Going Back in Time by Vivien Dean

I have been in love with time travel since I was eight and I read A Wrinkle in Time the first time. The concept that space and time could be infinitely flexible, that anything was possible as long as we knew how to manipulate it, set my imaginary worlds on fire. It probably helped that I might have over-identified with Meg Murry a teensy bit, but those books opened ideas to me that I'd never considered before. 

I never gave up on the genre. In college, I read Replay by Ken Grimwood, the story of a man who gets caught in a time loop where he relives his life over and over again. This was pre-Groundhog Day (wow, I'm really dating myself, aren't I?), and the questions it raised upended my life all over again. What would you change if you could? Who are we if not the sum total of our experiences? Is it really worth it? To this day, it remains one of my favorite books ever.

There are other, more popular time travel titles I've devoured. Outlander, with the amazing Claire and Jamie. The Time Traveler's Wife, which had me sobbing like a baby when I got to the end. The Langoliers, which scared the pants off me. Knowing my addiction, by sister recommended Blackout by Connie Willis, which I've never forgiven her for since I got obsessed with it for a while. And the list goes on.

Probably unsurprising, I find the notion that the love of our life could be somebody who was born before incredibly romantic. I jumped at the opportunity to write for this pax, knowing from the beginning I wanted to concentrate on that exact feeling. Unison is about Freddie, a transplanted Southerner making a life for himself in New York City where he's free to be who he is without retribution or recrimination. He's a dreamer with the imagination of a child running free, but in spite of his hopes, he hasn't been able to find the one man he wants to spend the rest of his life with. Except he has, in a way. When he finds himself in pre-Civil War Louisiana, he realized this is his chance to help the man in the portrait he considers his most prized possession.

What was your first time travel story? Do you have a favorite in the genre?

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Unison by Vivien Dean is now available at Amber Allure.

If you'd like the chance to win the entire pax collection, just leave a comment on today's post, making sure to include your email so we have a way to contact you. On Saturday, a winner will be picked at random from all the comments made this week on the blog. Comment on all, and that's multiple chances to win!