Future’s Dark Past: A Novel (Volume 1) (Time Forward Trilogy, 1)
Author: JL Yarrow
The catastrophic Purge War at the end of the twenty-first century destroys planet Earth, jeopardizing the future for the remnants of humanity. Horrific repercussions roll across the ages until, generations later, a scientific group called the Time Forward Project harnesses a deep-space wormhole in which they can travel through time. They find the portal unstable and shrinking, but they have little choice but to take desperate, drastic measures and journey back to prevent the war.
Kristen Winters is an angry, determined young woman who is fed up with the miserable circumstances that life doles out. In a bold move, she escapes and undergoes the horrific genetic modification required to become a warrior-like time agent. As the protégé of the tough, cantankerous Richard Kants, her potential threatens to overtake his prowess. Kants has his own motives for changing the past, and he orchestrates his own scheme on the side to improve the odds. Their uneasy partnership dissipates when he is assassinated by a rival group from the future called the Keplers, who thwart their missions at every turn.
With his death, Kristen mysteriously finds herself newly partnered with a bewildered man from the early twenty-first century. Hunter Coburn is a hot shot AI scientist who works for the FBI. He has pending wedding plans, a high-paying job he loves, and is a geek with an I-Want-It-All attitude, but suddenly must make sense of the glimpses of the future he sees in freakish jumps.
Together, Hunter and Kristen risk everything to fight through the destructive forces in the past, present, and future. In doing so, they must discover and rise to their own destinies through the vivid, fast-paced, nearly incomprehensible challenges they face. If they fail, all is lost.
A provocative, imaginative, and endlessly compelling work of science fiction, Future’s Dark Past signals the arrival of a distinctive new voice and a story that will simultaneously haunt and electrify you.
Future Unfolds: A Novel (Volume 2) (Time Forward Trilogy, 2)
Author: JL Yarrow
Author Interview
I see you and your wife write together. How does that work?
We didn’t start out that way. When we first met, I was writing a novel called The Recombinant Theory. My literary efforts slowed down to a trickle when we had our kids. I started writing again when our youngest child got a car and was gone most of the time. I’d just finished the first draft of Future’s Dark Past when Leanne asked me if I was any good. Fortunately, I’d entered our manuscript in several contests. We were a grand prize winner for the Chanticleer Review Cygnus Sci-Fi (an international award) and a finalist in a couple of other contests. After that, she started helping by doing light copy editing. Soon it grew into line editing, then my wife jumped all in by rewriting sections. After that, the rest is history. I’m the big picture person and she’s the in-the-weeds person. My wife often says, “We wrote a novel together, and we’re still married.” LOL We love working together and I think that’s the key.
What do you do when a new idea jumps out at you while you’re still working on a book? Do you chase the squirrel (aka “UP syndrome”) or do you finish your current project first?
Can I say both? Most times, new ideas are percolating in my head about my current work. Sometimes a new story line becomes compelling. I typically write the concept in a synopsis format and then put it on the back burner. One time, I woke up in the middle of the night with an entire storyline at my fingertips. I got out of bed and banged out a four-page outline for my next novel. Funny how that happens.
Describe your writing process. Do you outline, plot, and plan, or is your writing more organic?
I’m an organic writer by nature. My characters are constantly talking to me during the week. Scenes unfold. By the time I get to my scheduled writing times on Saturday and Sunday mornings, I’m ready to regurgitate it all. During the week, I go back and edit the previous scenes I’d written. It’s amazing what you see when you leave your work alone for a few days. Unfortunately, I’ve become a bit of an outliner/plodder (yes, I said plodder) because my publisher wants to see it. They didn’t want to invest in a trilogy without knowing what was going to happen. We did characterizations, detailed setting descriptions, outlines, and synopsis for each book, etc. At the end of the outline, I added, “I reserve the right to change any and all the storyline based on what the characters tell me.” That seemed to mollify my main characters!
Describe the book/series in 10 words or less for people just learning about it.
To save the world, Kristen traveled to the Future’s Dark Past.
Is there anything you would like people to take away from your book?
Yes, there is a definite message, but I’d prefer for the book to provide that answer.
What has been the toughest criticism you have received as an author? What has been the best compliment?
One person said our first chapter was “dumb as the day is long.” Ouch. You have to have thick skin when you’re a writer. You can’t please everyone. On the flip side, we received editorial reviews from David Brin and Nancy Kress that blew us away. But, my favorite was from Reader’s Favorite, where the reviewer said our protagonist, Kristen, took her breath away. Wow!
Share some advice for aspiring authors. What advice would you give to your younger self?
I had a college professor who gave me great advice when I first started writing. He compared writing to lifting weights. You focus on different areas to strengthen your body. You’re always adding weight when you lift, even when it’s painful. What he meant is never stop trying to improve and learn to become the best writer you can be. For my younger self, I would say don’t stop until your scene or chapter or book is right. It’s so easy to pump something out and send it or post it, but if you haven’t done the time to make it the best it can be, you’re setting yourself up for failure. No one wants to read a poorly written story that has grammar errors, etc. A sentence that makes little sense will knock your reader out of their suspended reality, stopping them dead in their tracks. Worse, most times they won’t reengage.
What is your favorite line from your book?
Ooh, I have to pick just one? Okay. Okay. Dang. Harder than I thought. I would say then it’s the last line of the book… It’s time to kick ass. Kristen took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. And Chen-Yi is first on the list. Love a good tag for the next book!
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
We travel and explore. Nothing wrong with hanging out with close friends over a good bottle of wine. I love to fly fish. Leanne loves to garden. And we aren’t complete if we’re not in constant touch with our family, especially our kids.
About the Author
John Yarrow, a lifelong Texan, dreams as big as he writes. Leanne Yarrow is her husband’s collaborative partner. Their fascination with what could be imbues the couple’s storytelling with fast-paced, futuristic worlds in which witty compelling characters struggle for an enduring humanity. John’s background includes degrees in English, Education, and an MS in Cognitive Systems. He honed his skills in The Creation Factory Writer’s Workshop, adapted a novella for National Public Radio, and published articles in educational and technology journals. Leanne draws from her careers in education and program development to help bring fresh insights, incredible imagery, and clarifying details to their work.
For more info go to www.JLYarrow.com
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