I am so excited to be a part of the blog tour for Loop by Karen Akins, which was released about a week ago. Please check out Karen's thoughts about time travel, which plays a big part in her new novel:
Thank you so much for having me on your blog today to celebrate the release of LOOP!
LOOP has some pretty twisty-turny, wibbly-wobbly time travel in it. When I was deciding exactly what rules of time travel I wanted/needed to set up, I had one main question that needed to be answered.
Can Shifters change the past?
The answer to this question is pretty much the crux of any time travel story. It drives my character’s motivations and worldview. And there are a lot of great examples of both answers to that question.
On the “yes” side is Back to the Future, Terminator, Looper, Dr. Who (sort of), X-Men: Days of Future Past, some renditions of Star Trek
On the “no” side is The Time Traveler’s Wife, Harry Potter’s time-turner, A Christmas Carol, other renditions of Star Trek
There’s not a right or wrong answer. I look at both of these lists and see time travel that I love on each one. Both sides have their challenges in writing. It’s easier to write yourself into a corner when your characters can’t change their environment or affect the outcome of the past.
At the same time, if you change anything in the past, you have to think of all the other changes that will ripple throughout your story. The Grandfather Paradox is always waiting right outside your door, ready to bite. If you go back in time and kill your grandfather, wouldn’t you cease to exist? But if that happened, then you wouldn’t have existed, and therefore you wouldn’t have been able to kill your grandfather, but then you’re back to existing, so what if you went back in time and killed your grandfather…?
On a side note, how many theoretical grandpas have been killed in the name of science?
Does your brain hurt yet? Here, watch this Big Bang Theory clip on time travel grammar. It will make you feel better (even if it does nothing to help your brainache).
Still don’t feel better? Okay, watch Baby Groot dance.
Ahh, much better.
Thanks again for having me! I hope everyone enjoys LOOP. <3 p="">
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