Writing Across Time - Building a Dual-Time Mystery

Some stories are too vast for a single timeline to contain.

When I set out to write The Harbinger, I knew from the start that it would be a tale best told across two worlds—one grounded in the vibrant, often harsh realities of 16th-century England, and the other in the fast-paced, modern-day life of a university professor.

Writing a dual-timeline story presents a unique challenge: how do you weave two narratives that feel equally urgent, authentic, and interconnected, without revealing too much too soon?

For Sophia and Ann, each chapter had to breathe on its own, while quietly echoing the other. Moments of decision, flashes of intuition, small triumphs and devastating losses—all needed to create a resonance that readers might feel long before they fully understand it.

One of the greatest joys of writing The Harbinger was discovering how universal certain themes are: fear of the unknown, the bonds of chosen family, the pull of destiny, and the magic of believing there's more to our existence than meets the eye.

In crafting these intertwined journeys, I wanted readers to sense the invisible threads before they see them—to feel the gravity of history pulling at the present, and to wonder: How much of who we are is shaped by lives we've already lived?

Whether in the past or the present, some mysteries are timeless.