Welcome to another character interview on The Glorious Outsiders, where we are obsessively addicted to good books and memorable characters! At the start of each month I post an interview with a character from a book I have enjoyed and for September that book is Timelines, the latest release from author Karen J. Mossman. I recently enjoyed this book, which is a quick read that leaves you desperate for more! It’s also a great introduction to Karen’s writing and style so I’d recommend it as a place to start if you’d like to try out her work. I hope you enjoy this interview with the main character, Julie! At the end you will find links to the book and Karen’s social media platforms!

1. How old are you?

Hi I’m Julie and I am 28 years old.

2. Where do you come from?

I guess I could say I come from your future.

3. Where do you live? Describe it to us

I live and work in the West Sector. The world is divided into four, North, East, South and West. I live in the year 3326, where the world is very different from yours from what it once was.

4. Do you have a family, if so tell us about them

I have mother, but that’s all. She is a good person, but as I live and work on the base, I see very little of her. My work colleagues are my family.

5. Who is your best friend and why?

Ricardo. He and I time hop together. He knows me better than anyone else and we look out for each other.

6. What are your talents?

I don’t know if you would call them talents, but I’m good at my job. Not everyone can do it. We travel to the past and are invisible. We have no tangible form. We cannot interact, take anything with us, or bring anything back. We are basically an observer who reports back past atrocities, this helps our world credit rating. We cannot dwell on what we see or become emotional about it. I have been told that is a talent, but it’s not really. We are highly trained personnel.

7. What do you think people think of you?

They think that I am good at my job and I am. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be able to do it.

8. What’s your biggest fear?

That something will go wrong with our time hop. Nothing has ever gone wrong, until this now.

9. What’s your biggest hope?

That there would not be so much fighting between the sectors. The East or the worst, but the other have their problems. It is only us in the West who are sensible and fair.

10. Is there anything about your life you would change?

No, absolutely nothing. It is a great honour to see our history first hand. To witness what it was like for people back then.

11. Where would you like to be in 5 years time?

I don’t have any aspirations to get further in my job. Time Traveling is the ultimate and everyone else aspires to it.

12. Do you have any regrets?

With this trip going wrong, I became emotionally involved. This gave me regrets that lingered long after. I wanted to help the people who were being rounded up and killed. I felt their fear and it will lingers inside me forever.

13. How would you like to be remembered?

As someone who was good at her job and not for how I reacted when I returned as an emotional wreck.

14. What are your hobbies/how do you relax?

I like to read. We have a vast digital library and I particularly enjoy reading fiction based on the places I’ve visited. It brings me closer to my ancestors and I get to experience and feel as they did in their time. Although, I must say when I experienced it first hand and felt the emotional value, it put me off reading for a long time.

Thank you very much for having me. I must add that you find can find out more about my story on a video made by Norns Triad Publications. They now offer this service to other authors. More information here – https://nornstriad.com/services/norns-video-production/

Book Description

Time travel can be a useful resource, but what if something unexpected goes wrong? In the year 3236, the government uses time travel to document the mistakes of the past. It’s a way to gain power in the present by learning from history. During a leap back to WWII, Astro-archeologist Julie finds her safe projection hasn’t gone as planned. Instead of the ethereal presence she’s supposed to be, she’s actually visible. What will that mean when she stumbles upon a small village being raided by German soldiers? Faced with death all around her, Julie has to find her way back to the future. But when she returns, will she be the same person she was? Or will the paradoxes of time travel change her life forever?

Universal Link https://geni.us/TimeLines

Publication Date 30th August

Website karenjmossman.com

Find our more about Karen and her social media links are here – https://nornstriad.com/authors/karen-j-mossman/

Excerpt

A displacement like this had never happened before. Ricardo and I were both seasoned travellers, and neither of us experienced anything like this. The anomaly was more cause for concern than my response to it, but even more reason for me to pull myself together.

I forced open my eyes. Not only did I want to see my colleagues, but I also needed to reassure myself that I really was home. It comforted me to hope everything had somehow been a dream.

With a whoosh, the sliding doors to the hospital bay opened. Stepping inside, Ricardo gently laid me on a bed.

Exhausted, my eyes closed again the second I hit the sheets. Darkness consumed me as I slipped into unconsciousness.