As I struggle to find a rhythm in this new year and embrace all of the works that have been clamoring for attention, I find myself distracted by the timeline that resides within these stories. If you have visited the collection page, you no doubt have uncovered that most of my works manage to be connected within the same universe. Spoiler alert: they are connected…all of them. While each series can be read apart from the others, the best way to know what’s going on and understand the nuances is to read them in order.

Thus, while I found myself longing to start a new story (rather than finish any of the others), I became completely absorbed with when on Earth it was supposed to take place. Far more time than I’d originally intended became devoted to this pursuit. Mind you, this is not the first time I’ve attempted to tackle this task and it brought the familiar doubts and uncertainties with it. For you see, in my mind and its endless twists and turns, surely all of these tales happen concurrently. They can’t possibly span the necessary 110 years. I mean really: One Hundred and Ten YEARS… No. Freaking. Way.

….And yet:

This regretful discovery brought its own set of dilemmas. How will technology progress? A problem to speculate upon since typically the advancement of technology is associated with science fiction, not paranormal fantasy. How has the human condition changed? Are we still an ignorant and bigoted species incapable of accepting each other let alone the fantastical within our midst? How has the world itself changed? Is there still a world?

All of these and so many others run through my mind as I debate the particulars and possibly realities with fellow writer Edward Van Mach. I say debate, but it might have gotten closer to an argument at the end of which was the concession that while fantasy allows for things to go whichever way the author desires, it still must be rooted in reality and enough realism to make it believable (a topic I have covered at length). Now it is with a heavy heart and burdened mind that I must return to previous works and be sure to add at least mild commentary around these issues.

What are your thoughts? Does it occur to you as you read a series that it is traversing time? What expectations does that give you?