't interfere. You can't say anything to them or warn them in any way."

"We just wanted to see them," the older man said.

"And the dogs," the woman added.

"You know the rules," Ben admonished.

"Rules are made to be broken," the older man said, smiling at Ben.

"You know how that goes. You did tell me not to go in the lava tube. And you helped me figure out the time rip. You've broken a few rules along the way."

Ben shrugged. "It happens. Let's see how it plays out this time." He turned to greet two customers who had just walked through the door.

The man pulled a book out of his duffel bag, walked over to the corner bookcase, and placed it on the shelf when Ben wasn't looking.

RIFT: A RIP IN TIME is available as both a print book and an ebook on Amazon.

Book of the Month ~ December

Can someone really travel back in time? What if there was a magical place where that could happen? And all you had to do was to show up at this "imaginary" place?

It happened to Sara and Jason. They met at the Kairos Coffee Shop.

RIFT: A RIP IN TIME tells their story. 

It wasn't supposed to happen. Not again. But it did.

Kilauea erupted on February 22, 1969. It's now February 22, 2019, fifty years later.

Sara and Jason are newlyweds, on their honeymoon in Hawaii. While exploring the lava tubes at Kaumana Caves, they find two stray puppies, scared by the tremors preceding a volcanic eruption, and attempt to rescue them.

Sara and Jason don't know it yet, but they're about to embark on a time travel adventure into a parallel reality through a rip in time.

Separated by fifty years and an erupting volcano, can they find each other again?

And what does Ben, the owner of the Kairos Coffee Shop, have to do with all of this?

RIFT ~ A RIP IN TIME is available on Amazon.