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Myth Agent : Science Fiction by L.A. MacFadden ➱ Book Tour with Giveaway

 



Myth Agent
by L.A. MacFadden
Genre: Historical Time Travel, Science Fiction



It's 1945, soon after VJ Day. Odessa Shatto, an antiques dealer, is pierced in the side by a prehistoric bone. The next morning she awakens, horrified to see a hideous green slime creeping over her, hardening into a cocoon that quickly entombs her in darkness and leaves her fearing for her life. Each time it happens, she remembers feeling a sense of being thrown hard, as though from the hand of a giant. And the last time, she remembers her trajectory crossing with that of her fiancé, a soldier who has been injured in the Pacific in World War Two. They may think of their paths crossing as a gift, but in reality it will produce agonizing results.

Ruttledge Rosenbaugh, a professor of science devoted to his students at Hensley University, has spent years learning from his mentor, whose mantra was that time travelers are constantly around and unnoticed. But nothing Ruttledge has ever heard or read on time travel prepares him for what he witnesses in his secret laboratory in 1910. After recuperating from the ordeal, he spends years trying to prove the existence of time travel, while a jealous rogue from his past lies in wait, hoping to debunk any time travel theory the professor develops--no matter the cost.
Myth Agent is a time travel tale, woven of the fantastic, and interspersed with traces of historical fiction.





"No, he's not from Reinhart, but your arithmetic is off by a yardstick!" she frowned. "Thirteen years ago would make it 1932, not 1897!"
Rutt chuckled. "No, it was 1897," he began, but suddenly something Doctor Eyestone had said many times over the years sprang into his mind. 'If ever you believe you are in the presence of a time traveler,' he'd said, 'establish as quickly as possible from what date and location they have come! They may not know where and when they presently are, so inform them cautiously, so as not to cause panic. Who knows what the circumstances will be! You might lose your subject without warning, so note your observations as soon as possible for further study!' No, Rutt thought, it couldn't be—and yet a shiver went up his spine. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his collar-length brown hair. "Do you mind if I ask you today's date?" he blurted.
The child pursed her lips for a moment. "Well, that's a silly question, but since my headache has subsided a bit I'll play along. It's October seventeenth, 1945. A great time, I'm sure you agree, with the hideous war finally over."
Rutt's heart skipped a beat. 'Cautiously, so as not to cause panic...' he repeated in his mind. Mustering a calm voice, he said, "It must be wonderful to have it done with." 
"What do you mean—it must be? Isn't the war being over wonderful for everyone?"
"I...just meant..." he faltered, not sure what to say but suddenly deciding to speak the truth. "I knew nothing about it, but I imagine it is a great relief to have it over."
"How could you not know about it?" The little voice rose angrily. "Even if you somehow managed not to read about the horrors of war in Europe and the Pacific in the newspaper, everyone I know was affected by the shortages of gasoline and food! And there's probably a gold star in at least a dozen windows here in Sawsock!



Do you read yourself and if so what is your favorite genre?

I’ve been a reader all my life, although in the last few years I have begun listening to audiobooks more, rather than reading physical books or reading on devices. I still buy books to give as gifts and to own just because I like having them on the shelf. I don’t really have a favorite genre. I choose what to listen to depending on how I’m feeling. If I’m really stressed I will probably choose a romance with a happily ever after or something humorous. A lot of middle grade books are good for raising a spirit that is down in the dumps. Sometimes I need something deep and thought-provoking, and sometimes I just want to revisit an old favorite because I’m familiar with it.

 

Do you prefer to write in silence or with noise? Why?

Because I use a speech to text program on my PC, a quiet room is necessary. I live out in the country and there is no traffic, so that helps!

 

Do you write one book at a time or do you have several going at a time?

So far I have not felt the need to try to juggle two book projects at once. 

 

Tell us about some of your favorite books.

As a child, I liked to read about families, like the mother and her four children in The Moffats. (At the time I thought it was pronounced Mo–fats, and I remember being teased when I said it wrong.) In my eighth grade history class, we were assigned to read and report on any novel that revolved around something historically significant. My parents’ bookshelves were filled with classics, and I believe my mother recommended John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Needless to say, I was heartbroken by what the Joad family endured in order to survive, but it is one of my favorite novels because it taught me that books can change how a reader views the world. In my young adulthood I remember being caught up in Si’s time-traveling in Jack Finney’s Time and Again, and that I was unnerved but thrilled by the family of carnival sideshow characters in Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love. In more recent memory, I was enthralled by Chava and Ahmad in Helene Wecker’s The Golem and the Jinni, experienced intense emotion along with the characters in M.L. Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans, and came to know like friends Ave Maria in Adriana Trigiani’s Big Stone Gap series, and Lady Hardcastle and Flo in the T.E. Kinsey’s Lady Hardcastle series.

 

What are some books you have enjoyed fairly recently?

The Story Keeper, a magnificent book by Lisa Wingate, Shem Creek and Isle of Palms by Dorothea Benton Frank, The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg, The Fatal Flying Affair by T.E. Kinsey, and What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty.

 

 

What advice would you give new authors?

I now know that it’s important to read your work aloud, so you can hear if your prose and conversation flow naturally. Also, the first edition of Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, which was a textbook in a creative writing class I attended, was very helpful to me.

 

What book do you think everyone should read?

I don’t know for certain that everyone should read The Magic Carpet by Jessica Norrie, but I don’t think it would hurt. A lot of horizon–expanding text is packed into this short read.

 

What is your writing process? For instance, do you do an outline first?

I imagine my methods could be considered unorthodox, but I did give outlines a try and found I couldn’t progress that way. Before I start writing in earnest, I just let ideas circulate in my head, sometimes for days. Eventually I grab one of the ideas and start writing. I think with Myth Agent I started in what ended up being a middle chapter. I worked toward the front, then went back to the middle and worked toward the end. (It’s going roughly the same way with the second Myth Agent book.) Then, when I thought I was finished, I printed it, separated the chapters and lined them up in order on two long tables. While  scouring each chapter again, I made notes on all the areas that still needed rewriting, then put the chapters back together in their new order and rewrote where I thought it was necessary. I can’t remember how many times I went through this process and finally decided I was truly finished, but it did not happen overnight.

 

What is your writing Kryptonite?

Not getting enough sleep.  

 

Do you try to be more original or to deliver to readers what they want?

The only things I’ve written that I thought was what my audience wanted were stories for my children when they were small.

 

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

I would try to impress upon myself not to think about the story I’m working on all the time, because it will only rob you of living in the moment.

 

 

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

The difficult thing is that there is no way I can really know how men and boys feels about anything! I can only rely on what men in the family have said or done, those I have worked with or crossed paths with, and studying male characters in books, movies and on television.

 

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

Each of my first two books, which were contemporary fiction, took approximately two years to write. It took twice as long to write Myth Agent, I think because I stopped so often to research along the way.

 

Do you believe in writer’s block?

I’ve been plagued by it a few times, so yes. 

 




L.A. MacFadden was born in Oregon in 1956 to parents who were fond of the great outdoors and instilled that appreciation in their five children. Her father was employed by the Boy Scouts of America in Oregon, Washington, and Montana, so she spent all of her youthful summers in Boy Scout camps her father directed. But because the programs of course weren't for girls, she and her three sisters spent a good deal of time reading books borrowed from the libraries of nearby towns. Those wonderful days of reading all those books-whether in the library, under the shady branches of trees, or in a tiny cabin, were responsible for her love of books, and no doubt led to her desire to become an author.
In 1975 she married her high school sweetheart, then a member of the United States Marine Corps. Later, they settled in western Oregon, near the beautiful Columbia River Gorge, where they enjoy spending time with their two grown children, grandchildren, and a host of extended family. L.A. MacFadden can often be found at home, working on her next book!





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