A captivating space-time continuum mystery that toggles between generations with strong-willed characters and intertwining plots that keep readers guessing until the end…
By Sher J. Stultz
Genre: YA Scifi/Adventure/Mystery
It all starts when the sheets go slack, and Aeneas vanishes! He and his two best friends, C.J. and Tabitha are spellbound as they watch the video feed of his disappearance and witness him climbing through his bedroom
window an hour later, wearing different socks. Aeneas Entwistle, a slightly above average eighth grader is about to discover that the mystery of waking up with different socks is much more than just a prank.
Adding to that dilemma, Aeneas is struggling with new feelings for Tabitha and loses his cool during her birthday party. Meanwhile, Aeneas’s twenty-something daughter, Cassie has traveled thirty-eight years from the future hoping to find any small detail that might help locate her missing father. Enlisting Harold, the Entwistle’s quirky housekeeper, Cassie works to rescue a middle-aged Aeneas, who vanishes into the timestream when a 7.2 earthquake strikes northwest Washington in May of 2053. But Cassie’s presence in the past might have unforeseen
consequences for everyone in her circle. As she struggles to find her father, a carefully guarded family secret is revealed, and Cassie must choose between altering the past or violating the shamanic rules of time travel!
“Author Sher J. Stultz weaves an intricate plot filled with unexpected twists and turns that hooks you in from the first page and refuses to let go until the end. Moving at a blistering pace, the narrative is full of
intrigue, mystery, and a sense of wonder that you find in well-written adventure tales. The characters are colorful and full of life. Their distinct quirks and idiosyncrasies only make them more appealing to the
reader. I adored the friendship between Aeneas, Tabitha, and C.J. I also found myself enjoying the dynamic between Cassie and Harold.
Recommended to young adult sci-fi/fantasy lovers.” – Reviewed By Pikasho Deka for Readers’ Favorite
Book Information
Release Date: January 2022
Publisher: Independent
Soft Cover: ISBN:979-8455440540; 290 pages; $14.99; eBook $3.99
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B09P7ND264
Book Excerpt
Entwistle Farm, Walla Walla, Washington, July 1986
William’s whole body shook, causing his teeth to chatter in his head like a jackhammer. He was freezing, even though it was summer. William picked himself up off the hardwood floor and leaned against his upstairs bedroom windowsill. Heat shimmered over rows of crops in the fields behind their house.
“Not this again,” he groaned. William had been caught in a stream of energy, trapped in his own memories of the past. When he was inside the stream he would wish with all his might he was home, and an unseen force would jerk him back.
A familiar sound reached his ears. His brother Archie was calling him to come downstairs. Archie and Larry were going out to the barn to test Larry’s new invention, a small remote-controlled plane with a camera attached.
William yelled back to his brothers, “I’m gonna shower.”
William tried to walk, but his legs were like jelly. He stumbled into the bathroom, gingerly stepped into the shower, and turned the nozzle. He rested his head against the tiles and let warm water fall on his body.
Nourish Your Readers: A Time Travel Author Dishes About Food
Teenagers love to talk about food. I never imagined how popular this topic was until it came up one day in a sixth-grade science class and the room erupted in opinions regarding the meal I’d eaten the night before. Teens are perpetually hungry, but they are surprisingly discerning eaters.
When my classes were sidetracked by these conversations with everyone contributing their favorites, I noticed small light bulbs popping up. Asian kids would be surprised to hear how many of their classmates loved the foods of their culture. The same goes for the Hispanic and Islander kids. But what really stuck with me was the enthusiasm generated by talking about favorite meals. Food was a common language.
All teens love pizza, but now they love burrito bowls, dim sum, sushi, pho, samosas, gyros, pierogies, Korean BBQ, poke, and of course, they all love French fries, but these aren’t your parents’ French fries. These crispy fried potatoes are on a whole new culinary level from the days of serving them with ketchup.
I started thinking if my students were enthusiastic about discussing food, then maybe they’d appreciate reading about it, too. It was easy to make Aeneas, my fourteen-year-old time traveler leading protagonist, a voracious eater, but I needed someone to cook for him that wasn’t his mother. His mother, Miranda, is a world-class scientist and doesn’t have time to make dinner! Enter Harold, the hipster programmer/housekeeper, down on his luck, whose brain works best when he’s cooking. Harold brings a hefty load of quirkiness with his many idiosyncrasies, especially his wizardry in the kitchen. And it was at that point, I decided to intentionally include meals in the story.
Aeneas, C.J., and Tabitha, the three best friends that start off the Timestream Travelers saga, hang out at a local coffee shop where hot drinks and warmed baked goods provide a cozy backdrop for their secret conversations. Persephone, Aeneas’s nosy, brilliant younger sister is busy cooking up bat dropping bars and perfecting her hot chocolate recipe, while she nudges Harold to create more vegetarian dishes for her family to lower their carbon footprint. And even during a family crisis, there’s always food being served, keeping that nourishing aspect alive throughout the book.
Book two of the series is on its final editing journey and it’s full of food, too, but I’m no longer consciously including it as I did in the very beginning when I started writing The Rescue. Now food is part of the ambiance. Adding a reassuring layer of reality to a fast-paced time travel adventure might even be one of the unique hallmarks of my stories. Who knows? Maybe I’m inspiring my readers to rummage through their kitchen cabinets like Harold and use their leftovers to make an omelet!
Sher Stultz lives with her family in the Puyallup river valley. The Timestream Travelers Chronicles is her debut series. Her inspiration for this series came from teaching middle school science and her deep curiosity with genetics and time travel. As a science teacher for seventeen years, she is always delighted to bump into former students and learn about the new adventures in their lives. In her spare time, she kayaks, dances, practices yoga, and goes camping or hiking. In the summertime Sher grows pollinator gardens for bees and hummingbirds, attends outdoor
concerts, and reads in her hammock. An ardent conversationalist, Sher enjoys many genres of books and music and will happily converse with anyone on a variety of topics! Her first novel, The Rescue has been warmly received, garnering an indie B.R.A.G. Medallion, a Bookfest gold medal, and was cited as Pacific Book Awards Finalist. Book two in the Timestream series is slated for release in early 2023.
