It’s hard to believe I’ve been back in Northern Ireland for three months, exactly. Where did the time go?
Let me see... I finished the book and am now editing it and filling in bits and pieces; I’ve visited family here and in Scotland; traveled to Edinburgh for research purposes; gone to see some of Ireland’s ancient sights; climbed into the heart of the Mourne Mountains; traveled to Croatia and Bosnia; and met friends, old and new.
To my delight I’ve discovered yet more about myself that I didn’t know. It’s great when you can surprise yourself, just when you thought you knew who you were! Not all of it’s good, mind you, but as long as you walk away a little wiser, then I can live with it. I just said to my brother yesterday that I’m happier now than I ever have been. That amazes me. The past few years have not been easy, but this proves that time does make things better. My father, who is 88, says that time wasted on trivial matters is the one regret in life he has. He says you can replace lost money and possessions, but you can’t replace time. You can’t replace people either, I reminded him, but he had no comment on that.
I love time travel stories and movies. Back to the Future is one of my favorites along with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Doctor Who also, of course, who says, “People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but *actually* from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff.” :-)
Others of note: The Butterfly Effect, and the television series Continuum. HG Wells’ The Time Machine, book and film, and Jana Oliver's Time Rovers Series. Then there's Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. There are so many, it's hard just to pick a few. How about a time travel (sort of) song? Brian May's '39 (Queen).
I love the what if factor, and the layer upon layer of changes that could occur from one tiny alteration in events. I suppose that’s why I wrote Time Twist, and why a time travel theme seems to run through a lot of my stories.
If you could go back in time, at least throughout your lifetime, what would you change?
