I'm having a sale on the e-book version of Traveler's HOT L - Volume 2. 2nd Ed.
It's only 99¢
But, the sale runs ONLY from
Oct 22 through Oct 29
Due to Amazon policy, this is the only week this book will be 99¢ before the first of the year. Regular Kindle price is $3.49.
Book #5:
There is a link to Amazon for the title book in each blog. Additional links are provided to original short stories involved in the development of the title book.
Elevator Speech
Volume 2 of Traveler’s HOT L series presents six trips through time using Traveler’s HOT L. These stories are longer than those in Volume 1. The conclusion of Volume 1’s cliff-hanger, Battle for The Far Planet closes the book.
Background
The idea of a Traveler’s HOT L series was planted while I was writing the first book. In fact, the first edition of Volume 2 included a cliff-hanger as its final story. I pulled that story, egamI esreveR, from the book while—
I need to provide some embarrassing background information before continuing.
The first edition of Volume 2 was completed in haste. The preliminary writing and editing were good enough. What I failed to do was take the time to do what is now my standard practice. I call it the final painful edit. That edit is followed by clean up and proofreading. I’ll never put out another book without sufficient editing.
As a result of my rush to press, early reviewers remarked on the number of typos, grammar errors, and other editing errors. I made nearly 100 edits early on. About a year after the release, I took the manuscript with me on a trip to present at the National Science Teachers Association’s conference in Chicago.
Bottom line. I ended up making nearly 400 additional corrections. In addition, I pulled the last story from the book and rearranged the sequence of the remaining stories.
The Cover
The similarity of Vol 2’s cover to the original Traveler’s HOT L is not a coincidence. Talented artist Reed Steiner, now a teacher at Elsinore High School in California, created both of them. I sent him a very rough idea. The result is spectacular.
Here’s the description of the place from the original Traveler’s HOT L, page 2.
[Shaina] got out of her parked car, grabbed her small suitcase from the back seat, and studied the building in front of her. A red tile roof protected thick, textured stucco walls. She could see a patio through arched openings in the front portico. Most of the place was two stories. Only the lobby area seemed to lack a second floor. It looked like a run-down, Ma-and-Pa hotel whose lifeblood had been sucked away when the Interstate opened. It was smaller than she’d imagined—she estimated only 30 or 40 rooms.
For this cover, Reed decided to include the building that houses the overlapping time pits. While the building is hard to see as background of the back cover, here’s what it looks like au naturale.
Thoughts on three of the stories in this book follow. Only one is linked to an original story written years ago.
We Come in Peace (and Quiet) is the opening story in this volume. It was not originally a time travel story. However, I doubt that anyone would know that without reading the original version, which you can do if you follow the link in the title above. The original story was published in Point Loma Nazarene University’s annual literary journal in 2004.
In a nutshell, the story is about a linguist who wants be the first to experience an alien language. The original story begins with a pilot and a linguist landing on a distant planet. There is no evidence that they are humans, although they are humanoids.
In this version, the two main characters approach Chronos and Eternity, proprietors of the Traveler’s HOT L, with different agendas. The pilot is looking for a thrill. The linguist is in search of fame in her field. As it turns out, each ends up paired with another Traveler’s HOT L customer from a different century—each other.
I had great fun linking the female linguist, Heather, and the male adrenaline junky, Owen, on an eleven-month hyper speed journey to the solar system that’s home to the planet Rotar. It turns out that the language of the Rotarrans can best be described as unanticipated; so different from even her wildest ideas that Heather dashes her own dream.
Dry humor and a hint of romance highlight this tale of a most unusual method of communication.
Color, Clarity, and Cut finds Private Detective Phil Mamba back in action. This story didn’t start out as a time travel story. But, I wrote myself into a blind alley. Check out the PDF linked to this title. There was no way to end the story without massive re-writing. It sat unfinished for over five years.
It turns out that time-travel solved the plotline problem. The villains do most of the time traveling as they attempt to steal a fortune in diamonds. They are, in fact, ready to complete the heist, when warning lights begin to flash is the alien brains of Chronos and Eternity. Time synchronizers Tempus and Epoch are dispatched to recruit Mamba to foil the plans of the jewel thieves.
Mamba is reluctant to help. He was promised that he’d performed his time fabric adjustment service at the end of Cold-Blooded Murder in Volume 1. He meets with the Bekkers, South African diamond mine owners, and his interest is piqued.
It takes what appears to be a chance circumstance that leads to a meeting between Mamba and the bright but undisciplined Kiara Robinson to fully convince him to help. The teenager and her friend ultimately collect the key piece of intel needed to crack the case.
The life lessons learned by two inner-city teenagers--and Phil Mamba--are as fulfilling as the recovery of the stolen diamonds.
One Too Many – Transcript/Q&A and An Unauthorized Trip were written expressly for this anthology. Together, two subtitled sections, italicized above, present two sides of the same coin. There is an Epilog associated with this story as well. The transcript is of an interview of Chronos on a television show. Well, it was supposed to air on TV, however, due to the necessary censorship of Chronos’ answers to the host's questions, the interview never aired. Undaunted, Chronos continues the Q&A without a host. The reader is free to speculate on the points where Chronos’ answers have <TEXT REDACTED>.
The point of the transcript of the Q&A session is to answer questions asked by readers. Having fun while writing this part was also a goal, which I achieved.
The story, An Unauthorized Trip Along the Fabric of Time is a 4,000-word time travel tale written specifically for this situation. I’m not sure it can stand alone outside of this book. But, then, it doesn’t have to.
The short story is based in San Diego, California. Two travelers end up there, although only one booked a trip. The story emphasizes aspects of my time-travel mechanism.
If you’ve read any of the Traveler’s HOT L series, you know
· You come and go from the same spot.
· You come and go from the same spot.
· You can’t take anything with you, coming or going.
· If you’re in the past or future for twelve days, you lose twelve days in
your “own time.”
your “own time.”
There are other restrictions, but if you don’t know them, you’ll have to read one of the books!
That’s enough for this post. In another Book Tour blog, I’ll look at the other three stories in Volume 2; The Knob, A Clubhouse and A Kiss, and the conclusion to the cliff-hanger in Volume 1, Battle for a Far Planet- Terminus.
You've reached the end of the this Book Tour 2018 blog post. Tune in next time for the inside scoop on the three remaining stories in Traveler’s HOT L Vol 2 2nd Ed. – More Tales from the Time Traveler’s Resort.
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