What inspired you to create the “Marc McKnight Time Travel Adventure” series, and how did the idea first take shape?
I had the idea to use time travel to solve a cold case murder. The book was TIME LIMITS, the first book of the series. At the time, I was working in the BellSouth Tower on West Peachtree Street in Atlanta. I was part of the Data Security Team at BellSouth and, among my duties was the requirement to physical security inspections. This total access to the building gave me ideas and the plot came together over a year or so.
When I completed the book, I got some more ideas for stories with the same character set. So, I created more stories for them. I’ve created five stories with these characters and am on the sixth as of this interview.
Your books blend military-grade pacing with speculative science fiction. How does your real-world technical background influence your storytelling?
While I have not served in the military (I was in college during Vietnam when many of my age group served), I’ve worked with quite a few servicemen and women during my IT consulting career. All of them carry with them a keen awareness of the world around them, and many of them advised me during my writing career. If you find anything that doesn’t feel right in my military references, the error is mine, not my advisors.
Time travel fiction always raises fascinating “what if” scenarios. What’s your personal favorite paradox or alternate-history concept to explore?
I don’t know if I have a favorite paradox, but I very much enjoy exploring ideas about “what if this happens in the past?” It’s a source of great fun to imagine the impact of a change to existing history and how the characters of a story might react to it. Then, it’s even more fun to try to fix the change.
You began writing later in life after encouragement from a student. What did that leap into a second act mean to you personally and creatively?
Good question. Before writing, I didn’t really have a hobby or another calling to occupy me. I just worked all the time. Writing a book created a challenge, so I decided to do it, just to be able to say I had done it. I didn’t realize how much fun it might be or that I’d want to do it over and over again.
How does your approach to writing high-octane thrillers differ from more traditional science fiction storytelling?
I’m not sure it does differ. I can say that all my stories would be classified as soft science fiction. By that, I mean I don’t go deep into the science of time travel. I want my readers to make a “leap of faith” that time travel is a real thing and it works. Then the real story is the position my characters are put in and how they respond. Time travel is just the vehicle that puts them there, if that makes sense.
Marc McKnight faces intense, adrenaline-fueled challenges. What makes him the right character to navigate time itself?
Another good question. McKnight is a person like you and me, with his own sense of self-doubt and confusion and everything that goes with that. But he is also very bright, very loyal, a good leader, and a highly trained military officer.
McKnight is a combination of me and all the military officers I’ve known. Not everyone is aware of this, but in addition to the intense training and focus drilled into them, you don’t get to be an officer in a special unit (Rangers, Delta Force, SEALs, etc) unless you’re extremely smart. Every officer I’ve ever met is whip-smart, always prepared, and sharply aware of their surroundings.
How do you balance scientific plausibility with page-turning entertainment?
In my humble opinion, all science fiction requires the reader to make a leap of faith to accept the story’s premise. If they do, the author can weave all kinds of adventures into the story, and the science fiction will hold up.
As the author, I try to make the “leap of faith” as small as possible so it’s easy to accept the premise of the story.
If you’d like an example of a story where the “leap of faith” is really too far to hold up, check out the movie “Escape from New York” with Kurt Russell. I’m a Kurt Russell fan and I loved the part he played, but I didn’t buy the premise at all.
What kind of research goes into crafting your timelines and historical settings?
Yet another great question. While creating the plot and writing the book, I create an intricate timeline for the story so I can always be aware of how much time each scene requires and how the times of the time leaps relate to each other. Some of my stories take place across multiple timelines and keeping them in sync can be an issue. The timelines I build always help me to keep the stories straight.
Have any real historical events surprised you once you began exploring how they might change under time travel interference?
None specifically, but some of the events I portrayed in THE TIME PATRIOT Series two years are eerily close to the actual events in the MidEast today.
What’s the most challenging part of writing time travel fiction—continuity, paradoxes, or something else entirely?
Continuity and paradoxes are always a challenge. I try to watch the details of the story very closely so that I can manage them when they occur.
The challenge of writing something new and unique is, to me, the hardest thing to do. There are some many tropes associated with time travel, and most of them have been explored in great detail by other authors. So far, I think I’ve done a pretty good job of being unique, but I guess someone else should judge that.
You play bass in a classic rock quartet. Does music influence your writing rhythm or pacing?
Not in the way you might think. I’ve been playing since I was fourteen. It’s very much a “team sport” — four people working together to make a song interesting or, at least, close to the original artist’s version. Today, it’s very relaxing and therapeutic. We indulge in “music therapy” every Wednesday night.
Living in Gainesville near Lake Lanier sounds inspiring. Does your environment ever find its way into your stories?
It’s made it to my books only once, and it was sort of a “glancing blow.”
I do have another story idea that takes place around the area, but it’s not a scifi story. It’s actually a murder mystery that involves the area and my IT expertise — Development Operations. I might eventually write that story.
As an award-winning author, what has been the most rewarding response from readers?
One morning at the doctor’s office waiting room (of all places), my wife Martha and I ran into one of her old friends. Martha introduced me to the lady. She blushed and said, “I love your time travel stories. I’ve read every one of them.”
My feet didn’t touch the ground for the rest of the day. That’s why I write.
Looking ahead, what can readers expect next from Marc McKnight—or from you as a storyteller?
I don’t want to give too much away, but my current work in progress includes McKnight and his team as they get involved in the history of the state of Texas.
What has your AllAuthor experience been like so far? What are some highlights?
I’m finding AllAuthor to be a great platform for promoting my books and my Brand. It’s great to find a platform that understands and helps address issues that concern Authors. Thanks a million, AllAuthor!
