Heather’s Bookshelf: Author Interview with John A. Heldt

Let Time Fly is the final book in the Stone Shed trilogy. How is it similar to the first two? How is it different?

Heldt: Let Time Fly is similar in that it tells the story of Noah and Jacob Maclean, two orphaned brothers from 2024 who travel to the 1770s weeks after they inherit a mysterious stone shed that can send people through time. In each of the novels, the brothers make their way in a world filled with intrigue, disease, and rebellion. They also develop romantic relationships with Abigail and Rachel Ward, the lovely, spirited daughters of a Philadelphia furniture maker. As in The Patriots and The Winding Road, the time travelers use their knowledge of the future to better their lives and the lives of those around them. Let Time Fly differs from the first two books in that it focuses more on Jake and Rachel. The younger siblings are no longer teenagers coping with adolescence and the ups and downs of the American Revolution. They are adults who confront war, separation, and the prospect of marriage. Let Time Fly also features a pleasant side trip to 1958, where time travelers Jake and Rachel appear on an episode of American Bandstand. Even the book’s ending, a lengthy epilogue, is different. In the last few chapters, Jake, then a man in his seventies, reflects on his life and his choices from the perspective of 1836.

What inspired you to write the Stone Shed series?

Heldt: I was inspired mostly by a desire to write about the American Revolution. I have been fascinated by that time period since I read The Rebels and the Kent Family Chronicles in high school. The series, by John Jakes, begins with America's rebellion against Great Britain. Later, I was moved by TURN: Washington's Spies, a riveting television series that debuted on AMC several years ago. A few characters in the Stone Shed trilogy, most notably Malachi Maine, my primary villain, are based on characters in TURN. Another character, Jasper Jennings, a Continental Army officer, is modeled after Judson Fletcher, whom Don Johnson played in The Rebels, a 1979 television miniseries.

Can the novels in the series be read separately?

Heldt: Yes and no. The Patriots, the first book in the trilogy, can be read as a stand-alone, but The Winding Road and Let Time Fly cannot or should not. Though the sequels contain considerable backstory, they cover much different years and circumstances. I recommend that readers go through the entire series to fully enjoy what is essentially a long family saga.

Is there anything you want readers to know about you or your writing process?

Heldt: Yes. As I noted in an earlier interview, I am very methodical — a classic plotter. I research and outline a book extensively for weeks before I write a single word. I also try to write at least a chapter a day when I'm in “full-production mode." When one writes long novels, it is easy to procrastinate. I force myself to push ahead. I am also an author who strives for historical accuracy. When preparing a book, I stick to the script as best I can and make exceptions only when necessary. I enjoy researching times and places almost as much as I enjoy writing about them.

When you encounter writer’s block, what do you do to break yourself out of it?

Heldt: I go for a walk. When I go for long strolls in my subdivision, I not only clear my head of clutter but also come up with new ideas and plot twists. I can’t think of a single time I haven't.

If you could have dinner with any character you’ve written, who would it be — and what would you talk about?

Heldt: It depends. If the person in question was one of my fictional protagonists, I would want to dine with Annie Carpenter Lee of the Second Chance trilogy. She is by far the most interesting character I've written and certainly the one with the most intellectual range. If the person in question was a real secondary character, I would want to dine with Ben Franklin, a true Renaissance man.

The conversation topics would also vary. With Annie, I would ask her if she held a grudge against me. I put her through several serious trials in the Second Chance books, particularly Annie’s Apple. I would also ask Annie what it is like to instantly change from an old person to a young one and live in the early twentieth century. With Ben, I would ask him about everything from scientific inventions to current affairs to his relationships with other Founding Fathers, something Noah and Jake Maclean actually do in The Patriots.

What’s the weirdest or most unexpected place you’ve gotten a story idea from?

Heldt: Without a doubt, it is Wallace, Idaho, a community about an hour east of Spokane, Washington. Though the silver-mining town has fewer than 1,000 residents, it is one of the most interesting places in the Pacific Northwest, complete with turn-of-the-last-century architecture, a brothel museum, a “center of the universe” manhole, and stunning mountain scenery. It is brimming with history and folklore. I set my fourth novel, The Fire, in Wallace, which was nearly destroyed by the Big Burn of 1910, the largest wildfire in U.S. history.

What are you working on next?

Heldt: I just started writing The Time Spring, my first stand-alone novel in more than a decade. Set mostly in Alachua County, Florida, and Norfolk, England, in 2026 and the 1940s, it will follow two University of Florida graduates who travel through time after entering a supernatural spring. The young men, both 22, will get drawn into the last year of America’s air war in Europe. A third character, the fiancée of one of the protagonists, will track the time travelers’ progress from 2026 and attempt to pull them back to this time. I hope to publish the book by Christmas.

Learn More About the Author and The Fountain here:

Audible: https://www.audible.com/author/John-A-Heldt/B007A23EQ

Blog:http://johnheldt.blogspot.com

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X: https://twitter.com/johnheldt

BIOGRAPHY: John A. Heldt is the author of twenty-six bestselling time-travel novels. The former reference librarian and award-winning sportswriter has loved getting subjects and verbs to agree since writing book reports in grade school. A graduate of the University of Oregon and the University of Iowa, Heldt is an avid fisherman, sports fan, coin collector, and reader of thrillers and historical fiction. When not sending contemporary characters to the not-so-distant past, he weighs in on literature and life at johnheldt.blogspot.com.

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