Today it’s my pleasure to interview Barbara Bretton, author of Somewhere in Time, Book One in the Crosse Harbor Time Travel Trilogy.
Genre: Time Travel/Romance
Publisher: Free Spirit Press
ISBN: 9781301712953
ASIN: B008ELA6VK
Page count: 300-320
Word count: Approx. 80,000
GIVEAWAY! Be sure to leave a comment (include email address) for a chance to win the audio version of SOMEWHERE IN TIME -Digital format.
Book Description
Historian Emilie Crosse dreamed of a love that would last forever.
Who knew she'd have to sail across two centuries to find it?
When her ex-husband Zane Grey Rutledge showed up at her door with a Revolutionary War uniform that was part of his grandmother's estate, neither one suspected that their lives were about to change in ways they couldn't possibly imagine.
Swept back in time to 1776 where a nation is struggling to be born, Emilie finds herself torn between two men: Zane, her ex who still holds the key to her heart, and Andrew McVie, the Patriot hero of her long-ago dreams . . . .
Reviewers Choice Award - Best Historical Time Travel --Romantic Times
Tomorrow and Always
Crosse Harbor Time Travel Trilogy
Book Two
Genre: Time Travel/Romance
Publisher: Free Spirit Press
ISBN: 9781301018895
ASIN: B008ELGJ0M
Page count: 300-320
Word count: Approx. 80,000
Book Description
Timeless Lovers . . .
Different Worlds.
Shannon Whitney didn't believe she had a future until Andrew McVie crash-lands his time-traveling hot-air balloon in her backyard one summer afternoon and changes her life forever.
He is a Revolutionary War patriot.
She is an independent modern woman.
Their paths should never have crossed but apparently fate has other plans.
Amazon BN Smashwords
Destiny’s Child
Crosse Harbor Time Travel Trilogy
Book Three
Genre: Time Travel/Romance
Publisher: Free Spirit Press
ISBN: 9781301054299
ASIN: B008ELGLGY
Page count: 300-320
Word count: Approx. 80,000
Book Description
It's not every day a woman goes traveling through time
Dakota Wylie is a wisecracking, unemployed, overweight psychic librarian from Princeton.
Patrick Devane is an angry, hard-headed spy with a six-year-old daughter who hears voices.
The only thing they have in common is New Jersey.
But when Dakota leaps from the basket of a hot air balloon to help his crying child, little does she know that she's leaping into history . . . and love.
Amazon BN Smashwords
Praise for the Crosse Harbor Time Travel Trilogy
"SOMEWHERE IN TIME sweeps readers away into a marvelous world where love is timeless and dreams come true. Combine this ingenious plot . . . with humor and sensuality and you have a great read." –Romantic Times
SOMEWHERE IN TIME – Reviewers Choice Winner – Best Historical Time Travel
TOMORROW & ALWAYS -
"Bretton is a monumental talent who targets her audience with intelligence and inspiration." –Affaire de Coeur
"[TOMORROW & ALWAYS] is an entertaining story." –Booklist
DESTINY'S CHILD - "Wonderful wit, a feisty heroine, a gifted child, and great glimpses of friends from the past combine to make magic!" – Romantic Times
Praise for USA Today Bestselling Author Barbara Bretton
"A monumental talent." --Affaire de Coeur
"Very few romance writers create characters as well-developed as Bretton's. Her books pull you in and don't let you leave until the last word is read." --Booklist (starred review)
"One of today's best women's fiction authors." --The Romance Reader
"Barbara Bretton is a master at touching readers' hearts." --Romance Reviews Today
Let’s talk to Barbara…
SKY: What inspired you to write this book?
BARBARA: One evening, not long after my parents moved here (central NJ) from New York City, a hot-air balloon made a surprise landing at their front door! Believe me when I say that nothing the Big Apple had to offer over the years came close to the excitement of seeing that enormous red-striped balloon slowly descending into their parking space! It's not at all unusual to see a hot-air balloon (or three) drifting overhead but it isn't every day when one comes calling. My writerly imagination was off and running.
SKY: How did you come up with the title?
BARBARA: The truth? I didn't. My title was SPELLBOUND. My publisher decided on SOMEWHERE IN TIME.
SKY: What made you choose the main setting for your book?
BARBARA: I am lucky enough to live in central NJ, a beautiful semi-rural area that's rich with Revolutionary War history . . . and hot-air balloons. No place better to set a Revolutionary War time travel!
SKY: If you could spend an hour in real life with one of your characters, who would it be and why?
BARBARA: Definitely Andrew McVie. I would want to sit down with him and find out what life was really like in 1776. And, let's be honest, I'd want all the dish on Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson and their radical, revolutionary friends.
SKY: Tell us a little bit about the conflict in your story.
BARBARA: There are actually two levels of conflict at work. The drama of the Revolution sets many storylines into play and draws the Emilie and Zane (heroine and hero of SOMEWHERE IN TIME) into the patriots' spy ring and places them in direct opposition to the Crown. And then there is the conflict between Emilie and Zane, a divorced couple who finds themselves thrown together into the biggest adventure of their lives. Emilie is complete at ease in the 18th century while Zane struggles to find a way to prove his worth in a world he doesn't understand. Will danger tear them apart or draw them closer together? And, more important, will they live long enough to find out.
SKY: If you had to sell your book based on one run of dialogue (start quote to end quote), which would it be?
BARBARA: This is from SOMEWHERE IN TIME, book 1 of my CROSSE HARBOR TIME TRAVEL TRILOGY. Emilie and Zane have traveled back in time to 1776 and are walking through the bustling street market in Princeton NJ with patriot spy Andrew McVie:
A woman carrying a basket of lemons approached, a hopeful look upon her face. "Fine lemons to cool you on a summer day," she said, extending the basket. "Brought up from Jamaica by my very own husband this Saturday past."
Emilie reached for a lemon, savoring the smoothness. "Oh, I'd love some."
"Two pence the half dozen," said the woman, her smile revealing two missing front teeth.
Emilie looked to Zane who shook his head. Andrew stared at her, his expression impassive.
"I'm sorry," Emilie said to the woman, replacing the lemon in the basket. "I cannot, after all."
The woman's eyes flashed fire. "'Tis a dreadful thing, wasting a good wife's time with idle promises."
"I should truly love to buy one," said Emilie, trying to match the woman's speech patterns, "but I fear I am not able."
The woman's gaze took in Emilie's hoop earrings and crystal pendant. "A basket of lemons for one of those trinkets would be a fair trade."
Andrew took Emilie by the arm and propelled her up the street to where Zane stood near the door of the Plumed Rooster.
"Engage in no idle talk with tradespeople, mistress Emilie, or you will find your pockets picked before you reach the other side of the street."
"It's the same way back home," Emilie marveled as they caught up with Zane. "Only we call them flea markets."
"Fleas?" The expression on Andrew's face made both Emilie and Zane laugh out loud.
"It's a long story," said Zane. "We'll explain it to you some day."
Andrew gestured toward the Plumed Rooster. "I have business to attend inside and then on to the Blakelee farm."
"Fine," said Emilie. "We'll come with you." She started for the door to the pub.
"Nay," said Andrew, barring her way.
"Don't be ridiculous," said Emilie. "Move away, Andrew."
"'Tis not proper."
"What isn't?"
"You would not be welcome in the Plumed Rooster."
"Because I'm a stranger?"
"No," said Zane. "Because you're a woman."
For a moment she had forgotten the inequalities of the eighteenth century. She glared at Andrew. "Is that true?" she demanded.
Andrew nodded. He'd never seen such fire before on a woman's countenance. It both intrigued and alarmed him. "'Tis but one kind of woman who frequents the Rooster," he said, trusting she would infer his meaning from his words.
"Oh God," she groaned, shaking her head in dismay. "
Andrew glanced toward Zane. "Do you understand the cause of her distress?"
"Equal rights," said Zane.
Andrew looked relieved. "A notion put forth by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia a few short weeks ago. It is one with which I am familiar."
"Of course you are," said Emilie, still smarting. "All men are created equal."
"I do not understand your dismay, mistress Emilie. Certainly the notion of equality is one appreciated in your time."
Zane snickered audibly and Emilie whirled about. "Stop that!" she ordered. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"Women's liberation," Zane said to a wide-eyed McVie. "Equal pay for equal work."
"A major consideration for a man," Andrew acknowledged, "but surely a wife does not expect recompense for her services."
Emilie strangled on a scream of frustration. "Women do more than cook and clean for a man in the future," she snapped. "We fly planes and own companies and even rule countries."
Andrew laughed. "For a moment I did not realize you were jesting."
Emilie's hand clenched into a fist and Zane stepped between his ex-wife and her girlhood hero. "I'd shut up if I were you, McVie. She's got a great left hook."
Emilie, however, had more to say on the subject. "In our time, a woman ruled Great Britain."
"That is not difficult to believe," said Andrew, "for Good Queen Bess inherited the throne two centuries ago upon the death of her father."
"Well, there is another Queen Elizabeth on the throne of England," said Emilie, "but her power is only ceremonial. I speak of someone else."
Andrew's rugged face was split by a wide and knowing grin. "Aye, it's a cunning lass you are, mistress. Her powers are ceremonial for it is her husband the King who rules, is it not?"
"Wrong again," said Emilie, beginning to wonder if this whole discussion had been such a great idea after all. She would have been much happier not knowing Andrew McVie was a male chauvinist--a term she had no intention of explaining to him. "England is governed by a Parliament presided over by a Prime Minister." She paused. "For many years that job belonged to Margaret Thatcher."
"Nay," said Andrew, "that cannot be." How could she expect him, an intelligent and worldly man, to believe such nonsense?
"It's true," Emilie persisted.
Andrew again looked toward Zane.
Zane almost felt sorry for the guy. McVie had to be completely dumbfounded.
"It's true," he said. "One day a woman will probably be president of the United States."
"I have heard enough," said Andrew. "I will finish my business and meet you at this spot shortly." He disappeared inside the Plumed Rooster.
"Poor guy," said Zane as the door swung closed behind McVie. "He couldn't wait to get away. We'll be lucky if we ever see him again."
"Was I that bad?"
"He didn't know what hit him."
"I just couldn't believe his attitude," Emilie said. "It was Neanderthal."
"Take a look around, Em. You won't find a copy of Ms Magazine anywhere. If you're looking for equality you're about two hundred years too soon."
His words hit Emilie hard. Women had played an important part in the war for independence. She could recite tales of wives who had followed their husbands into battle, mothers who'd risked their lives to further the cause of freedom for their fighting sons.
To hear McVie talk, they'd done nothing but sit by the fire and dream.
"Serpent in paradise?" Zane asked, grinning.
"Oh, shut up." She started off down the street, picking her way through the crowd of fishmongers, vegetable grocers, and assorted livestock.
"Careful where you walk," Zane said, catching up with her. "Pooper scoopers haven't been invented yet."
SKY: Tell us about your book cover and how it relates to your story.
BARBARA: The cover represents Crosse Harbor, NJ -- the place where the trilogy begins. The red hot-air balloon is the vehicle that transports Emilie and Zane (SOMEWHERE IN TIME), Andrew and Shannon (TOMORROW AND ALWAYS), and Dakota and Patrick (DESTINY'S CHILD) to their destinies.
SKY: Are you currently working on another story? If so, we’d love some details.
BARBARA: Right now I'm working on a third book in my SHELTER ROCK COVE series. (The other books are A SOFT PLACE TO FALL and GIRLS OF SUMMER.) I've been writing knitting paranormals the last five years and this marks a return to contemporary romance/women's fiction.
SKY: What sort of personality does your hero have?
BARBARA: Pure, unadulterated Alpha male. The kind of man who is completely in charge of his world. But take that man out of the world he knows and drop him into a world where the trappings of wealth and privilege mean nothing at all and you'll quickly find out his true worth.
SKY: What sort of personality does your heroine have?
BARBARA: Strong, feisty, gutsy. Highly knowledgeable about the 18th century, it's up to her to chart a path in the strange new world in which she finds herself.
SKY: Did you enjoy writing one scene above all the rest? If so, share.
BARBARA: I think my absolutely favorite scene occurred in TOMORROW AND ALWAYS, book 2 of the CROSSE HARBOR TIME TRAVEL TRILOGY. Andrew McVie has crash-landed the red hot-air balloon on Shannon Whitney's property. She thinks he's just another one of the balloonists sailing overhead during the annual NJ Hot-Air Balloon Enthusiasts weekend and she allows him to wait for his crew to come and get him. She invites him to wait in her kitchen and his reaction when she switches on the overhead lighting made me laugh out loud. And don't get me started about his reaction to running water and flush toilets!
SKY: Tell us about your favorite writing environment. Is it indoors, outdoors, a special room, etc.
BARBARA: I don't know what this says about me, but I seem to write best in the middle of chaos, wherever that chaos may be.
SKY: What sources do you use for research?
BARBARA: Since I'm lucky enough to live outside of Princeton, NJ -- an area rich with Revolutionary War history -- I only have to fall out my front door to be away in the ghosts of the past. Take a thirty minute drive north and I'm in Morristown and Jockey Hollow, reliving the most deadly winter of the war, seeing exactly how the Continental soldiers lived. And we won't discuss the literally hundreds of books on the subject that cover every available surface of my office . . . or the booklets and pamphlets and videos . . . or the wonders of the internet . Research is an endless delight!
SKY: It’s time to promo. What is your favorite marketing tool?
BARBARA: These days, it's definitely the internet. The immediate access to readers, the ability to communicate directly is the most exciting things to happen in my publishing lifetime.
SKY: Are your book/books available in audio? In other languages? If so, give us more details about where we can get them and what languages they’re in.
BARBARA: You can't imagine how excited I am to finally be able to say YES! Having my titles turned into audiobooks has been on my bucket list for years and this year my dream will be realized when fifteen of my titles enter the marketplace at Audible.com, Amazon, and iTunes. Right now I DO, I DO . . . AGAIN (a novella) and CHARMED (a Sugar Maple short story)are up for sale but good news! SOMEWHERE IN TIME should be available by June 25th, followed quickly by TOMORROW AND ALWAYS and DESTINY'S CHILD. I found a wonderful narrator in Janine Hegarty. Just wait until you hear her incredible interpretation of Andrew McVie!
SKY: How long have you been writing? How long have you been published?
BARBARA: I have been writing my entire life. I published my first story in Katy Keene the Fashion Queen comic book when I was nine and I was off and running. I sold my first romance novel to Harlequin American in 1982. LOVE CHANGES was a launch book for the series in 1983. It's a good thing I did because I'm definitely not qualified to do anything else.
SKY: What genre/genres do you prefer to write? Are there other genres you’d like to write in the future?
BARBARA: I love writing contemporary romance and women's fiction. A blend of both is my idea of writing heaven. I would, however, totally love creating a cozy mystery series.
SKY: Do you prefer to write short stories, novellas or novels? Why?
BARBARA: I actually love writing opposite ends of the spectrum: short stories and long novels!
SKY: Do you write books in series? If so, share a bit about the series you currently have published or are coming soon.
BARBARA: I was ten books into my career when I launched my first series. PLAYING FOR TIME was a Harlequin American, the first action/romance they'd published. I didn't write it with starting a series in mind but readers seemed to love PAX, the super-secret spy organization, and my editor asked if maybe I had another PAX up my sleeve. Turns out I had quite a few of them!
Then came my Crosse Harbor Time Travel Trilogy, then some linked contemporary mainstream romances/women's fiction for Berkley and my paranormal knitting mysteries (I know it sounds crazy but give them a try!), all listed below.
PAX SERIES
Playing for Time
Honeymoon Hotel
A Fine Madness
All We Know of Heaven
The Bride Came C.O.D.
Operation: Husband
Operation: Baby
SHELTER ROCK COVE
A Soft Place to Fall
Girls of Summer
Susan's story in progress
IDLE POINT
At Last
Someone Like You
SUGAR MAPLE CHRONICLES
Casting Spells
Laced with Magic
Spun by Sorcery
Charmes: A Sugar Maple Short Story
Spells & Stitches
SKY: If you could make changes to a story you’ve already written, which would it be and why?
BARBARA: It's impossible to re-read one of my previously-published books and not want to change a word, a phrase, a sentence. I'm a habitual rewriter.
Thanks so much for inviting me to visit!
SKY: My pleasure, Barbara. Great interview!
About the Author
Barbara Bretton is the USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of more than 40 books. She currently has over ten million copies in print around the world. Her works have been translated into twelve languages in over twenty countries.
Barbara has been featured in articles in The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Romantic Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Herald News, Home News, Somerset Gazette, among others, and has been interviewed by Independent Network News Television, appeared on the Susan Stamberg Show on NPR, and been featured in an interview with Charles Osgood of WCBS, among others.
Her awards include both Reviewer's Choice and Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times; Gold and Silver certificates from Affaire de Coeur; the RWA Region 1 Golden Leaf; and several sales awards from Bookrak. Ms. Bretton was included in a recent edition of Contemporary Authors.
Barbara loves to spend as much time as possible in Maine with her husband, walking the rocky beaches and dreaming up plots for upcoming books.
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