RELATIVITY
By: Cristin Bishara
Publication Date: September 10, 2013
If Ruby Wright could have her way, her dad would never have met and married her stepmother Willow, her best friend George would be more than a friend, and her mom would still be alive. Ruby knows wishes can’t come true; some things just can’t be undone. Then she discovers a tree in the middle of an Ohio cornfield with a wormhole to nine alternative realities.
Interview with Cristin
Relativity deals with time travel, specifically nine alternative realities – when you were writing how did you keep from confusing the different realities?
The more intricate the plot became, the harder it was to keep track of everything, all the way down to the details of what Ruby was carrying in her backpack. I had a calendar, a universe-by-universe spreadsheet that included an hourly timeline, a diagram of the tree’s mechanism, and a decoder chart. As I revised the story, I also revised all of these components, especially the calendar and universe spreadsheet. Keeping everything straight was definitely one of the biggest challenges of writing RELATIVITY.
Tell us about your writing process. Are you a plotter or pantser, where and when do you write?
I should be a plotter, but I just wing it, which I don’t particularly recommend. After I sold RELATIVITY to Walker, I wrote most of another novel, which will never see the light of day. It was a train wreck, so I deleted the entire 185 pages and started over. That was painful. The good news is, I didn’t give up, I wrote another, and I just sent the new manuscript to my agent! It’s the same blend of sci-fi, romance, and mystery. This one, though, is definitely heavier on the romance. My main character is older (almost 18), and the science isn’t string theory or parallel worlds this time. You’ll have to hold tight to find out more…
What would readers be surprised to learn about you?
I got a fairly crappy score on the verbal section of the SAT. Apparently, the SAT didn’t think I should be a writer.
What is the best advice you ever received from another author?
I still think a lot about the screenwriting class I assistant-taught in graduate school with Lou Berney, author of Gutshot Straight and Whiplash River. He taught me many things about writing, but if I had to pick one piece of advice, it would be his rowboat analogy. In order to keep the boat (the story) moving, you need oar strokes. In screenwriting lingo, this is called “forward action,” or “moving action,” or just plain-and-simple “action.” I’m all about keeping my oars in the water, thanks to Lou. No reader ever wants to bob around in the middle of a story going nowhere.
ABOUT CRISTIN
Before publishing Relativity, Cristin Bishara worked as a professional copywriter, and taught composition and fiction writing at the university level. She has an M.F.A. in creative writing. Cristin lives in Florida with her husband, two girls, and rescued racing greyhound.
There is a tour-wide giveaway for a SIGNED hardcover copy of RELATIVITY to THREE (3) Winners. US Only.
Recent Comments