Roaring into the Twenties

In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicted the Roaring Twenties in sharp contrasts. "The parties," he observed, "were bigger ... the pace was faster ... the shows were broader, the buildings were higher, the morals were looser, and the liquor was cheaper."

He also opined on the rich. He said "they are different from you and me," in case you've forgotten, and "possess and enjoy early." They are "soft where we are hard" and "cynical where we are trustful."

In Sea Spray, the third book in the Time Box series, I offer a more nuanced view of the era. Though the Lanes, my time travelers, see 1920s New York as Fitzgerald saw it, they also see its softer side. They experience the family dinners, the silent movies, the classrooms, the boat rides, and the quiet walks. Along the way, they meet Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig in person and see George Gershwin in his prime. They became an integral part of a memorable decade.

The Lanes, seven in all, predictably embrace the era. Ten months after fleeing 2021 with two time machines that a madman billionaire desperately wants back, they are eager to settle down and resume normal lives. For a while, each succeeds with typical flair.

Parents Mark and Mary find housing in affluent East Hampton, where a gracious elderly couple offers use of their mansion. Son Jordan and his new wife, Jessie, plan a family. Siblings Laura, Jeremy, and Ashley pursue fun and adventure. All form strong friendships with the Prices, a mysterious mirror-image family that lives next door.

Robert Devereaux could not care less. Still reeling from the theft of his million-dollar devices, he sends a ruthless hit man to the past to retrieve his property and rid the world of his former business partner and his troublesome clan. He wages war on a family.

Randy Taylor, who programs the machines, is determined to stop him. He tries to undermine his boss and save the Lanes, even as he tries to help his mother beat a deadly illness. He pines for the day he can join his fugitive friends and rekindle a relationship with Laura Lane.

I confess this was a difficult book to write. Not because the story didn't come together quickly, but rather because of the subject matter. Smiles and frowns get equal time in this novel. So do laughs and tears.

Like Indian Paintbrush, the third book in the Carson Chronicles series, Sea Spray is a bittersweet bridge that connects two halves of a sweeping historical saga. It is a tale that tests the courage and resolve of a strong clan and forces them to rearrange their priorities.

It is also a stage that showcases two formerly minor characters. Thirteen-year-old Ashley shines in this work. So does Randy. Laura and Jeremy develop in new ways. The Lanes grow as a family.

Filled with romance, humor, and heartbreak, Sea Spray continues a story that began with The Lane Betrayal and The Fair and will resume with at least two more books. The novel, my 18th overall, goes on sale today at Amazon.com and its twelve international sites.

Enjoying the season again

The holidays are under way. No matter where you look, you can see the trappings of the season. Those of us who cannot see snow or Christmas lights (yet) outside our windows can see other signs of the time.

With COVID-19 still a factor, many of the signs have moved online. People are sharing photos on social media. Advertisers are flooding retail web sites. Streaming services, such as Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Netflix, are touting a slew of holiday movies and programs.

In spite of the commercialism, I love Christmas because it prompts people to take stock of their lives and situations. Along with Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year's Eve, it reminds us of things that are bigger than ourselves. It invites reflection and introspection.

Writers have known this for some time. Some of the most beloved works of literature have holiday themes, from A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker, and Little Women to children's favorites like The Polar Express and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The most famous newspaper article of all time is still an 1897 New York Sun editorial that proclaims, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."

Despite being a fan of the season, I have not explored it much in my own works. Only four of my eighteen books even touch Christmas and only two, The Journey and The Show, address it with substance.

Even so, I inject the season into my stories whenever I can. In Camp Lake, Cody Carson refers to a beautiful vision, later a love interest, as the Ghost of Christmas Future. In Sea Spray, coming out next month, thirteen-year-old Ashley Lane alludes to It's a Wonderful Life when she teases a friend who likes a boy named George Hailey.

I hope to do more with Christmas in future books, including book four of the Time Box series. Set in Oahu, Hawaii, in 1941, it will portray life in prewar America as it edges closer to a December to remember.

In the meantime, I plan to make the most of this one. I wish my readers and others a happy, productive, and most of all, safe holiday season.

Blending fact and fiction

I like history. I like studying it, writing about it, and visiting it -- or at least visiting the places where it was made. For that reason, I have set all of my novels in the past and wrapped several around notable historical events, ranging from hurricanes, floods, and wildfires to wars, fairs, and volcanic eruptions. Even speeches and shipwrecks get their due.

Some of the events, like the 1900 Galveston hurricane, described in September Sky, are big. Others, like the 1964 Beatles concert in Seattle, described in The Mirror, are small. Still others, like the 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds, featured in Mercer Street, are both. All form essential backdrops to works of historical fiction.

In Sea Spray, the third book in the five-book Time Box series, readers will get history both big and small. They will get a big dose of Charles Lindbergh and smaller doses of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and George Gershwin. They will see the Roaring Twenties unfold in real time.

In the novel, set on Long Island, New York, in 1927, the Lanes, a time-traveling family from 2021, see Lindbergh as a person and an icon. They meet the unassuming airmail pilot before he flies across the ocean and later celebrate his triumph in a ticker-tape parade. They participate in history as millions of Americans did nearly a century ago.

Blending fact and fiction is fun. It's also problematic. Doing it right requires homework and guesswork. In Mercer Street, I had to research Albert Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt before introducing them to my time travelers. In River Rising, I had to read up on Mark Twain. I wanted conversations and interactions that never happened to ring true.

In developing my Lindbergh, I researched the real-life pilot and acquainted myself with the screen version. The Spirit of St. Louis, a 1957 movie starring Jimmy Stewart, inspired two chapters and several story ideas in Sea Spray. I added passages about Lindy's cat after reading about the feline's footnote role in the historic event.

Sea Spray, my eighteenth novel, is now in its fourth revision and in the hands of the editor. It is still set for a January 2021 release.