A Time Apart: A Novel
by Brittany Batong
Time-Travel Romance
Publisher: Chances Press, LLC
Release Date: Feb 25, 2013
Heat Level: Sensual
Word Count: 105,000
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Description
A Time Apart explores the bittersweet duality of our existence among
the past and the present, through the eyes of Kara, a twenty-something art
school graduate who has resigned herself to contentment in the routines of
everyday family life as a commuting suburbanite.
An unexpected attraction to Jake, a slacker-colleague in
her office, is further complicated when a visit to a lavish old movie palace
initiates a journey into the past. Kara and Jake inexplicably find themselves
thrown into the turbulence of Los Angeles during
the Great Depression, maintaining a feigned marriage as inhabitants of a
boarding house in a forgotten community of Los Angeles
called Bunker Hill . As partners in a past that
is both exciting and adversarial, Jake and Kara begin to develop very real
romantic feelings for one another, even as they are bound to identities in a
time that does not yet exist.
A Time Apart follows two people as they discover a Los Angeles
Excerpt
Preface: 2011
Sometimes I walk around downtown, imagining it not as
this Los Angeles , but as our Los Angeles
I wander to 6th Street, seeing not the jumbled mix of
cheap eateries and plain façades, but the warm bookshops burgeoning with poetry
and compatriots; imagining the streets not with orange Metro buses and blue
DASH buses, but instead with red and yellow cars that sail past on their cable
connections, Delia reaching out to grab them, her laughter ringing in my ears.
And then I think of Jake, my mind carrying me to all the
places we walked that first day. Sometimes I retrace our steps from the Theatre
District, with its treasure trove of lavish movie palaces, to Pershing Square,
where my reverie allows me to push away the gaudy concrete and primary colors
of a park redesign gone wrong; and instead see the trees and grass of that
other Los Angeles. My eyes continue to the grand old Biltmore Hotel, still as
proud and dignified as it was and now somewhat out of place, and I smile as I
think of that first night. If only I could dream vividly enough, I could bring
to life the steep incline up Olive Street to Bunker Hill and find my way home
to our old Victorian, up the concrete steps and through the creaky porch, into
the parlor where our friends gather, spinning records on the old Victrola while
I trip on the back step as Jake tries to waltz me around the room. My heart
begins to throb in my throat and tears sting at my eyes.
But on I walk, as if it is the only way to keep those
memories real.
It is when the memories are their most vivid that I
chance upon a group of colleagues, who smile at me and say “hello”. I smile
back but resent this invasion, this reminder that the place we knew is no
longer here. That place, that life that we lived before us, before now, is gone
forever. I am completely alone in its dreamlike memory, my profound grief
unspoken, my loss without a voice, strangled at the back of my throat, a silent
cry: unutterable.
About the Author
Brittany Batong finds that the most fascinating stories
lie within the hearts of seemingly ordinary people. She enjoys working and
playing in Downtown Los Angeles, uncovering its hidden treasures; and lives in Santa Clarita , California
Connect with Brittany Batong
Chances
Press- info@chancespress.com
Author- brittany@chancespress.com
1.
Where did
the idea come from for the book?
I actually had a situation similar to one in A Time Apart, where an attraction I felt
from a seemingly insignificant moment with an acquaintance got me to wondering
about how people wrestle with these ideas of emotional faithfulness. As a married woman, I wondered what I would
do if I was thrown into a situation that made exploring those feelings a
possibility: would I be able to remain true to who I am and to my husband? Then the idea of time travel came to mind,
and the rest just sort of flowed from there.
I wanted the journey through time to be significant in reach, but subtle
in that they don’t realize they are time travelling. It’s like they just fall through a little
hole in time and have to deal with the life-changing effects of that little
stumble.
2.
What
genre does your book fall under?
We’re promoting A
Time Apart as a romance, but really it is equally historic fiction, with a
teensy bit of science fiction rolled in with the time travel.
3.
Which
actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
A Jay Hernandez type and a Mila Kunis type.
4.
What is
the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Kara, a married twenty-something art school graduate,
shares an unexpected journey through time to depression-era Los Angeles with
Jake, a slacker-colleague from her office to whom she feels an unwanted
attraction.
5.
Will your
book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I started by self-publishing, but then Chances Press
picked up the extended distribution.
6.
How long
did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Seven months.
7.
What
other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Somewhere
in Time and The Time Traveller’s Wife.
8.
Who or
What inspired you to write this book?
My own experiences informed the contemporary portion of
the novel, and then my love for the city of Los Angeles and many of the hidden
pieces of its history supported the exploration of that city’s past.
9.
What else
about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
The setting of 1930’s Los Angeles is one that is not as
heavily explored as others in local history.
This is the everyman’s Los Angeles, not the Hollywood-focused LA that we
often see. There was so much going on at
the time! You have The Great Depression
that was paralyzing the economy of the whole country; then there were
additional challenges to the Mexican American population with the often
unfounded deportation of both Mexican nationals and American citizens of
Mexican heritage; and the bohemian arts movements that were happening in Los
Angeles also made it this exciting place to be a progressive, creative
individual.
For the first time in a very long time I shed tears at the end of a book. It is a story that holds you captivated and you wonder at the final outcome and although you know it could never be a good one it still stirs a wanting for these two characters to be together, to have that happy ending we are all entitle too. But helas it was not mend to be, so make sure when you have your copy to grab a Kleenex at the end.
Co workers Jake Nava and Kara Smith Malagon found themselves at an old theater when a earthquake rocked the building and pushed them back to 1931.
Both were married each with a child and they mourn this loss for some time. Struggling to understand and trying to find away back.
Not sure what happened they found themselves in a world different but yet still the same learning how to adapt to the time difference and finding work. But to find a place to stay proofed they had to be married and for two years they played the role. Fell in love since they thought they would never return to their own lives and had a child together.
Each character had to adapt in their own way into this new life, finding work in a place where the great depression swept through the country and Mexicans were deported if they had no papers. Since they are both half Mexican and have no papers on them they had to be careful.
Trained in art and printing Kara found work at a Stationary shop and soon she was able to make her own art, selling it. Creating an income for them. For Jake it was more difficult, since there was no way he could find a desk job without papers. His love for cars cause him to find work as a mechanic but as times grew more difficult work became less and as time goes on he had to rely on her as sole provider.
Soon Kara's judgmental spirit changed as she get to know Jake for the man he is. Seeing him through new eyes as he makes the best in the situation.
During this time they grew closer to each other and with the loving care of their boarding room friends they established a new found love for each other. Jake aloud her to be her self, helping her and motivating her to the best she could be. His love for her lifting her and making her whole.
I really liked his character, supportive, caring willing to take risks and walking the extra mile for her to proof that he loved her.
When their baby daughter was born their life was complete.
Then the next earthquake hit and life as they grew accustomed to change once again. Finding it hard to adapt since they were back in their old roles being the husband and wife of other people but still longing for each other. Apart but yet still one. Mourning and adapting once again to a new life.
Heart felt and compassionate, the author wrote the story with a deep understanding of their losses in different aspects of their lives. Creating a believable story that touched the heart and I must admit wondering what I would have done in the same circumstances.
A great time-travel romance that takes you back to a time forgotten where simplicity and the genuine care of friends and people was still alive and where two people found a strength they never knew they had.
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