Looking forward to your tweest ... LOL.

Well at least you had a good visual!

Chapter 6 is done, and I'm writing the epilogue now!

Ooooh! 
I guess you had a more forceful ending in mind!  Well.  I hope it won't be long before these fellows get their comeuppance! 

I just posted this up on my website with some minor revisions and the author's notes. I'll post those here later on.

Distant Memories:

My thoughts:
This story stated out as a joke. A few of us on the board were bouncing around crossover challenge ideas when Louise mentioned Bonanza.

Of course my warped mind started thinking about how anyone could make that kind of a story work. Obviously it would have to involve time travel and unless I wanted to leave the unfortunate soul I chose to pick on, in the past, I would have to figure out a way to get them back. The idea would not go away so I sat down and wrote the prologue, just to see how it would go.

As soon as I read it back I was hooked. I had decided that it would have to be Ginny that goes into the past as she would have most likely been the one working on the captured UFO. (Ed would be at his desk pushing paperwork.)

I set the story five years after “Expecting” as I wanted to show their children a little older. By giving Ginny amnesia it allowed me to put her in a romantic situation with Ben. She would be about 46 and Ben would have been around 52. The interplay between them worked out much better than I thought it was going to.

By having the same alien craft at both points in the timeline it gave me the perfect chance to have Ed go back in time after her. That is after he figures out a way around the physics.

I needed a way for Ed and the Professor to figure out exactly where in time Virginia was as carbon dating is not nearly as accurate as they would need for a precise time jump. I chose a human approach here rather than depending on technology. The genealogy and artwork aspect, of Denise’s Devilsgate Saga, inspired me here. And having Ginny explore her artistic side was also a tribute to Louise.

The journal entries where Ginny is killed in the past as well as the graveyard scene were very difficult to write (tissues needed) as there was a lot of anguish here. This part also showed the depth of friendship that had grown between Straker and Reinhardt. There was a bit of symmetry going on here as well as Reinhardt reminds Ed that his future wife had stood with him in his hour of need. And we get to see a bit more of what makes this man (Reinhardt) who he is.

I also enjoyed having Ed explore the depth of his love for his wife; a love so deep that he would wish her to not be alone in her new life. Selfless; that’s our Ed!

I wanted to give Keith a bigger role in this one as well; he gets pushed to the sidelines so much yet has such an important position in the organization. I didn’t specify in the story but the conversations Keith was working on was going from base ten to whatever number system the aliens utilized, probably base six four or even higher. And having him familiar with the time period was kind of fun as well.

I did quite a bit of research on time travel, and paradoxes, for this story; those subjects are a field unto themselves. It’s a lot to wrap your head around kind of like special relativity. I decided to go with the idea of a single timeline where changing past events can change the future, but certain scenarios would never be allowed to happen, such as the grandfather paradox. That’s why they couldn’t take the alien craft back in time, it was already there. I like it too when Ed has to fight with physics!

The climax was fun to write. I wanted an edge of your seat moment here. When Will grabbed Ginny inappropriately, she normally would have given him a knee to the groin. I opted for the slap to the face instead as at this point it wasn’t clear of Will and Brett’s intentions. When it became clear that these men intended to have their way with her, training took over. As is typical in westerns, Adam and Hoss show up just in the nick of time and shoot both Will and Brett.

And of course at this point the reader knows that something else is afoot, and then Ed rides in on the white horse to save his lady and save the day by shooting Brett at the last second! The double climax was also a common theme in westerns.

I had to watch a couple episodes of Bonanza just to get the diction down for Adam and Joe; I was okay with Ben and Hoss. I hope I did the Bonanza fans justice.

I had quite a bit of fun with Ginny’s reaction when she regains her memory, a mixture of joy and guilt. And Ed as the understanding and supportive husband, fun stuff!

By reading Ben’s journal’s Ed knew that Cartwright was a man of integrity and he entrusts Ben with an awesome responsibility. I see them as having quite a bit in common. I was quite happy with the way Ginny and Ben parted ways, it was another fun part to write.

The end of Chapter 6 was one of my favorite parts with Ed and Ginny having pillow talk. They discuss how much the family missed her, the guilt she is still dealing with, and the contents of the sketchbook are revealed. We also get a hint that the accident might not have been by coincidence. I thought about ending the story on a tender note but since I do plan a follow on I really wanted the twist to be revealed.

In the epilogue we find our worse fears confirmed, there are forces that covet the new technology for their own purposes. And they will stop at nothing to get their hands on it.

The idea of time travel as a weapon has been in the back of my mind for a while along with technology outdistancing wisdom (think terminator). At this point in time it’s strictly in the realm of science fiction. I hope it stays there!

It will probably be a while before I tackle the follow on as this is going to be a story filled with intrigue and suspense. I don’t know if I have the skills as a writer to pull it off right now and I want to do the story justice. I still have to finish my back story pieces as well as the sequels I have laid out for Soul Mates. So I’m going finish those as it will take me well into next year. By that time I might have a few more weapons in my writer’s arsenal and I can do a better job on what promises to be a good story.

I hope everyone enjoyed Distant Memories, and I thank everyone who gave me help and encouragement along the way!

You’re the best!

Matt

Excellent work telling us about your story, Matt! 

As I told you, I thoroughly enjoyed this story even though I was prejudiced against it from the first!  There were several points that I found really outstanding in this story, but I mentioned them as they were put up, so I won't rehash that now.  But you really outdid yourself with this one and went deeper into the feelings of your characters than you have before.  This exploration is at the heart of all good writing, so give yourself a pat on the back!  You deserve it!    You've come a long way in a short time as a writer.  It's exciting to sit on the sidelines and watch you develop your talent right in front of our eyes!  Keep up the good work! 

Okay, Matt.  Since you want to wait a while before tackling this sequel, I'll try not to sound too enthusiastic.  But this 'Omega Conundrum' is a cool idea!  When Louise wrote AfterMath, I was so inspired I even went so far as to plan out my own apocalyptic story, because it was just so awesome!  (You have to understand, I never write apocalyptic stories!)  I haven't written mine yet, because it's a real downer and I need to be in the right mood to write it.    But yours sounds equally intriguing, so I will try to be patient until you write it. 

Okay.  That's all the patience I have.  Write it already! 

Rats! I hate waiting.