Tink's Place

Time Tripping to England by Morgan O’Neill

Did you ever wonder how authors get inspiration for scenes in their novels? We, co-authors Cary Morgan Frates and Deborah O’Neill Cordes, have used our actual experiences and things that happened to us and our family members, some of which occurred well before we were born. This became fodder for scenes in Begun by Time, the Prequel to The Thornless Rose. What time trippy fun!

English pubs and restaurants figure prominently in Begun by Time. Cary lived in London for a year and recalls several visits to a wonderful pub that has existed in the same spot since the 1540s. Atmospheric and inviting, she remembers having a pint or two on cold, damp days––or was that Scotch whiskey in the summer? She hopes to go back in the near future, perhaps to meet up with that special someone, a handsome man with deep blue eyes. And so, it seemed natural it should become our fictional pub, The Bishop’s Crook, where Jonathan Brandon (who also has blue eyes!) and our other characters meet their futures headlong––in the past.

One incident was passed down in Deborah’s family. On a wintry day in the 1930s, her maternal grandfather came home with something hidden beneath his coat, a bulge in his breast pocket. Everyone assumed it was a bottle of “good cheer,” until it started to wiggle. Out popped the head of a dachshund puppy! Deborah’s uncle, then a little boy, promptly called the pup Whiskey. The name stuck, and Whiskey became a beloved family member. Deborah incorporated some of this story into Begun by Time and The Thornless Rose, in the scenes where Dr. Jonathan Brandon gives a Christmas gift to his fiancée, Catherine, just before he vanishes. The amusing incident takes on poignancy as time goes on and Jonathan doesn’t return, for Catherine realizes the dog was his last gift to her.

We hope you enjoy Begun by Time. Thank you––and happy reading!