Interview with Kirsten Sheley, Author of Partners in Time Part 1
by Paul Dale Roberts
(Sacramento, CA USA)
Kirsten Sheley, Author
Interview with Kirsten Sheley - Author of Partners in Time #4: Family Matters.
Interviewed by Paul Dale Roberts, President of Jazma Online!
Question: Tell us something about yourself, schools you attended, your work,
your family life.
I grew up in Beaverton, Oregon, which is a suburb of Portland. I was the oldest in my family -- my brother was born almost two years after me. I was a spitfire when I was a kid and into a lot of mischief. My wild imagination was to blame for some of this. If I did poorly in school, it was due to daydreaming or reading books under the desk. If I was in trouble for something else, it was for persuading my “partner in crime,” my best childhood friend, into doing something that gave our parents grey hair. I was the kid that parents hated their children to befriend because of this, and I know for a fact many people (including my parents) were surprised by what came of me when I grew up.
I read a lot as a kid, and when I was nine I started to write stories for fun. This earned me the scorn of my peers, who thought I was “weird” for reading and writing during free time and recess. I was teased a lot and only had a couple friends at that time.
In high school, I opted to attend the Arts & Communications High School, which was a magnet arts h.s. for kids with interests in creative and written arts. I loved it there, and for the first time in my life felt accepted by my peers. I also whizzed through every possible creative writing class at least once. I was a member of the publications staff and national honor society, so I was probably a bit of a geek. Many of my h.s. friends are still in touch to this day.
After h.s., I attended the University of Oregon in Eugene for the Journalism program. I earned a B.S. in magazine journalism, and after a “year off,” I went into the Masters of Arts in Teaching program at Pacific University (in Forest Grove, Ore.) to become a high school English teacher. After graduation in May 2003, I got a job in California and uprooted my life 600 miles. Currently, I’m wrapping up my fifth year as a high school English teacher.
In spite of the distance, I do have a close immediate family. My parents have been married (to each other!) for more than 35 years. They still live in Oregon. My brother is a captain in the Air Force and married a fellow captain last summer. The two of them are currently stationed in the U.K., so I am lucky if I see him once a year now.
Question: How did you become a sci fi writer?
I fell into it. I knew by the time I was about eighteen that I was going to write in the young adult genre. I love teenagers and teenage characters, that whole phase of life, and noticed all my stories involved teenaged characters. (Even the ones I wrote when I was nine!)
I always loved reading and writing stories with a kind of “what if?” premise, where the extraordinary would happen to an average person. I chafed (and still do) at being labeled a SF writer, though. I suppose because I have time travel in my series, it’s an apt classification, but I always felt my stories were “multi-genre,” blending aspects of different genres together. My dad is a big SF fan and always tried to get me into that, so I think he’s quite pleased that my books are considered to be part of that genre. A friend of mine called me a “closet” SF fan, which I think is probably fairly accurate. Many of my favorite books would fall into that SF genre.
I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of time travel, though, and around age fifteen came up with the idea for the PIT series. I actually started the first novel as a high school freshman...and completed it as a college senior!
Question: What books have you published in the past?
So far, just the four books in the Partners in Time (PIT) series. I’ve had “stand alone” novel ideas, but I haven’t attempted to write those yet. I have to feel passion and a compulsion to tell a story. I essentially write a story for me. Someday, I’m sure, I’ll probably do an post-apocalyptic novel I’ve had kicking around in the back of my head, or maybe do what I’ve jokingly referred to as the Great High School Coming of Age book. But for now, I’m completely immersed in the PIT series.
Question: What new book do you have coming out on the market?
Partners in Time $4: Family Matters. It is the fourth book tracking the adventures of Sam Foster and Meg Clayton, and their tangles in time traveling.
Question: Brief us about the story.
The synopsis sums it pretty well: When Sam Foster finds out that his mother is going to get remarried, his first reaction is shock. His next reaction is to take his time machine and go back in time to prevent his parents from ever divorcing in the first place.
With his friend Meg Clayton by his side once again, he sets off to rearrange his family history...but it soon becomes apparent that repairing a fractured relationship is extremely complicated. Each time a change is made, it results in a present that is nothing like Sam ever dreamed...or desired.
Will he and Meg be able to fix his family? If they can’t, will Sam ever be able to return home again?
Question: Who are some of the main characters?
Sam Foster and Meg Clayton are the two big ones. Sam is a 15-year-old from the present (well, 2005) who creates a time machine. He’s really into history, a bit of a control freak, and bright in the book-smart sense. Meg is also 15, but she’s from 1850, so obviously she’s not your typical contemporary teenage girl. She’s more mature, more insightful with people, yet also quite stubborn and outspoken.
When I created these characters originally, at the age of 15 myself, I saw Sam as the “perfect guy” for me and Meg as who I wanted to be. Both of the characters have elements of me in them, but none are wholly lifted from myself or any real person in my life. Sam’s intelligence has been sort of challenging at times, since I am not super smart in the areas of science. Fortunately, I have very bright friends who have helped me out from time to time. And Meg is much less “wussy” than I would be with many, many things.
Question: How can we purchase this book?
Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble’s websites will both have them in the upcoming weeks. You can order them from the local bookstore if they’re not carried, or from the publisher (www.iUniverse.com) at: http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0-595-51850-8 .
Question: How can people contact you?
Generally my e-mail is pretty good: “kristensheley@aol.com”. I do try to write back when I have someone e-mail me about the books. I did actually get my first real written fan letter this past year, which a reader mailed to the publisher and they forwarded to me. That was really neat!
Question: What is your website address?
The one for the series is: http://www.kristensheley.com/pitseries
Question: What do you have planned in the future?
About ten more books in this series will pretty much tell everything I want to tell about these characters and their adventures. In the immediate future is finishing the outline for the fifth book and starting that book sometime this summer.
Question: How did you become a paranormal investigator for H.P.I. (Haunted and
Paranormal International) www.hpiparanormal.net?
I have always been fascinated by the unexplained from as long as I can remember. Ghost stories, especially, intrigued me. As a kid, I would often check out all the non-fiction books about ghosts, enough that my mom got nervous I might get into the occult.
