First Time by Samuel Ben White--Interview & Blog Tour

FIRST TIME by Samuel Ben White. 
Welcome to this stop on the FIRST TIME blog tour, hosted by I Am A Reader Not a Writer. This one sounds fantastic! Thanks to Samuel for the interview below!

What if history didn’t happen that way the first time?

Garison Fitch was a scientist and something of a celebrity in the Soviet Americas in the early 21st century until dropping off the map to pursue his theories in the remote La Plata Canyon. Living in a log home he built himself (which was too close for some to the Empire of Japan (30 miles to the west) and the Republic of Texas (15 miles to the south), Garison began to experiment with interdimensional travel.

An experiment with such travel surprised him when he landed him in 1744. There he discovered a primitive world of somewhat suspicious people, but a freedom he had never experienced before–which may have been most frightening of all. As he was trying to discover how to return to the future, he met and fell in love with Sarah, a beautiful young woman who is an outcast due to the fact that it was never known who her father was. They married and had three children and he decided to stay in the past and raise his children with the woman he loved.

When he tried to rid himself of his time machine by sending it into the future, however, it took him with it. Now, he finds himself back in the twenty-first century where a woman (Heather) he has never met claims to be his wife and the country he grew up in is gone, replaced by something called “The United States of America”. He quickly realizes that something he did in the past has changed the future but he doesn’t know what until he stumbles across a strange item in Heather’s purse.

Should he live in this new world, or try to travel once more through time and return the world to “normal”?  As he becomes convinced he can’t return to Sarah, he’s not really sure if he can live in this new world he created, either. (Taken from author's website.)

For a reading sample, click here.

What made you decide to become a writer?

Many of my earliest memories are of my parents reading to me, so I grew up being fascinated with the idea that a person could tell a story that other people would want to hear or read.  So, in first grade, as soon as I started learning how to write words and make sentences, I would try to string them together into stories.  Before that, even, I would drawn cartoon stories and get my sisters to write in the wording.

Who inspires you?

So many people, but some who deserve special billing would be: Louis L’Amour, CS Lewis, Andy Griffith, Jesus and Agatha Christie.  All of them—including the two on that list who weren’t, technically, writers—could create such great characters and tell stories I not only wanted to read all the way through and were uplifted and challenged by, but made me want to know more.

Of people who I actually know, I am especially inspired by my parents (for their love of each other, their volunteerism, their compassion); the hospice nurses who do full-time what I only do on a volunteer basis; and just about anyone who goes beyond their fears and does something to make their world a better place.

What would you like your readers to get out of your writing?

Many of my novels involve time travel, and I’m convinced that all good writing is time travel writing (even the local sports reporting) because it takes us to some place and time where we’re not.  Back to the ancient past, back to last Friday’s football game, or into some utopian or dystopian future.

So I would like my readers to be inspired, perhaps, to find out about my Christian faith and pursue their own, but mainly I want my readers to just be able to travel in time for a little while, like a vacation in their mind.

Where did this idea come from?

The idea for “First Time: The Legend of Garison Fitch” was first planted in my mind by a conversation in my teen years with my father.  We were discussing time travel—probably after watching reruns of “Star Trek”—and began to discuss what it would be like to be a modern person who somehow switched places with a famous person from history, like Patrick Henry.

The idea germinated for many years before I finally locked on to the idea of someone from a present that’s wildly different from our own traveling back in time and accidentally creating our world by doing something in the past.  Once I figured out what they would do, and when, the rest of the story basics were easy to come by.  Then, it was just a matter of writing (and re-writing, and re-writing, etc.) for about a decade to get the story where I wanted it to be.

Who was your favorite character to develop?

Sarah.  She originally just had a pretty small “part”, but then it was as if the character took over and told me, “You realize I’m really the motivation for everything that Garison does, right?”  From there, and through several iterations, her part didn’t get a whole lot larger, but it did get stronger.  So strong that she practically grabbed the sequel and dragged it around herself—again, not so much in “time on page” but in influence.

Any advice for aspiring authors?
Keep writing.
Also, make sure you like what you write.  It’s good to learn your audience, but you can’t write just for the audience.  If you don’t like the story, you’re probably not going to be able to convince anyone else to like it, either.

What can we expect next from you?

I have other novels already available which focus on time travel, some detective novels, three fantasies, a western, and some romances.  My most recent novel, “TimeKeeperS” features Garison Fitch as a much older man and is a detective story that involves time travel.

I’m working on another detective novel—“just” a straight murder mystery this time—as well as a sequel to one of my Christian romances.  I have another time travel/detective story and a couple more fantasy novels in the works, but they may still be years from completion.

Where can we purchase your book?

For Kindle at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D2Z5LS

For Nook at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/first-time-samuel-ben-white/1111545487?ean=2940011800856

Through Smashwords at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/243161

Plus, they can read more about it, find convenient ordering links, and learn more about my other novels (including the rest of the Garison Fitch trilogy) at http://www.garisonfitch.com

THANK YOU SAMUEL!