Tagged: the mine

My Interview with John Heldt (2)

John HeldtJohn Heldt is the self-published author of The Mine, The Journey, The Show and now The Fire, all books in his Northwest Passage series about time travel.  Every single one of his books has a fascinating combination of history, romance and humour.  Read on to see John and I discuss writing emotional scenes, researching and a possible continuation of his originally planned five book series.

1.  There are some very emotional scenes in The Fire.  How do you as a writer strike a balance between touching and melodramatic?

I enlist the help of others, that’s how. What is just right for one person may be too sappy or too dry for others. By getting the perspectives of beta readers representing both genders and a variety of ages, I’m usually able to determine whether an emotional scene needs to be rewritten or left as is. Continue reading

My Interview with John Heldt

John HeldtJohn Heldt is the self-published author of The Mine, The Journey and now, The Show, which is the third of five books in his Northwest Passage series dealing with time travel.  His books don’t go into detail about how the time travel occurs, but that’s not the point!  Read on to see John and I discuss self-publishing, time travel and future projects.

1. Your new book, The Show, is coming out the week of February 17. Is it separate from the previous two books in the Northwest Passage series?

The Show is the sequel to The Mine and will likely be the only true sequel in the five-part series. Each of the Northwest Passage books will have similar themes and settings and have at least one common character – Joel Smith – but only The Show will be directly tied to another book. I decided to write The Show because many readers who enjoyed The Mine wanted a sequel and wanted that sequel to answer specific questions, such as how Grace found Joel, what became of the couple after they reunited, and whether Ginny ever learned that she would become Joel’s grandmother. All three questions are answered. I should also note that The Show is very much Grace’s story. She is the one constant in a
roller-coaster ride that spans three distinct eras.

2. What made you decide to focus on the characters and the history rather than the technical aspects of time travel?

Great question. I decided to focus on the former because it is what I know and what interests me. I cared less about gadgets and the technical considerations of time travel than how ordinary people would react if suddenly thrown back to the past – and specifically the past of ancestors they’ve known. Continue reading

The Mine by John Heldt

(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

In 2000, Joel Smith is a cocky, adventurous young man who sees the world as his playground. But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can’t use, money he can’t spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of Whirlaway, swing dancing, and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. THE MINE follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.

I know what you’re thinking: “Another time travel romance.  Are you kidding me?”

How do I know that?  Well, I was thinking the exact same thing when I read the blurb John Heldt gave me when he asked me to review his novel.  I was really skeptical when I started reading because the reason Joel time travelled was a planetary alignment.  A planetary alignment for crying out loud!  With a premise like that, could The Mine possibly be salvaged?

Actually, yes.

Pretty much all of the clichés you’ll find are in the beginning of the novel.  What sets The Mine apart from a lot of time travel is that Joel, the protagonist, actually knows something about 1940s America and works hard to hide the fact he’s from the future.  This is a huge contrast to the bumbling, secret-spilling protagonists who know nothing about the era that seem to populate every time travel novel.

Joel is a great main character: resourceful and intelligent but wracked by guilt when he has to hide his knowledge of upcoming tragedies.  Despite his best efforts, he grows attached to his adopted family and even falls in love.  Not Insta-Love, mind you, but real love that takes time to develop.

Despite the admittedly shaky start, John Heldt pulled things together in fine fashion.  And the ending plot twist was actually unexpected because of the tone of the writing, but was highly satisfying.  The climax was so heartbreaking that I was tearing up, but managed not to dissolve into hysterics like I did at the end of Flowers for Algernon.

So if you like romance, historical fiction and/or amazing characters, I would highly recommend this self-published novel.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

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