Temporal Exploring 101 - Deep Future

Author's Note

So this is already Book Four of the Temporal Exploring 101 series chronicling the adventures of Cathy, Natty and their friends at St. Albert's Boarding School for Girls and elsewhere.

If you have not read Book One, First Transit, and Book Two, Cultural Immersion, as well as Book Three, Future Legend, already it is strongly recommended that you do so before starting to read Deep Future.

I imagine that a reader might be able to enjoy reading the four Temporal Exploring 101 books out of sequence, but it would be preferable to read them in order. If nothing else, in order to avoid spoilers.

As I have probably said a couple of times already elsewhere, Temporal Exploring 101 is a boarding school story with time travel elements, something I had been planning to write for years.

In the Author's Note to Book Three I told you a bit about my fascination with boarding school stories and time travel novels and I mentioned a few of my favorite books in those genres, so I won't repeat that here.

Rather, I would like to say a few words about the unique — and for me, new   —  experience of posting a story here and getting such a direct feedback from my readers.

 I think more than anything else those comments have been helpful. They often motivated me to rewrite parts and make changes that I believe helped to improve TE 101. Not to speak of the friends I made by communicating, discussing and sometimes fiercely arguing about this story.

That having been said, let me add that the experience also was kind of an emotional roller coaster for me.

I had somewhat naively expected that a reader would either like or not like this story as a whole. However, TE 101 has many different aspects, and I ought to have anticipated that readers would like certain aspects and dislike, or not care much about, certain other aspects.

There are the mysteries to be solved by the protagonists, the adventure, the occasional discussion of conceptual problems and possible paradoxa of time travel, and the description of life at a 1960s English boarding school for girls with its often inappropriately strict discipline. Everything considered, perhaps the description of disciplinary spankings was the most controversial aspect of all.

Also, sixteen-year-old girls are sexual creatures. I can attest to that: I was a sixteen-year-old girl myself once, and I vividly recall what it was like. Sixteen-year-old girls tend to 'explore their bodies', and given the chance, often each others bodies as well. It is a part of their lives, and not a small one, and I did not want to completely omit that part in my story either.

But I digress.

In conclusion, I found that different readers like different parts or aspects of TE 101. What's more, some readers do not care for, or dislike, aspects of the story that other readers like best. Which makes things confusing for inexperienced authors such as myself.  

However, what it comes down to, as stated on my homepage here, is that I write the kind of stories that I myself would like to read.

As I said, Temporal Exploring 101 is a boarding school story with time travel elements. But if you asked me what the story really is about, I would have to say that it is a story about friendship.

I hope you are going to enjoy reading it.

January 14, 2020

Caitlin Tureaud