Our first meet the author (Stoney deGeyter - A Crossed Time)

One thing you notice more than anything on twitter, is that when you search hashtag #timetravel you will find a large proportion of people tweeting about timetravel books, which they have written or in the process of writing. Myself I fall into the latter category.

I then got to thinking what inspired these folks to write? What was their own take on time travel? As Isaac Newton pronounced he did a lot of his own great work by "Standing on the shoulder of giants" So for me to learn, you take note from those who have been there and done it, and more than likely selling you their own branded "T-shirt".

Time above all else is so precious, so I would like to thank our first author for sparing some of his own time, and sharing his thoughts with us all.

Let me present.....

Stoney deGeyter ... who you can follow on twitter @StoneyWrites

How? & Why? Did you got into writing. 

For twenty years I've been a digital marketer and I've been writing and publishing articles for almost as long. I've probably published over a thousand articles on a number of industry websites, including my own at www.polepositionmarketing.com/emp/. 

I've always enjoyed the educational aspect of writing, which led me to publish my first book, The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period!. I can't say it's the page-turner I want my novel to be, but it's a great resource for anyone trying to market a website.

As for my WIP, I've had the idea for the book in my head for close to a decade. It was and I think still is, one of the best ideas for a story I've ever heard and it's not something that has ever been done. At least not in the way I envision. 

Anyway, I wrote my idea down and tried to create a workable story, but I just couldn't. Time travel is tough sometimes because you have to deal with foreknowledge. This was a sticking point for me and I never could quite figure out how to make all the pieces click. I put the idea aside and left it alone, occasionally revisiting it briefly just because I thought it was such a cool idea.

Then one time I went on vacation and downloaded a series of books that were mediocre reads. And I remember thinking, if this writer can do this, then so can I. So I came home and started working on my story. After a bit, I cracked it and figured out how to make it work. I didn't have everything, but I had 90% of it. But that was when I realized that there was no way to tell this story in a single book so I split it into three.

By doing that, I'm really not getting to the best part of the story until the third book, but I found a way to make each book unique in its own right, with a full-encompassing story and conclusion, but still being a necessary part of the bigger story overall. For a first time novelist, this is exciting stuff!

Which of your books did you enjoy writing the most? 

I'm still working on the first novel of the three. I have it completed and am going through major revisions and story-tuning. So, this one is the one I enjoyed the most. The next two scare me. I have no idea how I'll pull them off. But then, that's what I thought about the first one up until the moment I completed the first draft. 

I've actually been publishing the book on my website www.acrossedtime.com. I'm still debating whether or not to publish every last chapter but I've gotten some good feedback already on things I need to address in the revisions that I'm making now.

Who inspired you? 

I saw a question on twitter for authors that asked, "What book inspired you to become an author?" The answer to that question is simple: Mine! I had a great story idea and nobody else was going to write it for me. And believe me, I tried. I wanted a writing partner and tried for a long time to get one, but it just never worked out. It was up to me. But my inspiration was the idea. I love watching movies and I see this book as a movie in my head. I want nothing more than to get my story out into the world... and hopefully, they'll like it a fraction of how much I do!

Plus, thoughts on #timetravel? 

I'm very picky about my time travel. Very few movies seem to get it right, but one movie that definitely did was Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. I referenced this in the early draft of the book but my editor told me that pop-culture references tend to date books, so I removed it. 

But since I'm so picky about it, I wanted to make sure to set up the rules by which my book is governed by early on. The entire first chapter of my book is dedicated to establishing these rules, which tend to coincide with my thoughts. 

Aside from the rules, I do have a particular beliefe that if time travel were ever to be invented, it would fully negate the presence of free-will because we can only confirm what has already been done. But again, this is all posted on my website, outlined in the first chapter.

All the best,
Stoney deGeyter | Founder & CEO
PolePositionMarketing.com | www.acrossedtime.com.
Author of The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period!