‘How Soon Is Now?’ began as an idea we’ve probably all had at one time or another: What would it be like to go back and live any part of your life again?
What would you do better? Which mistakes would you correct? Which long-lost love or loved ones would you want to see again?
It’s a compelling idea, but for a long time, that’s all it was – just an idea. Finding a story big enough to do it justice was the tricky part…
There were various potential stories over the years. One was for a time-travelling romantic comedy similar to the 1986 Kathleen Turner movie ‘Peggy Sue Got Married’ – college hi-jinks with a middle-aged protagonist transported back to his college days. The more I thought about the practicalities of it, though, the less attractive that particular idea became. In fact, it began to seem downright icky in these more enlightened times.
What was needed was something with more weight, more emotional resonance. What would compel someone to revisit their own past? Loss, guilt and grief all seemed like strong contenders. And so The Nostalgia Club was born – a group of assorted misfits who, for widely varying reasons, find themselves drawn to examine and re-examine their pasts, over and over again.
The Club’s members would give me a chance to examine themes of memory, fate and the dangerous pull of the past while telling stories within stories, all within the framework of a classic quest narrative – an ordinary man discovers an extraordinary talent while embarking on a perilous mission (in this case, into his own past).
This being a time travel story, things quickly became pleasingly complicated. Twists, secrets and paradoxes piled up (a missing man, an unsolved murder, a maverick rival time traveller), but the mechanics of time travel within the novel remained resolutely down-to-earth. ‘How Soon Is Now?’ is a story about people, not technobabble or SF gimmickry.
In the end, what I wanted to create – and I very much hope I’ve succeeded – was a page-turner with enough mystery and invention to keep readers hooked, balanced with enough depth and complexity to bring out new shades of meaning with each reading. A time travel story, in other words, worth returning to over and over again.
Book Title: How Soon is Now?
Author: Paul Carnahan
Publisher: Tobasmuss Ink
Publication Date: June 10, 2024
Pages: 462
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy/Time Travel
A troubled ex-journalist launches a perilous mission into his own past after being recruited by a mysterious group of time travelers.
Luke Seymour uncovers the secrets of the eccentric Nostalgia Club as he battles to solve the riddle of their missing leader, honing his newly discovered – and dangerously addictive – talent for time travel and plunging ever deeper into his own time stream … where the terrible mistake that scarred his life is waiting.
Set in Glasgow and Edinburgh in the 1980s, 1990s and near-present, ‘How Soon Is Now?’ is a gripping new novel loaded with unforgettable characters, intricate storytelling, dark humour and a unique twist on the mechanics of time travel – all moving towards a powerful and emotional climax.
Available at:
Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/How-Soon-Now-powerful-travel-ebook/dp/B0D1RG2GL5
Amazon U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Soon-Now-powerful-travel-ebook/dp/B0D1RG2GL5
‘How Soon Is Now?’ is his first novel. The second, the Britpop-era romance ‘End of a Century’, will be released early in 2025, and a third is currently a work in progress.
Website & Social Media:
Website ➜ www.paulcarnahan.com
Twitter ➜ https://twitter.com/pacarnahan
Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/paulcarnahan6/
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