Between Two Evils Series - Book Tour and Giveaway

Crossing in Time
Between Two Evils Book 1
by D.L. Orton
Genre: Action-Adventure, Dystopian, Time Travel, Love Story 

The past isn't over, it's an opening. The future isn't hidden, it's a trap.
If she ever wants to see him again, she'll have to take the risk...

Publishers Weekly Starred Review: "Funny, Romantic & Harrowing!"

When offered a one-way trip to the past, Iz sacrifices everything for a chance to change her dystopian future—and see her murdered lover one last time.

After a perilous journey through a black hole, she wakes up on a tropical beach, buck naked and mortally wounded—but twenty years younger! With only hours to live, she must convince an enraptured but skeptical twenty-something guy to fix their future relationship and thereby save the planet (no one is quite sure why.)

But it's easier said than done, as success means losing him to a brainy, smart-mouthed bombshell (her younger self), and that's a heartbreaker, save the world or not.

Across the infinite expanse of space and time, love endures...

(Unfortunately, it’s not going to be enough.)

FALL INTO THIS EDGY, action-packed, darkly comedic, dystopian love story, and be prepared to encounter a finicky time machine, a mysterious seashell, and a very clever dog (some sex, some swearing, some violence, but no vampires and absolutely no ditzes.)

Content Warning!
This book contains material that may be disturbing to some, and in movie form, would be rated NC-17 for strong language, nudity, sexual situations, and violence (including attempted sexual assault, abduction, intense danger, miscarriage, confinement, a pandemic, religious fanaticism (Christian), government malevolence, and death).
Reader discretion is advised.


**Get it FREE!! **

Add to Goodreads
Amazon * Apple * B&N * Google * Kobo

Lost Time
Between Two Evils Book 2 

From the award-winning author D. L. ORTON comes book two in the Between Two Evils Series...

If someone took everything you live for, how far would you go to get it back?

When a faulty time machine deposits Diego at the top of a towering evergreen, he knows he's in the wrong place—but has no idea he's also in the wrong time. Naked and shivering in the primeval forest, he attempts to climb down—but slips, whacks his head on a branch, and tumbles into oblivion.

He awakens inside a darkened room, crippled and disheartened, and must come to grips with the realization that he is marooned in a bleak alternate future. In this universe, what remains of the human race is trapped inside a handful of aging biodomes. With his mission failed, his world destroyed, and the one woman he loves dead, he can find no reason to go on living.

Except Lani, the emotionally scarred doctor who must put Diego's broken body back together, refuses to let him die, and as Diego heals, their relationship becomes... complicated. He struggles to let go of the past but is unable to get Isabel out of his head—or his heart. Just when it seems he may be able to find some measure of happiness in a world teetering on the edge of extinction...

Another note arrives from his past: Isabel is alive—but not for long. Find the time machine, and go home before it's too late...


~ Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize shortlist
~ Colorado Book Award finalist


Goodreads * Amazon ​

Dead Time
Between Two Evils Book 3 

If someone took everything you live for, how far would you go to get it back?

From award-winning author D. L. ORTON comes book three in the Between Two Evils series...

Shannon fights to stay alive inside a rogue biodome and discovers something totally unexpected... Peter. Lani is forced into the role of the reluctant heroine but rediscovers her street-kid mojo and sets out to find everything she's lost. Diego receives another dirty sock (and a note) from the poorly aimed fireball express: "The window between universes is closing." If Diego has any hope of getting back to Iz, he must get to the Magic Kingdom and power up the time machine before it's too late.

What could possibly go wrong?


Goodreads * Amazon ​

DL ORTON, THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR of the BETWEEN TWO EVILS series, lives in the foothills of the Rockies where she and her husband are raising three boys, a golden retriever, two Siberian cats, and an extremely long-lived Triops. ??‍♂️


In her spare time, she's building a time machine so that someone can go back and do the laundry.


Website * Twitter * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

Q. Can you describe in brief your hit series, ‘Between Two Evils’?
If someone took everything you live for, how far would you go to get it back?
Fall into this edgy, action-packed, darkly comedic, dystopian love story, and be prepared to encounter a finicky time machine, a mysterious seashell, and a very clever dog (some sex, some swearing, some violence, but no vampires and absolutely NO ditzes!)

​Q. Your books have won many awards and gained much recognition around the world. Did you anticipate this was going to happen? How did it make you feel?
It’s always exciting to make a best-seller list or win a book award, but the thing I cherish the most is hearing from readers who say the story touched their lives, made them hold tighter to the people they care about. That is the highest compliment!

​Q. How did your interest in science and time travel first arise?
I grew up reading Asimov, Heinlein, Le Guin, Clarke, and the rest of the sci-fi greats. I was awed by their world building, and the glimpse they gave me of possible futures, both hopeful and dire. But what I loved most were the characters.
I could never remember book titles, and a few years down the road I would struggle to remember all the plot twists, but the good characters stuck with me. They changed me—became a part of my life—made me stronger and more compassionate. I aspire to that with my writing.

---

​Q. When did you realise that you wanted to be a writer?

I don’t remember ever making a conscious decision. I have always loved to tell stories (ghost stories around the campfire, bedtime stories to my children, dolphin stories to just about anyone who will listen), and putting words down on paper keeps me from going crazy. For Crossing in Time, an idea grew into a story, and that story grew into a book, and that book grew into a monster—I mean a series.
I suppose there are people who decide to be writers, plan out their seven-book series, and hit the best-seller lists on the first attempt (and make enough money to quit their day job?), but I don’t know any. 

---

Q. Do you think it’s essential for a writer to have a solid support base?
First, you have to believe in yourself (or as my kids would say: “be butt-head stubborn”). If you want to publish a book, you will have to endure being knocked down (over and over!) and get right back up and try again. You will have to write and rewrite and cry and rewrite again. There will be people (some with no talent of their own) who will tell you that your writing sucks (in the nicest possible way), and critics who will toss your beloved (and meticulously crafted) characters off as flat and unlikable, or readers who don’t “get” what you have to say and feel they need to inform the rest of the universe about your short-comings (in the nastiest possible way).
In the end, you write the best book you can—and learn to let the rest go.
​The one thing all successful writers have in common: They refused to quit.
(But to answer your question: Yes, it does help to have friends and family who believe in you. But in the end, you have to decide if YOU are willing to put in the time and effort and blood-sweat-and-tears it takes to succeed. As Thomas Edison said, Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Buy a towel and keep it handy.)


Q. How would your family describe you?
Busy. 

---

​Q. Can you describe in brief what led up to you penning your first book?

Who hasn't looked back at an inflection point and wondered how things might have played out differently?
I met and fell in love with the man I'm married to when we were twenty-eight, and one of the first trips we took was to attend the wedding of his best buddy from college. At the reception, I ended up seated next to my husband's ex-girlfriend from college! Despite an awkward introduction, she and I hit it off, and we ended up comparing notes on the guy from then and now (you should have seen my husband’s face when he realized what we were talking about–it still makes me laugh!) At the end of the evening, she said something unsettling: I wish I would have met him at a later point in my life, once both of us had had time to grow up a bit. Maybe things would have turned out differently.
It was a very poignant moment for me: Where would I be now if she had held on to him? And, if I had met him earlier, would I have let him go and been the one to attend the wedding alone?
I don't know the answers to those questions, but the possibilities began to fill my head, and a time travel book was born.

---

Q. What’s the best thing about being an author?
Time stands still or years pass in a second. You control the ticking of the clock, the turning of the tides, the life and death of your characters. And every once in a while, you connect with a reader, and a tiny bit of their world shifts, and that is a wondrous thing.


Q. What’s the nicest thing that anyone’s ever said to you?
As far as feedback from readers, John Staughton, the editor of an online literary magazine, had this to say about Crossing In Time:
This book holds WAY more than it appears. I was satisfied, exhausted, inspired, and blown away.
I’ve never met him, and I don’t know how my book came to be in his hands, but I still want to give him a big hug. ​

---

​Q.How do you get inspired to write? Do you have a fixed routine?
Inspiration is a bit like a cat: Sometimes she jumps into your lap and demands to be petted. And sometimes she disappears and you worry she’ll never find her way home.
Perhaps if I put a bell around inspiration’s neck and kept yummy cat treats on hand, she’d be a bit more predictable?


Q. Why Sci-Fi?  What fascinates you about the genre?
The possibilities.
For instance, take a stack of shower curtains, some ants, and a bowling ball.
Drape the shower curtains (two-dimensional objects in a 3-dimensional world) over the back of some chairs to make a new, flat universe. Now imagine that you are an ant, walking, talking, and shagging other ants on top of a single thin, stretchable membrane (or a "brane" in physics-speak). Layered above and beneath you are an infinite number of other shower curtains, all of them with their own allotment of ants (some of which get paid 78 cents on the dollar due to slight differences in their copulatory organs). In a very real sense, those other ant universes are close to you in space (and time), but still seemingly undetectable—until someone drops a red-hot bowling ball on those piled up plastic sheets and makes the real-world equivalent of a black hole.
Mind the gap.

---

​Q. If you had a time machine, where would you go and why?
I'd like to say that I'd warn Abraham Lincoln, or save the people on the Titanic, or peek into the future to see if we manage to survive another millennium, but I'd probably just go back a couple of days so I could do the laundry, take the dog for a walk, and nab the last brownie.

---

​Q. What inspired you to make Iz her own worst enemy when it came to competing for love?
Real life.
Women today have more life choices than ever before (as do men!): Marriage? Career? Motherhood? If a woman chooses to have children, there are even more decisions: stay-at-home, work part-time, pay for a nanny, find day-care, support a stay-at-home spouse?
Having options is good, but here's the rub: At least in my universe, it's NOT possible to "have it all." Time spent building a career is time away from children and husband, and years spent raising the sort of children you are proud of, equals lost opportunities for promotions and raises at work. No one wants to choose between a sick child and a one-on-one with the boss, but anyone who's tried to balance work and family has had to do something like that. There's no escaping the "what if I could go back and do things differently" self-doubts—at least not for me.
Isabel made different life choices than I did, but she struggles with the same questions, the same worries, the same hopes and dreams. I think sometimes we are all our own worst enemies. Isabel's just happens to be a bit more obvious than most.

---

Q. What are your three favorite sci-fi movies of all time?
Alien: I was terrified. I loved that they brought a cat along. I wanted to be badass like Ripley.

2001: A Space Odyssey: The movie is full of good science. HAL was awesome. We are not alone. Question authority.

ET and Avatar: The universe may be a vast, cold, dark, and forbidding place, but it also holds great wonders.

Star Trek: We humans manage to upend the Fermi Paradox, save the Earth, and make friends with other intelligent life. I think there’s a lesson on patience, cooperation and acceptance in there somewhere…


Q. Crossing in Time is your debut work. What was the experience like? What surprised you most about the readers' reactions?
The writing-publishing-promoting journey was (and continues to be) a madcap mix of challenging, frustrating, and exhilarating—somewhat like surviving an incurable disease, I imagine.

​Q. Crossing in Time is your debut work. What was the experience like? What surprised you most about the readers' reactions?
The writing-publishing-promoting journey was (and continues to be) a madcap mix of challenging, frustrating, and exhilarating—somewhat like surviving an incurable disease, I imagine.

Q. Did you plot out all of the events in your book ahead of time to make them fit together? Or are you a bit of a pantser?
I try to be stubborn about my characters' goals but flexible about how they achieve them. I am often surprised by where they drag me.


Q. You use different points of view to tell the story.  Why did you pick this approach?
I prefer to do rather than watch.
(And I suck at writing in 3rd person, past tense.)

---

​Q. Which character did you find the most challenging to create?
Tough call. Each one is handcrafted to be unique, compelling, and believable. I write pages and pages of character background info before I start a book. For instance:
Picasso – Marine officer, head of government project, classical pianist, black, straight, covered in tattoos, takes control, playful, reliable, on edge, contradictory, awkward about showing emotion, past is dark, swears often and colorfully, likes classical music (because it’s “complex”, “deep”) and heavy metal (“because the guitar finger-work is so good”).

---

​Q. Do any of your characters ever take off on their own tangent and refuse to do what you had planned for them?
All the effing time. It's like herding cats.

Q. Besides writing, what other secret skills do you have?
if (self.toldYouThat == true) then self.skills.secret = false;

---

​Q. Are there any books or writers that have influenced your work?
I grew up reading Asimov, Heinlein, Le Guin, Clarke, and the rest of the sci-fi greats. I loved their world building and the glimpse they gave me of possible futures, both hopeful and grim. But what I loved most were the characters: Lazarus Long, Meg & Charles Wallace, Ender, HAL, Serious Black, the list goes on and on.
I can never remember book titles (to my constant embarrassment!), and I struggle to recall the plot twists a year or two after I read even an exceptional book, but the good characters stick with me. They teach me, change me, became a part of me. I aspire to do that with my writing.

Q. Who helped you in writing the book, and what are their contributions?
Every person I’ve spent time talking with changed me in some way. Their life spilled over into mine, and that made my life richer. Those people are all in my books. (You’ve been warned!)
As part of my publishing journey, I took full advantage of many talented pros. I list them all on the copyright pages of my books, but the one I lean on the most is my editor, Dave Taylor, at theditors.com. He refuses to let me get away with anything but my best.

Q. How is your book going to inspire readers?
In my mind, the characters are ordinary people thrown into extraordinary circumstances. Diego is NOT a rich, powerful, manipulative Alpha with a helicopter and a riding crop. (Yikes!) Nor is he a gorgeous, super-human vampire who sparkles in the sun and would happily spend his life watching me sleep (so creepy!) Nevertheless, Diego’s love for Isabel is a powerful force in his life, and when required, he finds the strength to do amazing things for her. Look around you, the world is full of ordinary people who step up and do heroic things when given a chance.
What's the take-away from my books? Don't take the one you love for granted. At any moment, he or she could be taken away from you, and time machines are pretty hard to come by these days. So, go put your arms around someone you love and just enjoy the moment. The journey really IS the reward.

Q. If you are given the chance to change one thing in your book what would it be?
I’ll let you know after I finish writing the last book in the series and someone discovers a plot hole big enough to fly the Death Star through.

Q. Which books have inspired you the most, in the journey of writing this book?
When I was 6, Black Beauty changed my life. My grandmother read it to me, and I have loved books, horses, and seeing the world through another’s eyes ever since.

In 4th grade, my schoolteacher read A Wrinkle In Time to the class, and I fell hard for Charles Wallace, resisting peer pressure, and science fiction.

In middle school, I carried Richard Bach's Illusions around in my backpack (and in my heart): "The world is your exercise book, the pages on which you do your sums. It is not reality, though you may express reality there if you wish. You are also free to write lies, or nonsense, or to tear the pages." I work very hard not to tear the pages.

In college, Time Enough for Love and Childhood's End spoke to me (along with The Hite Report, lol).

Today, if someone asks what my favorite book is, the answer is likely the last book I read cover to cover: It's a zombie story, and I NEVER read zombie books, but this one is so well done! The science in it is cool, and the women are kick-ass. It starts with this little girl locked up in a wheelchair...


Q. What is the best advice, you would give for writers who are trying to write a book?
It actually comes from Stephen King: “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things, no shortcut.”

And the next best advice: Murder the hero, terrify the children, torture the heroine, bestow fame and riches on the villain, and set the whole damn city on fire, but whatever you do, (don't draw cartoons of bearded dead guys and) don't shoot the dog.

Q. What are your hobbies?
Hobbies? Those are things that people who don’t write books have. ?
After you finish work (so you can pay your bills), do the grocery shopping, make dinner, clean up the dog barf in the den, do a couple loads of laundry, load the dishwasher, help with homework, tuck the kids in bed, brush the cat, pour yourself a glass of wine, and reintroduce yourself to your spouse, there’s not a lot of time left in a day. And if there is, then you write. (It took me ten years to write the first book!)

Q. What can we expect from you in the future?
Love is the most powerful force known to mankind: It wrecks kings, destroys barriers, makes us risk everything for a few stolen moments together. Love is stronger than the instinct to eat, sleep, or survive. It motivates us to kill in cold blood, die to save another, and rail against impossible odds. It brings out the best and the worst in us. I think that makes pretty great story material.
In the near term, I intend to follow Isabel and Diego until they finally get it right.

Q. When one thinks of Science Fiction the word machine tends to come to mind. “Crossing in Time”, though, seems to lay the roots of the future on humankind, ‘on building and maintaining human relationships’. Is this something you intend to pursue?
Love is the most powerful force known to mankind: It wrecks kings, breaks down impassible barriers, makes us risk everything for a few stolen moments together. Love is stronger than the instinct to eat, sleep, or survive. It motivates us to kill in cold blood, die to save another, and rail against impossible odds. It brings out the best and the worst in us (and that makes for great stories!)

Having said that, I do think the future of mankind involves machines: intelligent ones that have vast knowledge, compassion, and honor. When we as humans let go of the instinct to fight and kill (and learn to value the unique spark that is intelligent life -- biological or otherwise), that will mark the end of our childhood. When we start falling in love with intelligences other than our own, it will be the beginning of something wonderful. The universe is a vast, cold, and empty place. Intelligence -- in any form -- provides a candle against the darkness.

Q. I must confess that my science days are long behind me. However, curiosity happens to be one of my many middle names and one of the many reasons why I loved “Crossing in Time”. How was the research process for writing this book?
When I first started writing, I used google to search for information: what is the most popular kind of handgun? How long does it take to die from an infection, and what are the symptoms? What happens if you use a negative value for time in a physics equation? How difficult is it to land a single engine plane without an engine (coming in book 2, lol)? What are the biological effects of radiation poisoning?

After a number of those types of searches, I started getting REALLY scary google ads in my browser! I have since switched over to querying "incognito" (and I would definitely advise aspiring writers to do the same.)

One of the most difficult parts of the book was balancing the science with the action-adventure. I work with a very talented editor, and we spent a bit of time trying to find that balance. I love science, and like you, I'm naturally curious about all sorts of stuff: physics, medicine, space exploration, swarming insects, and I could easily spend all day chasing new information on the internet. I did end up taking out a couple of chapters that contained more detailed explanations on how the time machine, time travel, and multiple universes work in the book's universe (and I tried very hard to stick with the real limitations of physics in our universe!) I'm hoping to add them as "deleted scenes" on my website, and if you're interested in finding out more, sign up for my mailing list (BetweenTwoEvils.com/website/sign-up/), and I'll let you know when they're available.

Q. I read about your shower curtain, your ant, and your bowling ball. You write about the existence of different realities. What are your thoughts on the “flexible membrane,” if there is one, between reality and fiction?
I regularly find myself commenting that reality is stranger than fiction. If you've been paying any attention to US politics, you'll know exactly what I mean: even the writers for "House of Cards" or "Game of Thrones" couldn't have thought up what's been going on with Trump!

Part of the reason books are so powerful and can change our world view is because we step into those fictional worlds and become those daring (or frightened or defeated) characters. We feel their losses and celebrate their victories. We long for the touch of a lover or despair when he's been taken away. Good books allow us to learn and experience things that would be too dangerous, expensive, or impossible in the "real" world.

But let me ask you this: five years from now, when you look back at something that happened today, or you recall a great book that changed the way you see the world, which is more real?

Q.  Science is usually associated with words such as cold, logic and exact. Back in the day, women and romance in Science Fiction were seen as distractions. “Crossing in Time” not only has a female protagonist but also a love interest with a male protagonist that doesn’t erase her brilliance. How are your readers reacting to this?
A Kirkus reviewer (who must have been expecting hard sci-fi) summarized my book as "two star-crossed lovers attempt to save the world with sex" and "erotic fiction dressed—barely—as sci-fi" (and that "dressed barely" comment came after he panned the wordplay in the book.)

I can't deny that reviews like that one sting a bit (okay, they sting a lot!) because after spending thousands of hours writing the book, thousands of dollars publishing the book (copyediting, proofreading, cover design, typesetting, etc.), and way to many hours trying to get reviews for the book, it's tough when someone tosses your work off as sordid junk.

But the good news is, most of my readers like the book, and some love it, and when readers say stuff like "it's the best sci-fi love story I've ever read" or call it "clever and absolutely hilarious" make it all worthwhile!

After I received the Kirkus review, the book went on to win multiple awards, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, and made the PW "Great Indie Stars of 2015" list (one of only twelve indie novels selected in 2015!)

In the end, whether or not a reader connects with a book is a very personal (and somewhat unpredictable!) thing. My goal is to get the book into the hands of as many readers as possible and hope that some of them will connect with it (and I live to read those reviews!)

Q. When asked about time traveling, you seem to be interested in going back to do your laundry (ah! I would go back to read a few books). What do you think about the possibility of visiting the future? Is that something you would go for?
To be honest, if I did go back in time, laundry would be the last thing on my list (just like it is now!) I'm more interested in finding a volunteer to go back and do the laundry. Any takers? ;-)

If forced to choose between the past and the future, I'd go forward. I think it's easy to be romantic about the past (simpler times, more relaxed, etc.), but it would be tough to live without antibiotics, running water, or the internet (and I'm well-aware that there are people TODAY who don't have those basic necessities. We should fix that.)

Q.  I don’t have a favorite genre. Still, lately I don’t find myself reading much Science Fiction. However, writers I’ve come across seem to focus on traveling to different planets/galaxies instead of realities. What made you take that step?
I grew up reading Asimov, Heinlein, Le Guin, Clarke, and the rest of the sci-fi greats. I loved their world building, and the glimpse they gave me of possible futures, both good and bad. But what I love most are the characters. I can never remember book titles, and a few years down the road I struggle to remember all the plot twists, but the good characters stick with you. They change you, became a part of you. I aspire to that with my writing.

As far as science fiction, I use time travel as a plot device. It allows me to examine the characters at different stages in their lives and twist things up a bit (would you still have fallen in love with your mate if you had met ten years earlier? What about ten years later? How much is love a "timing" thing versus a "meant for each other" sort of thing?)

One of the toughest challenges with marketing the book is that it crosses genres with abandon: sci-fi, action-adventure, romance, literary, mystery, and (yes Kirkus reviewer who hated the book) some explicit sex. Real life is like that: a mingling of different genres, unpredictable but compelling (and great sex is one of the very best pleasures life has to offer.)

Bottom line: I enjoy reading books that don't stick to some pre-defined formula, so I wrote one that doesn't.


Q. If you could have a famous scientist write herself/himself into your novel, who would you choose?
Someone who was ahead of his or her time and suffered a bit for following the science: Semmelwise (hand washing), Boltzmann (atoms), or Wegener (continental drift). Illegitimi non carborundum (don't let the idiots get you down.)

Q. I love how you've given graphics as headers to each chapter!  Why did you decide to do this instead of the more usual fancy (i.e. illegible) first letter?
I'm a serious Harry Potter fan (although a muggle, I'm sorry to admit), and I love the drawings that J.K. Rowling puts at the top of her chapters. They are whimsical and cartoonish but give you a hint of what's to come. So I copied her idea. (Now if I could just copy her success ?). My illustrator, Micah McDonald, got an early edition of the book and came up with the illustrations on his own. I had a great time going through the story elements that grabbed his attention and coming up with chapter titles to fit.

(By the way, you're the only one who's commented on them, Paul, so thank you! One of the most rewarding parts of writing a book is finding a reader who appreciates (and "gets") the wordplay (illustration-play?), hidden meanings, and outside references. High five!)

Q. The first-person point of view changes through the novel between 3 characters who are very different from each other.  Did you find it difficult to switch your writing style from one character to another, or even face difficulties in deciding from which character to base the point of view on?

Isabel: There were times when I wasn't sure I wanted to trust a writer with my life, but D.L. Orton cares about the same things I do, so I mostly just let the story unfold. In the end, I wasn't keen on some of the scarier scenes (and I'm still sad about that poor dog), but the author assures me that everything will work out in the end. Right, Diego?

Diego: Mierda, it's always a challenge to figure out what a woman is thinking—let alone what they're going to do next—but I gave it my best shot. When you love someone the way I love Iz, you find a way to make it work—or die trying. (And I'm not big on dying.) I believe that beneath our differences—our languages, religions, and politics—people are all looking for that one person who gives their life meaning, that one heart that beats in time with their own, and I'm no different. I may not always agree with the author on the best way to handle the situation, but I try to play the cards I'm dealt to the best of my ability. And BTW, I'm still waiting for my royal flush.

Matt: Bloody hell. I'd love to say that being in a book was a doddle, but those damn Americans can't even make a decent cuppa tea. Imagine being asked to trust one with your black British nature? I expected things to go pear-shaped straight away, but so far, Bob's your uncle—and the author does let me fly a plane occasionally. Besides, math and science are the universal language, and once I get that sodding time machine working, things will be tickety-boo. In the mean time, could someone from the future send back some tea and biscuits?


There's a wonderful, humorous backdrop against the sci-fi which makes Crossing in Time a fun read - but at the same time it doesn't downgrade the scientific quality.   Are scientists particularly funny, or do you see of humor in everything?
A psychoanalyst shows a patient an inkblot, and asks him what he sees.
"A man and woman making love," the patient replies.
"And this?" The psychoanalyst shows the guy another inkblot.
"That's also a man and woman making love."
The doctor holds up a third inkblot and raises an eyebrow.
"Well," says the patient, shifting in his chair, "it's another man and woman making love."
The psychoanalyst gives a disapproving huff. "You are obsessed with sex."
"What do you mean I'm obsessed?" the guy says. "You're the one with all the dirty pictures.''

Q. It's clear that you've got a solid background in both science and science fiction.  Were these already in place before you started writing Crossing in Time?
My parents were both public school teachers who thought watching TV was a waste of brainpower, so I grew up without one. I imagine that explains pretty much everything weird about me. (I still don't watch TV, but man am I addicted to the science channels on YouTube: SciShow, Physics Girl, Space-Time, VSauce, Veritasium, Minute Physics -- just to name a few. I think I'm making up for lost time.)

Q.  Your presentation of time travel and multi-universes is absolutely brilliant!  A gentle layering of experimental results - positive and (sometimes gruesomely) negative - gradually builds into a detailed yet uncertain picture of time travel mechanics complete with potential solutions (and glaring warnings) for time travel paradoxes.  How on Earth (or at least on one version of it did you get your inspiration?
I peeked. ?

Q. There's a feast of sci-fi ideas introduced early on in Crossing in Time, but at the same time I love to hate the details you give regarding the insane prevalence of bureaucracy and red tape.  Did experience play any role in these angles?
Nope. In my universe the government is a model of efficiency, benevolence, and foresight. Did I mention I write fiction?

Q.  A large section of the novel is given over to the physical side of the relationship between Isabelle and Diego.  Sci-Fi, humor and erotica is an extraordinary mix which makes Crossing in Time really stand out from other novels.  Was this a deliberate choice, or did it just come out like that as you wrote the novel?
I wrote the book I wanted to read: a hard sci-fi, action, suspense, mystery, character-driven, funny, poignant, edgy, tight, love story. If you like challenges, try picking just one genre for it. (This is both the brilliance and stupidity of writing cross-genre fiction.)

Q. One of the parts of Crossing in Time I particularly enjoyed is where Isabelle meets Diego in the past and gives him 'training' in how to deal with the past version of herself.  I imagine this might set up a causal loop, in which case there's a certain sense of destiny.  There's also an idea that there isn't the perfect soulmate, but that we can learn from each other and adapt / accept.  Where do you stand when it comes to finding (and keeping) life partners?
People who are in a compelling, fulfilling, and enduring interpersonal relationship don't blow up train stations, shoot up churches, attack nightclubs, invade countries, build expensive walls, or deny others their basic human rights. (Maybe he forgets to put his dishes in the dishwasher every now and then, but I can live with that.)

Spoiler alert: Diego and Isabel do eventually get it right.

Q. Do your books have happy endings?
The universe is a vast, dark, inhospitable place, but little bits of light still manage to shine through and make it beautiful. Sometimes that’s enough.

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Apr 4
kickoff at Silver Dagger Book Tours
Nicolie-Olie's Meanderings

Apr 5
Rabid Readers Book Blog

Apr 6
All Things Dark & Dirty
A Pinch of Bookdust

Apr 7
Dragon's Den
Bedazzled By Books

Apr 8
eBook Addicts
More Books Please blog

Apr 9
Kerrific Online
Craving Lovely Books

Apr 10
Book-Lover
Mythical Books

Apr 13
The Scratching Post
Hurn Publications

Apr 14
Word Processor, Romance, Cats, Kids and Creed
Taryn Jameson

Apr 15
Insane Books
Midnight Book Reader

Apr 16
Literary Gold
Readeropolis - GUEST POST

Apr 17
FUONLYKNEW
Luv Saving Money

Apr 20
Musings From An Addicted Reader
The Bookshelf Fairy

Apr 21
Maiden of the Pages - GUEST POST
Twisted Book Ramblings

Apr 22
Girl with Pen
The Book Dragon

Apr 23
3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too!
Sylv.net

Apr 24
Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin'
Book Corner News and Reviews

Apr 25
A Wonderful World of Words

Apr 27
The Sexy Nerd 'Revue'
Inside the Insanity - GUEST POST

Apr 28
T's Stuff
Teatime and Books

Apr 29
nanasbookreviews
Books, Authors, Blogs

Apr 30
Books all things paranormal and romance
Pen Possessed

May 1
Two Ends of the Pen
4covert2overt ☼ A Place In The Spotlight ☼

May 2
Jazzy Book Reviews - GUEST POST
❧Defining Ways❧

May 3
Scrupulous Dreams

May 4
Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author
ⒾⓃⓉⓇⓄⓈⓅⒺⒸⓉⒾⓋⒺ ⓅⓇⒺⓈⓈ - GUEST POST
​

a Rafflecopter giveaway