TRAVELING IN TIME ISN’T AS EASY AS IT LOOKS By Rachel Dacus
TRAVELING IN TIME ISN’T AS EASY AS IT LOOKS
Sure, on paper, it’s simply stepping through a fold in time’s curtain, or switching the hands of the clock backwards, or even just looking with a different angle of vision. But in reality, time traveling can really mess you up. That is, if it were possible, which science says theoretically it is, but practically speaking, it would probably smash your insides and scramble your DNA.
Let’s just say it’s possible physically, and that you could find a way back to the century you’re interested in. Say you even could predict where you’d land – though my favorite time travel novels don’t always give that assurance. Books like The Jane Austen Project posit a scientific way to calibrate exactly when and where you’d land. On the other hand, stories like Outlander make traveling in history seem like breaking your leg while hiking, only way worse.
Stepping into another time could surely challenge your sense of self, for one thing. How many of us carry our identities around in our purses and pockets? When you travel backward or forward to another century, let’s face it, that iPhone is a useless paperweight and your driver’s license could be mistaken for a piece of witchcraft. You can’t get network, so you can’t see your calendar, your to-do list, your recent shares, book sales—come to think of it, that’s sounding better all of a sudden. But without your own century, who are you, really?
Traveling to another century, or even just another decade, also really screws with your wardrobe. I did ask myself before throwing away all those shoulder pads from the 80s, am I sure? And now, here I am in 1982 again, wishing I’d saved them all, and trying to remember how I made my hair that tall and full of scrunchies.
And seasons. If you travel in time and space, you could lose all sense of the seasons. Nineteenth century Australia, for example, has Christmas in July and surfing in December. (Actually, they have surfing all the time, even on Christmas.) If you pop into the 13th century anywhere on earth, you’ll find yourself in the perpetual wintry starvation of the Little Ice Age.
Then there’s the question of plumbing. I think I can just rest my case against time travel right there.
Though I love writing and reading time travel, I want the fantasy, not the real kind. The armchair time traveling kind. With plumbing and good coffee. And you can have all those and your smart phone as you read about May Gold’s adventures with her artist hero in the 17th century. In The Renaissance Club, the time travel is only for a few days at a time, so she has time to freshen up. I think after a few jaunts, May well understood the plumbing issue.
THE RENAISSANCE CLUB
By Rachel Dacus
Fiery Seas Publishing
January 23, 2018
Time Travel Romance
May Gold, college adjunct, often dreams about the subject of her master’s thesis - Gianlorenzo Bernini. In her fantasies she’s in his arms, the wildly adored partner of the man who invented the Baroque.
But in reality, May has just landed in Rome with her teaching colleagues and older boyfriend who is paying her way. She yearns to unleash her passion and creative spirit, and when the floor under the gilded dome of St Peter’s basilica rocks under her feet, she gets her chance. Walking through the veil that appears, she finds herself in the year 1624, staring straight into Bernini’s eyes. Their immediate and powerful attraction grows throughout May’s tour of Italy. And as she continues to meet her ethereal partner, even for brief snatches of time, her creativity and confidence blossom. All the doorways to happiness seem blocked for May-all except the shimmering doorway to Bernini’s world.
May has to choose: stay in her safe but stagnant existence, or take a risk. Will May’s adventure in time ruin her life or lead to a magical new one?
Rachel Dacus is the daughter of a bipolar rocket engineer who blew up a number of missiles during the race-to-space 1950’s. He was also an accomplished painter. Rachel studied at UC Berkeley and has remained in the San Francisco area. Her most recent book, Gods of Water and Air, combines poetry, prose, and a short play on the afterlife of dogs. Other poetry books are Earth Lessons and Femme au Chapeau.
Her interest in Italy was ignited by a course and tour on the Italian Renaissance. She’s been hooked on Italy ever since. Her essay “Venice and the Passion to Nurture” was anthologized in Italy, A Love Story: Women Write About the Italian Experience. When not writing, she raises funds for nonprofit causes and takes walks with her Silky Terrier. She blogs at Rocket Kid Writing.
SOCIAL MEDIA
