The Sun, The Moon, and Maybe The Trains by Rodney Jones
Synopsis: What would it take to convince you that the woods you just left is a hundred and forty-four years distant from the one you entered?
Ten years have passed since the Civil War broke up John Bartley’s family. Living with his aunt and uncle in the tiny village of Greendale, Vermont, isn’t filled with excitement for a seventeen-year-old.
Until John walks into the woods one day and stumbles into 2009…
Fortunately, he chances upon the outspoken Tess McKinnon. To earn her trust, he must first convince her that he is neither a lunatic nor a liar. The proof he needs is buried at the end of a mountain road, where the ruins of Greendale lie just beneath a layer of dead leaves and moss.
What became of his home? Why is there no record of its existence?
Ten years have passed since the Civil War broke up John Bartley’s family. Living with his aunt and uncle in the tiny village of Greendale, Vermont, isn’t filled with excitement for a seventeen-year-old.
Until John walks into the woods one day and stumbles into 2009…
Fortunately, he chances upon the outspoken Tess McKinnon. To earn her trust, he must first convince her that he is neither a lunatic nor a liar. The proof he needs is buried at the end of a mountain road, where the ruins of Greendale lie just beneath a layer of dead leaves and moss.
What became of his home? Why is there no record of its existence?
Author Interview:
P: What made you want to write about time traveling?
R: The devil made me do it, though I must confess
he twisted my arm but only the slightest bit. I’ve always been attracted to
stories involving time travel and alternate realities. I’m fond of quirky and
bizarre. The idea for The Sun, the Moon,
and Maybe the Trains came to me while I was living in Vermont, which is
where the story takes place. One day in 2009 I was hiking around Lowell Lake,
listening to the sounds of cars and planes in the distance, and this thought came
to mind: What if I was from the year
1875? What would I make of these strange noises? I walked along the wooded
path playing with this idea, just having fun with it, and then I wondered: What if I was that fellow from 1875 and I was
to step from this woods and find myself in 2009? And in that, the premise
of the story was born.
P: Have you always wanted to be an author?
R: No. For as far back as I can remember, I wanted
to be an artist. And I was for most
of my life. The idea of writing didn’t occur to me until I had passed my
mid-forties. It was a harebrained idea, really. I mean, I had not the first
clue about writing a story—I
could barely spell. I didn’t know the difference between an utter and an udder,
but I learned. And now I can proudly and confidently point to a cow and
exclaim, “Look! An udder!” I guess I’m a bit of a showoff in that respect.
P: What advice would you give other aspiring writers?
R: Write because you love writing. Forever strive
to be the best. Write even when you can’t think of something worth writing
about. There will be days when you look at what you’ve written and recognize a
touch of genius, and others when you’ll see only sorry BS—all good writers experience this. Never give up.
P: The name of my blog is Comfort Books so what is your favorite
comfort book?
R: Comfort? If by comfort you mean a feeling of
well-being, the self-assurance that all is well, all is as it should be, I’d
side with Stillness Speaks, by
Eckhart Tolle. But if you’re talking about stories, novels that are perhaps
calming and relaxing, I’d park my butt in bed with Plainsong, by Kent Haruf. I’d want a two pound box of assorted
chocolates there beside me, though, to enhance the experience.
P: What other genres do you like to write?
R: Is ‘quirky’ a genre? The Sun, the Moon… is the only story I’ve written so far that falls
neatly into a genre. But really, what is YA? It’s so broad in scope, right? I’ve
written an alternate reality story, which I’d call ‘mainstream’ because it fits
nowhere else, and an allegorical thriller that borders on dark comedy, then an
adventure/romantic comedy that takes place on a world that is so similar to
earth that you may miss the fact that you’re on distant planet. And I’m
currently working on a sci-fi, which I feel really pushes the boundaries of
what I’d consider sci-fi. Why is there
no genre called ‘not so young adult’? It seems that stories which don’t fit
neatly into a rigid genre tend to be lumped into ‘mainstream’. I’m OK with
that.
P: Which character was your favorite to write?
R: I especially enjoyed writing Tess, the lead
female. I found it easier getting into her head than the other characters. I
think this was because she is contemporary. She provided an outlet for my
humor.
P: Do you have a favorite place to write?
R: I can’t say I do. I like to sit out in the shade
of the backyard when the weather is dry—not so humid or hot or buggy. Mostly I write from the living room
couch, which is fine with me as long as the grandkids aren’t distracting me. I
guess, what this boils down to is, I need a favorite place—I have not yet discovered mine.
P: Is it hard balancing writing with the rest of your life?
R: For the most part, no. My ‘other’ life demands
very little from me. The one issue I have is sitting for too long. I try to
balance it out with long walks in the country, or long bike rides. I could do
with a good long walk right now. My seat’s getting hot.
P: What do you do when you get writers block?
R: What is that? Really! If I get to a point in a
story where I’m not sure of what comes next, I keep writing. I may put down a
dull paragraph or two before noticing a hint of a better idea emerging. This
doesn’t work for everyone? Weird.
P: What can we expect from you in the future?
R: A lot. I’ve spent the last few months working
with Red Adept Publishing, getting The
Sun, the Moon… ready for print. In my spare time I’ve been polishing up a
story, tentatively titled Entwined,
which is the one I’d like to see in print next. It’s an ultra-quirky coming of
age/adventure/comedy that takes place on a world called Bufadu. I’m also eager
to get back to my new story, the mysterious bizarro sci-fi thingy. It’s been a
ton of fun writing it. I’m about a third of the way into the first draft. So, stay tuned boils and gals—the best is yet to come.
Thank you so much for being here on Comfort Books today Rodney! and thanks for all my lovely followers for stopping by have a great day =D
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