Devorah Fox Interviews a Time Master: Guest Blog

Devorah Fox, author of The Bewilidering Adventures of King Bewilliam epic fantasy series, co-author of the contemporary thriller Naked Came the Sharks, and author of “Turning the Tide,” one of six stories in Masters of Time, A Sci Fi/Fantasy Time Travel Anthology, had a chance to interview of the Masters of Time, a fellow writer.
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A Time Master Reveals All

Devorah: In “Turning the Tide,” you decide to change the past in order to alter the fate of two men you love. Didn’t you realize that, if you did, you might never meet them?

Time Master: I did realize it, although even that wasn’t certain. In time travel there are “inconsistent causal loops” and “consistent causal loops.” The inconsistent type are what’s called the "Grandfather Paradox" of time travel. According to that scenario, if a person travels back in time and kills her grandfather, her father would then never be born and neither would she. The paradox is that obviously she was born, so how else could she have traveled back to her grandfather’s day?

My time manipulation was a slightly different situation. It was more like a “consistent causal loop.” As I embarked on my time travel exercise, I believed that at any point in any of our lives there are different tracks we can follow, deliberately or reactively. I imagined that I would set Mike Finch and Ernie Dangelo on different paths, paths with positive outcomes. I knew the end result would likely be that we would never meet. I loved them both so much their happiness was more important. However, it’s also entirely possible that even though their lives took different courses as a result of my efforts we could still have met. There are so many roads with so many forks in them.

Devorah: You stated that you believed you could actually manipulate time because you’re a writer.

Time Master: I do believe that. I know that I influence the future. For example, at this moment, you don’t know King Bewilliam, the hero of the epic fantasy series I’ve written. Here’s a copy of The Lost King, the first book in the series. Take it home, read it. Then you will be acquainted with King Bewilliam. I have changed your future by bringing someone new into your life, someone you would not know had I not brought him into existence with my writing

Devorah: But your King Bewilliam is a fictional character. It’s not like you introduced me to a real person.

Time Master: He’s just as compelling as if he were real, though. People have become captivated by his predicament, want to see if he will get answers to his life questions, and eagerly await the publication of the next book in the series to see what King Bewilliam gets into next. He’s just as real to his fans as if he were alive.

On an even deeper level, I can influence the future of King Bewilliam’s fans who empathize with him and his difficulties. Because his experience is authentic enough to them, they may employ in their own lives the solutions to which he has arrived. Through my fiction, I can present tactics to fix the real problems of actual people and change their fate.

Devorah: Hmm, fiction is powerful.

Time Master: Indeed it is. I know you can recall books that made you laugh, cry, fear, think, books that transformed your life, books that have resulted in global changes. The writer imagined a certain outcome, described it in words, thereby making what was conceptual, actual. Readers validated that by acting on it, manifesting it in their own lives. Writers have always been and will continue to be agents of change.

Devorah: So, what’s next? Are there others whose pasts you’d like to alter?

Time Master: There are indeed: my parents. But that’s a whole ‘nother story.

If you're interested in Logan 6's story, visit Devorah's interview about her short story at the Masters of Time Blogspot. 
Masters of Time: A Sci-Fi/Fantasy Time Travel Anthology is available for just .99 onPre-order! So get your copy today.